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John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe

:"Wycliffe" may also refer to Wycliffe Bible Translators. John Wycliffe (also Wyclif, Wycliff, or Wickliffe) (c.1320 – December 31 1384) was an English theologian and early proponent of reform in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. He made an English translation of the Bible in one complete edition and is considered a precursor of the Protestant Reformation. Wycliffe was born at Ipreswell (modern Hipswell), Yorkshire, England, between 1320 and 1330 and died at Lutterworth (near Leicester) in 1384. Wycliffe also lived during the black plague.

Early life

His family was of early Anglo-Saxon origin, long settled in Yorkshire. In his time the family was a large one, covering a considerable territory, principally centered around Wycliffe-on-Tees, of which Ipreswell, his birthplace, was an outlying hamlet. (1324 is the year usually given for Wycliffe's birth; Rashdall in the Dictionary of National Biography lxiii. 202-204, says: "1324 is too early rather than too late a date.") Wycliffe probably received his early education close to his home. It is not known when he first went to Oxford, with which he was so closely connected until the end of his life. He was at Oxford in about 1345, when a series of illustrious names was adding glory to the fame of the university – such as those of Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, Thomas Bradwardine, William of Occam, and Richard Fitzralph. Wycliffe owed much to Occam's work and thought; he showed an interest in natural science and mathematics, but applied himself to the study of theology, ecclesiastical law, and philosophy. Even his opponents acknowledged the keenness of his dialectic. His writings prove that he was well grounded in Roman and English law, as well as in native history. In the university there was friction between "nations"; in Oxford there were two of these – the northern or "Boreales" and southern or "Australes", each of which had its procurator chosen by the corps or nation. Wycliffe belonged to Boreales, in which the prevailing tendency was anticurial, while the other was curial in its preferences. Not less sharp was the separation over Nominalism and Realism (see Scholasticism). Wycliffe was a Realist. John de Balliol whose seat was in the neighborhood of Wycliffe's home – Barnard Castle – had founded Balliol College, Oxford to which Wycliffe belonged, first as scholar, then as master. He attained the headship no later than 1360.

Early career

When he was presented by the college (1361) with the parish of Fylingham in Lincolnshire, he had to give up the leadership of Balliol, though he could continue to live at Oxford; he is said to have had rooms in the buildings of Queen's. His university career followed the usual course. While as baccalaureate he busied himself with natural science and mathematics, as master he had the right to read in philosophy. More significant was his interest in Bible study, which he pursued after becoming bachelor in theology. His performance led Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, to place him at the head of Canterbury Hall in 1365; there, twelve young men were preparing for the priesthood. Islip had designed the foundation for secular clergy; but when he died in 1366, his successor, Simon Langham, a man of monastic training, turned the leadership of the college over to a monk. Though Wycliffe appealed to Rome, the outcome was unfavorable to him. This case would hardly have been thought of again had not contemporaries of Wycliffe, such as William Woodford, seen in it the genesis of his later energetic assaults upon Rome and monasticism. Between 1366 and 1372 he became a doctor of theology; as such he made use of his right to lecture upon systematic divinity. But these lectures were not the origin of his Summa. In 1368 he gave up his living at Fylingham and took over the rectory of Ludgershall in Buckinghamshire, not far from Oxford, which enabled him to retain his connection with the university. Six years later (1374) he received the crown living of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, which he retained till his death. He had already resigned as prebend of Aust in Westbury-on-Trym.

Bases of his reformatory activities

It was not as a teacher or preacher that Wycliffe gained his position in history; this came from his activities in ecclesiastical politics, in which he engaged about the mid-1370s, when his reformatory work also began. In 1374 he was among the English delegates at a peace congress at Bruges. He may have been given this position because of the spirited and patriotic behavior with which in the year 1366 he sought the interests of his country against the demands of the papacy. It seems he had a reputation as a patriot and reformer; this suggests the answer to the question how he came to his reformatory ideas. [Even if older evangelical parties did not exist in England before Wycliffe, he might easily have been influenced by continental "evangelicals."] The root of the Wycliffite reformatory movement must be traced to his Bible study and to the ecclesiastical-political lawmaking of his times. He was well acquainted with the tendencies of the ecclesiastical politics to which England owed its position. He had studied the proceedings of King Edward I of England, and had attributed to them the basis of parliamentary opposition to papal usurpations. He found them a model for methods of procedure in matters connected with the questions of worldly possessions and the Church. Many sentences in his book on the Church recall the institution of the commission of 1274, which caused problems for the English clergy. He considered that the example of Edward I should be borne in mind by the government of his time; but that the aim should be a reformation of the entire ecclesiastical establishment. Similar was his position on the enactments induced by the ecclesiastical politics of Edward III, with which he was well acquainted and are fully reflected in his political tracts.

Political career

The Reformer's entrance upon the stage of ecclesiastical politics is usually related to the question of feudal tribute to which England had been rendered liable by King John, which had remained unpaid for thirty-three years until Pope Urban V in 1365 demanded it with menaces. Parliament declared that neither John nor any other had the right to subject England to any foreign power. Should the pope attempt to enforce his claim by arms, he would be met with united resistance. Urban apparently recognized his mistake and dropped his claim. But there was no talk of a patriotic uprising. The tone of the pope was, in fact, not threatening, and he did not wish to draw England into the maelstrom of politics of western and southern Europe. Sharp words were bound to be heard in England, because of the close relations of the papacy with France. It is said that on this occasion Wycliffe served as theological counsel to the government, composed a polemical tract dealing with the tribute, and defended an unnamed monk over against the conduct of the government and parliament. This would place the entrance of Wycliffe into politics about 1365–66. Wycliffe's more important participation began with the peace congress at Bruges. There in 1374 negotiations were carried on between France and England, while at the same time commissioners from England dealt with papal delegates respecting the removal of ecclesiastical annoyances. Wycliffe was among these, under a decree dated July 26, 1374. The choice of a harsh opponent of the Avignon system would have broken up rather than furthered the peace negotiations. It seems he was designated purely as a theologian, and so considered himself, since a noted Scripture scholar was required alongside of those learned in civil and canon law. There was no need for a man of renown, or a pure advocate of state interests. His predecessor in a like case was John Owtred, a monk who formulated the statement that St Peter had united in his hands spiritual and temporal power – the opposite of what Wycliffe taught. In the days of the mission to Bruges Owtred still belonged in Wycliffe's circle of friends. Wycliffe was still regarded by papal partisans as trustworthy; his opposition to the ruling conduct of the Church may have escaped notice. It was difficult to recognise him as a heretic. The controversies in which men engaged at Oxford were philosophical rather than purely theological or ecclesiastical-political, and the method of discussion was academic and scholastic. The kind of men with whom Wycliffe dealt included the Carmelite monk John Kyningham (Cunningham; cf. Fasciculi Zizaniorum, p. 3, London, 1858) over theological questions (utrum Christus esset humanitas), or ecclesiastical-political ones (De dominatione civili; De dotatione ecclesiae). Wycliffe's contest with John Owtred and William Wynham (or Wyrinham) were formerly unknown, as were the earlier ones with his opponent William Wadeford. When it is recalled that it was once the task of Owtred to defend the political interests of England against the demands of Avignon, one would more likely see him in agreement with Wycliffe than in opposition. But Owtred believed it sinful to say that temporal power might deprive a priest, even an unrighteous one, of his temporalities; Wycliffe regarded it as a sin to incite the pope to excommunicate laymen who had deprived clergy of their temporalities, his dictum being that a man in a state of sin had no claim upon government. Wycliffe blamed the Benedictine professor of theology at Oxford, William Wynham of St Albans (where the anti-Wycliffite trend was considerable) for making public controversies which had hitherto been confined to the academic arena. But the controversies were fundamentally related to the opposition which found expression in parliament against the Curia. Wycliffe himself tells(Sermones, iii. 199) how he concluded that there was a great contrast between what the Church was and what it ought to be, and saw the necessity for reform. His ideas stress the perniciousness of the temporal rule of the clergy and its incompatibility with the teaching of Christ and the apostles, and make note of the tendencies which were evident in the measures of the "Good Parliament" (1376-77). A long bill was introduced, with 140 headings, in which were stated the grievances caused by the aggressions of the Curia; all reservations and commissions were to be done away, the exportation of money was forbidden, and the foreign collectors were to be removed.

Public declaration of his ideas

It was in this period that Wycliffe came significantly to the fore. He was among those to whom the thought of the secularization of ecclesiastical properties in England was welcome. His patron was John of Gaunt. He was no longer satisfied with his chair as the means of propagating his ideas, and soon after his return from Bruges he began to express them in tracts and longer works – his great work, the Summa theologiae, was written in support of them. In the first book, concerned with the government of God and the ten commandments, he attacked the temporal rule of the clergy – in temporal things the king is above the pope, and the collection of annates and indulgences is simony. But he entered the politics of the day with his great work De civili dominio. Here he introduced those ideas by which the good parliament was governed – which involved the renunciation by the Church of temporal dominion. The items of the "long bill" appear to have been derived from his work. In this book are the strongest outcries against the Avignon system with its commissions, exactions, squandering of charities by unfit priests, and the like. To change this is the business of the State. If the clergy misuses ecclesiastical property, it must be taken away; if the king does not do this, he is remiss. The work contains 18 strongly stated theses, opposing the governing methods of the rule of the Church and the straightening out of its temporal possessions. [These are conveniently given in DNB, lxiii. 208-209.] Wycliffe had set these ideas before his students at Oxford in 1376, after becoming involved in controversy with William Wadeford and others. Rather than restricting these matters to the classroom, he wanted them proclaimed more widely and wanted temporal and spiritual lords to take note. While the latter attacked him and sought ecclesiastical censure, he recommended himself to the former by his criticism of the worldly possessions of the clergy.

Conflict with the church

Wycliffe wanted to see his ideas actualized – his fundamental belief was that the Church should be poor, as in the days of the apostles. He had not yet broken with the mendicant friars, and from these John of Gaunt chose Wycliffe's defenders. While the Reformer later claimed that it was not his purpose to incite temporal lords to confiscation of the property of the Church, the real tendencies of the propositions remained unconcealed. The result of the same doctrines in Bohemia – that land which was richest in ecclesiastical foundations – was that in a short time the entire church estate was taken over and a revolution brought about in the relations of temporal holdings. It was in keeping with the plans of Gaunt to have a personality like Wycliffe on his side. Especially in London the Reformer's views won support; partisans of the nobility attached themselves to him, and the lower orders gladly heard his sermons. He preached in city churches, and London rang with his praises. The first to oppose his theses were monks of those orders which held possessions, to whom his theories were dangerous. Oxford and the episcopate were later blamed by the Curia, which charged them with so neglecting their duty that the breaking of the evil fiend into the English sheepfold could be noticed in Rome before it was in England. Wycliffe was summoned before William Courtenay, Bishop of London, on Feb. 19, 1377, in order "to explain the wonderful things which had streamed forth from his mouth". The exact charges are not known, as the matter did not get as far as a definite examination. Gaunt, the earl marshal Henry Percy, and a number of other friends accompanied Wycliffe, and four begging friars were his advocates. A crowd gathered at the church, and at the entrance of the party animosities began to show, especially in an angry exchange between the bishop and the Reformer's protectors. Gaunt declared that he would humble the pride of the English clergy and their partisans, hinting at the intent to secularise the possessions of the Church. The assembly broke up and the lords departed with their protege. (An excellent account of this dispute between the bishop and the protectors of Wycliffe is given in the Chronicon Angliae, the gist of which is quoted in DNB, lxiii. 206-207.) Most of the English clergy were irritated by this encounter, and attacks upon Wycliffe began, finding their response in the second and third books of his work dealing with civil government. These books carry a sharp polemic, hardly surprising when it is recalled that his opponents charged Wycliffe with blasphemy and scandal, pride and heresy. He appeared to have openly advised the secularisation of English church property, and the dominant parties shared his conviction that the monks could better be controlled if they were relieved from the care of secular affairs. The bitterness occasioned by this advice will be better understood when it is remembered that at that time the papacy was at war with the Florentines and was in dire straits. The demand of the Minorites that the Church should live in poverty as it did in the days of the apostles was not pleasing in such a crisis. It was under these conditions that Pope Gregory XI, who in January, 1377, had gone from Avignon to Rome, sent, on May 22 five copies of his bull against Wycliffe, despatching one to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the others to the bishop of London, Edward III, the chancellor, and the university; among the enclosures were 18 theses of his, which were denounced as erroneous and dangerous to Church and State. The reformatory activities of Wycliffe effectively began here: all the great works, especially his Summa theologiae, are closely connected with the condemnation of his 18 theses, while the entire literary energies of his later years rest upon this foundation. The next aim of his opponents – to make him out a revolutionary in politics – failed. The situation in England resulted in damage to them; on June 21, 1377, Edward III died. His successor was Richard II, a boy, who was under the influence of John of Gaunt, his uncle. So it resulted that the bull against Wycliffe did not become public till 18 December. Parliament, which met in October, came into sharp conflict with the Curia. Among the propositions which Wycliffe, at the direction of the government, worked out for parliament was one which speaks out distinctly against the exhaustion of England by the Curia. Wycliffe tried to gain public favour by laying his theses before parliament, and then made them public in a tract, accompanied by explanations, limitations, and interpretations. After the session of parliament was over, he was called upon to answer, and in March, 1378, he appeared at the episcopal palace at Lambeth to defend himself. The preliminaries were not yet finished when a noisy mob gathered with the purpose of saving him; the king's mother, Joan of Kent, also took up his cause. The bishops, who were divided, satisfied themselves with forbidding him to speak further on the controversy. At Oxford the vice chancellor, following papal directions, confined the Reformer for some time in Black Hall, from which Wycliffe was released on threats from his friends; the vice-chancellor was himself confined in the same place because of his treatment of Wycliffe. The latter then took up the usage according to which one who remained for 44 days under excommunication came under the penalties executed by the State, and wrote his De incarcerandis fedelibus, in which he demanded that it should be legal for the excommunicated to appeal to the king and his council against the excommunication; in this writing he laid open the entire case and in such a way that it was understood by the laity. He wrote his 33 conclusions, in Latin and English. The masses, some of the nobility, and his former protector, John of Gaunt, rallied to him. Before any further steps could be taken at Rome, Gregory XI died (1378). But Wycliffe was already engaged in one of his most important works, that dealing with what he perceived as the truth of Holy Scripture. The sharper the strife became, the more Wycliffe had recourse to his translation of Scripture as the basis of all Christian doctrinal opinion, and expressly tried to prove this to be the only norm for Christian faith. In order to refute his opponents, he wrote the book in which he endeavored to show that Holy Scripture contains all truth and, being from God, is the only authority. He referred to the conditions under which the condemnation of his 18 theses was brought about; and the same may be said of his books dealing with the Church, the office of king, and the power of the pope – all completed within the space of two years (1378-79). To Wycliffe, the Church is the totality of those who are predestined to blessedness. It includes the Church triumphant in heaven, those in purgatory, and the Church militant or men on earth. No one who is eternally lost has part in it. There is one universal Church, and outside of it there is no salvation. Its head is Christ. No pope may say that he is the head, for he can not say that he is elect or even a member of the Church.

Statement regarding royal power

It would be a mistake to assume that Wycliffe's doctrine of the Church – which made so great an impression upon Jan Hus, who adopted it literally and fully – was occasioned by the western schism (1378–1429). The principles of the doctrine were already embodied in his De civili dominio. The contents of the book dealing with the Church are closely connected with the decision respecting the 18 theses. The attacks on Pope Gregory XI grow ever more extreme. Wycliffe's stand with respect to the ideal of poverty became continually firmer, as well as his position with regard to the temporal rule of the clergy. Closely related to this attitude was his book De officio regis, the content of which was foreshadowed in his 33 conclusions: One should be instructed with reference to the obligations which lie in regard to the kingdom in order to see how the two powers, royal and ecclesiastical, may support each other in harmony in the body corporate of the Church. The royal power, Wycliffe taught, is consecrated through the testimony of Holy Scripture and the Fathers. Christ and the apostles rendered tribute to the emperor. It is a sin to oppose the power of the king, which is derived immediately from God. Subjects, above all the clergy, should pay him dutiful tribute. The honors which attach to temporal power hark back to the king; those which belong to precedence in the priestly office, to the priest. The king must apply his power with wisdom, his laws are to be in unison with those of God. From God laws derive their authority, including those which royalty has over against the clergy. If one of the clergy neglects his office, he is a traitor to the king who calls him to answer for it. It follows from this that the king has an "evangelical" control. Those in the service of the Church must have regard for the laws of the State. In confirmation of this fundamental principle the archbishops in England make sworn submission to the king and receive their temporalities. The king is to protect his vassals against damage to their possessions; in case the clergy through their misuse of the temporalities cause injury, the king must offer protection. When the king turns over temporalities to the clergy, he places them under his jurisdiction, from which later pronouncements of the popes can not release them. If the clergy relies on papal pronouncements, it must be subjected to obedience to the king. This book, like those that preceded and followed, had to do with the reform of the Church, in which the temporal arm was to have an influential part. Especially interesting is the teaching which Wycliffe addressed to the king on the protection of his theologians. This did not mean theology in its modern sense, but knowledge of the Bible. Since the law must be in agreement with Scripture, knowledge of theology is necessary to the strengthening of the kingdom; therefore the king has theologians in his entourage to stand at his side as he exercises power. It is their duty to explain Scripture according to the rule of reason and in conformity with the witness of the saints; also to proclaim the law of the king and to protect his welfare and that of his kingdom.

Wycliffe and the papacy

The books and tracts of Wycliffe's last six years include continual attacks upon the papacy and the entire hierarchy of his times. Each year they focus more and more, and at the last pope and Antichrist seem to him practically equivalent concepts. Yet there are passages which are moderate in tone; Lechler identifies three stages in Wycliffe's relations with the papacy. The first step, which carried him to the outbreak of the schism, involves moderate recognition of the papal primacy; the second, which carried him to 1381, is marked by an estrangement from the papacy; and the third shows him in sharp contest. However, Wycliffe reached no valuation of the papacy before the outbreak of the schism different from his later appraisal. If in his last years he identified the papacy with antichristianity, the dispensability of this papacy was strong in his mind before the schism. It was this very man who laboured to bring about the recognition of Urban VI. (1378–1389), which appears to contradict his former attitude and to demand an explanation. Wycliffe's influence was never greater than at the moment when pope and antipope sent their ambassadors to England in order to gain recognition for themselves. In the ambassadors' presence, he delivered an opinion before parliament that showed, in an important ecclesiastical political question (the matter of the right of asylum in Westminster Abbey), a position that was to the liking of the State. How Wycliffe came to be active in the interest of Urban is seen in passages in his latest writings, in which he expressed himself in regard to the papacy in a favorable sense. On the other hand he states that it is not necessary to go either to Rome or to Avignon in order to seek a decision from the pope, since the triune God is everywhere. Our pope is Christ. It seems clear that Wycliffe was an opponent of that papacy which had developed since Constantine. He taught that the Church can continue to exist even though it have no visible leader; but there can be no damage when the Church possesses a leader of the right kind. To distinguish between what the pope should be, if one is necessary, and the pope as he appeared in Wycliffe's day was the purpose of his book on the power of the pope. The Church militant, Wycliffe taught, needs a head – but one whom God gives the Church. The elector [cardinal] can only make someone a pope if the choice relates to one who is elect [of God]. But that is not always the case. It may be that the elector is himself not predestined and chooses one who is in the same case – a veritable Antichrist. One must regard as a true pope one who in teaching and life most nearly follows Jesus and Saint Peter. Wycliffe distinguished between what he saw as the true papacy from the false papacy. Since all signs indicated that Urban VI was a reforming and consequently a "true" pope, the enthusiasm which Wycliffe manifested for him is easily understood. These views concerning the Church and church government are those which are brought forward in the last books of his Summa, "De simonia, de apostasia, de blasphemia". The battle which over the theses was less significant than the one he waged against the monastic orders when he saw the hopes quenched which had gathered around the "reform pope", and when he was withdrawn from the scene as an ecclesiastical politician and occupied himself exclusively with the question of the reform of the Church.

Attack on monasticism

His teachings concerning the danger attaching to the secularizing of the Church put Wycliffe into line with the mendicant orders, since in 1377 Minorites were his defenders. In the last chapters of his De civili dominio, there are traces of a rift. When he stated that "the case of the orders which hold property is that of them all", the mendicant orders turned against him; and from that time Wycliffe began a struggle which continued till his death. This battle against what he saw as an imperialised papacy and its supporters, the "sects," as he called the monastic orders, takes up a large space not only in his later works as the Trialogus, Dialogus, Opus evangelicum, and in his sermons, but also in a series of sharp tracts and polemical productions in Latin and English (of which those issued in his later years have been collected as "Polemical Writings"). In these he teaches that the Church needs no new sects; sufficient for it now is the religion of Christ which sufficed in the first three centuries of its existence. The monastic orders are bodies which are not supported by the Bible, and must be abolished together with their possessions. Such teaching, particularly in sermons, had one immediate effect – a serious rising of the people. The monks were deprived of alms and were bidden to apply themselves to manual labour. These teachings had more important results upon the orders and their possessions in Bohemia, where the instructions of the "Evangelical master" were followed to the letter in such a way that the noble foundations and practically the whole of the property of the Church were sacrificed. But the result was not as Wycliffe wanted it in England – the property fell not to the State but to the barons of the land. The scope of the conflict in England widened; it no longer involved the mendicant monks alone, but took in the entire hierarchy. An element of the contest appears in Wycliffe's doctrine of the Lord's Supper.

Relation to the English Bible

Wycliffe believed that the Bible ought to be the common possession of all Christians, and needed to be made available for common use in the language of the people. National honour seemed to require this, since members of the nobility possessed the Bible in French. Portions of the Bible had been translated into English, but there was no complete translation. Wycliffe set himself to the task. While it is not possible exactly to define his part in the translation – which was based on the Vulgate – there is no doubt that it was his initiative, and that the success of the project was due to his leadership. From him comes the translation of the New Testament, which was smoother, clearer, and more readable than the rendering of the Old Testament by his friend Nicholas of Hereford. The whole was revised by Wycliffe's younger contemporary John Purvey in 1388. Thus the mass of the people came into possession of the Bible; but the cry of his opponents may be heard: "The jewel of the clergy has become the toy of the laity". In spite of the zeal with which the hierarchy sought to destroy it due to what they saw as mistranslations and erroneous commentary, there still exist about 150 manuscripts, complete or partial, containing the translation in its revised form. From this one may easily infer how widely diffused it was in the fifteenth century. For this reason the Wycliffites in England were often designated by their opponents as "Bible men". Just as Luther's version had great influence upon the German language, so Wycliffe's, by reason of its clarity, beauty, and strength, influenced English, as the King James Version was later to do. Wyclif's Bible, as it came to be known, was widely distributed throughout England. The Church denounced it as an unauthorised translation.

Activity as a preacher

Wycliffe aimed to do away with the existing hierarchy and replace it with the "poor priests" who lived in poverty, were bound by no vows, had received no formal consecration, and preached the Gospel to the people. These itinerant preachers spread the teachings of Wycliffe. Two by two they went, barefoot, wearing long dark-red robes and carrying a staff in the hand, the latter having symbolic reference to their pastoral calling, and passed from place to place preaching the sovereignty of God. The bull of Gregory XI impressed upon them the name of Lollards, intended as an opprobrious epithet, but it became, to them, a name of honour. Even in Wycliffe's time the "Lollards" had reached wide circles in England and preached "God's law, without which no one could be justified".

Anti-Wycliffe synod

In the summer of 1381 Wycliffe formulated his doctrine of the Lord's Supper in twelve short sentences, and made it a duty to advocate it everywhere. Then the English hierarchy proceeded against him. The chancellor of the University of Oxford had some of the declarations pronounced heretical. When this fact was announced to Wycliffe, he declared that no one could change his convictions. He then appealed – not to the pope nor to the ecclesiastical authorities of the land, but to the king. He published his great confession upon the subject and also a second writing in English intended for the common people. His pronouncements were no longer limited to the classroom, they spread to the masses. "Every second man that you meet," writes a contemporary, "is a Lollard". In the midst of this commotion came the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Although Wycliffe disapproved of the revolt, he was blamed. Yet his friend and protector John of Gaunt was the most hated by the rebels, and where Wycliffe's influence was greatest the uprising found the least support. While in general the aim of the revolt was against the spiritual nobility, this came about because they were nobles, not because they were churchmen. Wycliffe's old enemy, Courtenay, now Archbishop of Canterbury, called (1382) an ecclesiastical assembly of notables at London. During the consultations an earthquake occurred (21 May); the participants were terrified and wished to break up the assembly, but Courtenay declared the earthquake a favorable sign which meant the purification of the earth from erroneous doctrine. Of the 24 propositions attributed to Wycliffe without mentioning his name, ten were declared heretical and fourteen erroneous. The former had reference to the transformation in the sacrament, the latter to matters of church order and institutions. It was forbidden from that time to hold these opinions or to advance them in sermons or in academic discussions. All persons disregarding this order were to be subject to prosecution. To accomplish this the help of the State was necessary; but the commons rejected the bill. The king, however, had a decree issued which permitted the arrest of those in error. The citadel of the reformatory movement was Oxford, where Wycliffe's most active helpers were; these were laid under the ban and summoned to recant, and Nicholas of Hereford went to Rome to appeal. In similar fashion the poor priests were hindered in their work. On 18 November 1382, Wycliffe was summoned before a synod at Oxford; he appeared, though apparently broken in body in consequence of a stroke, but nevertheless determined. He still commanded the favour of the court and of parliament, to which he addressed a memorial. He was neither excommunicated then, nor deprived of his living.

Last days

He returned to Lutterworth, and sent out tracts against the monks and Urban VI, since the latter, contrary to the hopes of Wycliffe, had not turned out to be a reforming or "true" pope, but had involved in mischievous conflicts. The crusade in Flanders aroused the Reformer's biting scorn, while his sermons became fuller-voiced and dealt with what he saw as the imperfections of the Church. The literary achievements of Wycliffe's last days, such as the Trialogus, stand at the peak of the knowledge of his day. His last work, the Opus evangelicum, the last part of which he named in characteristic fashion "Of Antichrist", remained uncompleted. While he was hearing mass in the parish church on Holy Innocents' Day, 28 December 1384, he was again stricken with apoplexy and died on the last day of the year. In his lifetime the great Hussite movement arose and spread through Western Europe. Hussite The Council of Constance declared Wycliffe (on 4 May 1415) a stiff-necked heretic and under the ban of the Church. It was decreed that his books be burned and his remains be exhumed. The latter did not happen till twelve years afterward, when at the command of Pope Martin V they were dug up, burned, and the ashes cast into the river Swift that flows through Lutterworth. None of Wycliffe's contemporaries left a complete picture of his person, his life, and his activities. The pictures representing him are from a later period. One must be content with certain scattered expressions found in the history of the trial by William Thorpe (1407). It appears that Wycliffe was spare of body, indeed of wasted appearance, and not strong physically. He was of unblemished walk in life, says Thorpe, and was regarded affectionately by people of rank, who often consorted with him, took down his sayings, and clung to him. "I indeed clove to none closer than to him, the wisest and most blessed of all men whom I have ever found. From him one could learn in truth what the Church of Christ is and how it should be ruled and led." Huss wished that his soul might be wherever that of Wycliffe was found. One may not say that Wycliffe was a comfortable opponent to meet. Thomas Netter of Walden highly esteemed the old Carmelite monk John Kynyngham in that he "so bravely offered himself to the biting speech of the heretic and to words that stung as being without the religion of Christ". But this example of Netter is not well chosen, since the tone of Wycliffe toward Kynyngham is that of a junior toward an elder whom one respects, and he handled other opponents in similar fashion. But when he turned upon them his roughest side, as for example in his sermons, polemical writings and tracts, he met the attacks with a tone that could not be styled friendly.

Wycliffe's doctrines

Wycliffe's first encounter with the official Church of his time was prompted by his zeal in the interests of the State. His first tracts and greater works of ecclesiastical-political content defended the privileges of the State, and from these sources developed a strife out of which the next phases could hardly be determined. One who studies these books in the order of their production with reference to their inner content finds a direct development with a strong reformatory tendency. This was not originally doctrinal; when it later took up matters of dogma, as in the teaching concerning transubstantiation, the purpose was the return to original simplicity in the government of the Church. But it would have been against the diplomatic practice of the time to have sent to the peace congress at Bruges, in which the Curia had an essential part, a participant who had become known at home by his allegedly heretical teaching. Since it was from dealing with ecclesiastical-political questions that Wycliffe turned to reformatory activities, the former have a large part in his reformatory writings. While he took his start in affairs of church policy from the English legislation which was passed in the times of Edward I, he declined the connection into which his contemporaries brought it under the lead of Occam. Indeed, he distinctly disavows taking his conclusions from Occam, and avers that he draws them from Scripture, and that they were supported by the Doctors of the Church. So that dependence upon earlier schismatic parties in the Church, which he never mentions in his writings (as though he had never derived anything from them), is counterindicated, and attention is directed to the true sources in Scripture, to which he added the collections of canons of the Church. Wycliffe would have had nothing to gain by professing indebtedness to "heretical" parties or to opponents of the papacy. His reference to Scripture and orthodox Fathers as authorities is what might have been expected. So far as his polemics accord with those of earlier antagonists of the papacy, it is fair to assume that he was not ignorant of them and was influenced by them. The Bible alone was authoritative and, according to his own conviction and that of his disciples, was fully sufficient for the government of this world (De sufficientia legis Christi). Out of it he drew his comprehensive statements in support of his reformatory views – after intense study and many spiritual conflicts. He tells that as a beginner he was desperate to comprehend the passages dealing with the activities of the divine Word, until by the grace of God he was able to gather the right sense of Scripture, which he then understood. But that was not a light task. Without knowledge of the Bible there can be no peace in the life of the Church or of society, and outside of it there is no real and abiding good; it is the one authority for the faith. These teachings Wycliffe promulgated in his great work on the truth of Scripture, and in other greater and lesser writings. For him the Bible was the fundamental source of Christianity which is binding on all men. Wycliffe was called "Doctor evangelicus" by his English and Bohemian followers. Of all the reformers who preceded Martin Luther, Wycliffe put most emphasis on Scripture: "Even though there were a hundred popes and though every mendicant monk were a cardinal, they would be entitled to confidence only in so far as they accorded with the Bible." Therefore in this early period it was Wycliffe who recognized and formulated one of the two great formal principles of the Reformation-- the unique authority of the Bible for the belief and life of the Christian. It is not enough realised that, well before Luther, Wycliffe also recognised the other great Reformation doctrine, that of justification by faith, though not in fully worked out form as Luther achieved. In Christ stilling the Storm he wrote: "If a man believe in Christ, and make a point of his belief, then the promise that God hath made to come into the land of light shall be given by virtue of Christ, to all men that make this the chief matter."

Basal positions in philosophy

Wycliffe earned his great repute as a philosopher at an early date. Henry Knighton says that in philosophy he was second to none, and in scholastic discipline incomparable. If this pronouncement seems hardly justified, now that Wycliffe's writings are in print, it must be borne in mind that not all his philosophical works are extant. If Wycliffe was in philosophy the superior of his contemporaries and had no equal in scholastic discipline, he belongs with the series of great scholastic philosophers and theologians in which England in the Middle Ages was so rich – with Alexander of Hales, Roger Bacon, Duns Scotus, Occam and Bradwardine. There was a period in his life when he devoted himself exclusively to scholastic philosophy: "when I was still a logician," he used later to say. The first "heresy" which "he cast forth into the world" rests as much upon philosophical as upon theological grounds. In Plato, knowledge of whom came to Wycliffe through Saint Augustine, he saw traces of a knowledge of the Trinity, and he championed the doctrine of ideas as against Aristotle. He said that Democritus, Plato, Augustine, and Grosseteste far outranked Aristotle. In Aristotle he missed the provision for the immortality of the soul, and in his ethics the tendency toward the eternal. He was a close follower of Augustine, so much so that he was called "John of Augustine" by his pupils. In some of his teachings, as in De annihilatione, the influence of Thomas Aquinas can be detected. So far as his relations to the philosophers of the Middle Ages are concerned, he held to realism as opposed to the nominalism advanced by Occam, although in questions that had to do with ecclesiastical politics he was related to Occam and indeed went beyond him. His views are based upon the conviction of the reality of the universal, and he employed realism in order to avoid dogmatic difficulties. The uni-divine existence in the Trinity is the real universal of the three Persons, and in the Eucharist the ever-real presence of Christ justifies the deliverance that complete reality is compatible with the spatial division of the existence. The center of Wycliffe's philosophical system is formed by the doctrine of the prior existence in the thought of God of all things and events. This involves the definiteness of things and especially their number, so that neither their infinity, infinite extension, nor infinite divisibility can be assumed. Space consists of a number of points of space determined from eternity, and time of exactly such a number of moments, and the number of these is known only to the divine spirit. Geometrical figures consist of arranged series of points, and enlargement or diminution of these figures rests upon the addition or subtraction of points. Because the existence of these points of space as such, that is, as truly indivisible unities, has its basis in the fact that the points are one with the bodies that fill them; because, therefore, all possible space is coincident with the physical world (as in Wycliffe's system, in general, reality and possibility correspond), there can as little be a vacuum as bounding surfaces that are common to different bodies. The assumption of such surfaces impinges, according to Wycliffe, upon the contradictory principle as does the conception of a truly continuous transition of one condition into another. Wycliffe's doctrine of atoms connects itself, therefore, with the doctrine of the composition of time from real moments, but is distinguished by the denial of interspaces as assumed in other systems. From the identity of space and the physical world, and the circular motion of the heavens, Wycliffe deduces the spherical form of the universe.

Attitude toward speculation

Wycliffe's fundamental principle of the preexistence in thought of all reality involves the most serious obstacle to freedom of the will; the philosopher could assist himself only by the formula that the free will of man was something predetermined of God. He demanded strict dialectical training as the means of distinguishing the true from the false, and asserted that logic (or the syllogism) furthered the knowledge of catholic verities; ignorance of logic was the reason why men misunderstood Scripture, since men overlooked the connection – the distinction between idea and appearance. Wycliffe was not merely conscious of the distinction between theology and philosophy, but his sense of reality led him to pass by scholastic questions. He left aside philosophical discussions which seemed to have no significance for the religious consciousness and those which pertained purely to scholasticism: "we concern ourselves with the verities that are, and leave aside the errors which arise from speculation on matters which are not."

External links

- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15722a.htm John Wyclif] Catholic Encyclopedia
- [http://www.wycliffe.org/history/JWycliff.htm John Wycliffe]
- [http://www.geocities.com/thecatholicconvert/biblegrahamch12.html Why Wycliffe was Condemned – a Roman Catholic view]
- [http://www.williamtyndale.com/0johnwycliffe.htm Wycliffe Memorial Page – a Protestant view]
- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wyclif/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry] Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John Wycliffe, John ja:ジョン・ウィクリフ

Wycliffe Bible Translators

Wycliffe Bible Translators is an international, interdenominational or parachurch organization with U.S. headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is dedicated to translating the Bible into every living language in the world. Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend. There are currently branches in 46 countries. WBT says that no cultural group is too small, and no language too difficult for them. As many as several thousand workers enter new cultures each year. WBT attempts to keep the highest possible standards. A linguistic and anthropological orientation is upheld. Service is stressed. All field work is done in cooperation with host governments, universities and philanthropic groups. The organization is named after John Wycliffe, the first person to compile a translation of the Bible into Middle English

The Organization

Wycliffe Bible Translators was the first of a group of associated organizations involved in Bible translation and missionary work. SIL International, originally the Summer Institute of Linguistics, started as a small summer training session for missionaries in Arkansas in 1934. A subsidiary group, JAARS, originally the Jungle Aviation And Radio Service, provides transportation and technical services for missionaries and associated development workers. Wycliffe Associates is a support organization that raises funds and provides other support for the other organizations. Wycliffe associates is governed and supported by Wycliffe Bible Translators, that is, the organization that raises money is paid-by and answerable-to the workers, rather than the reverse. This is an intentional arrangement to focus money and effort on the work, rather than fund-raising. The Seed Company, according to their web site, is "a next generation entity of the Wycliffe Bible Translators family of organizations" that provides support to local translators in areas where "hostile environments make translation work difficult to impossible for outsiders."

The mission

Bible translation is used to spread the message of Christianity. Wycliffe emerged from Townsend's Protestantism which sees the intercultural and cross-language spread of the Christian message as a vital command from Jesus himself which all Christians should support in one way or another. This type of Protestantism adheres to the principle of sola scriptura and regards Biblical texts as the authoratative infallible and inerrant word of God. Wycliffe's methods, while aiding in spreading the Christian gospel cross-culturally, emphasize a Protestant understanding of the faith.

The Method

In a pioneering WBT mission, WBT senior workers first present the ministry's advantages to the government in charge of a region, and then request permission to operate. The application is always made in the government's native language, in a culturally-adapted form. After it receives permission to operate, several small teams research a region's linguistic populations. Usually they search for populations that are strategic in some form, a bridge to other populations, a trading group, or at least a central location. After this survey, teams are sent to each linguistic group. Strategic languages may have higher priority, but even small language groups will eventually get a team. A team is usually a married couple or two singles of the same sex. The team is introduced to a friendly group, usually with the aid of bilingual helpers such as traders or guides. The team lives on site, and attempts to speak the language, usually with children and old people who stay near home. Formal recordings, word lists and grammars are kept, usually on computers, backed up periodically to the national mission. When the phonology is well understood, the team selects a writing system similar to those in use by nearby trading languages. For example, in the Middle East, Arabic lexicography is often used, while in South America, the Latin alphabet is usually preferred. At some point, the team begins to translate short portions of the Bible into the native language. The translation is always tested and corrected with several native speakers, as well as the existing lexicographies and grammars. At some point in modern efforts, computer-assisted translation may start, but the computer's text is merely a starting point for a more careful manual translation. The way that the work progresses is that first selected parts of the Bible are translated. As the Bible translation proceeds, WBT also produces a reading curriculum for illiterate cultures. When that is tested, literacy training can begin. Next, one of the gospels is typically completed, and then the rest of the New Testament. Completion of parts or all of the Old Testament follows, and the work is sometimes taken over in large part by multilingual native pastors and Christians working in association with WBT. Once the Bible is translated, high-quality low-cost printings are arranged, often through one of the United Bible Societies.

External links

- [http://www.wycliffe.net/ Official site of Wycliffe International] Wycliffe Bible Translators Wycliffe Bible Translators Category:Evangelical parachurch organisations

1320

Events

- January 20 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland
- April 6 - The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.
- Ghiyas al-Din Tughlaq founds the Tughlaq dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate.
- The Venetian Arsenal is rebuilt as the Arsenal Nuovo.
- Second Shepherds' Crusade.

Births

- April 8 - King Peter I of Portugal (died 1367)
- John Hawkwood, English mercenary (died 1394)
- Ukhaatu Khan, Grand Khan of the Mongol Empire (died 1370)
- Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine (died 1346)
- Emperor Mingzong of Yuan China (died 1329)
- Nissim of Gerona, talmudist and authority in Jewish law (died 1380)
- Michael Panaretos, chronicler of Trebizond (died 1390)
- Louis of Taranto (died 1362)
- William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester (died 1404)

Deaths

- July 11 - Robert II of Artois, French soldier (b. 1250)
- July 20 - King Oshin of Armenia (b. 1282)
- Geoffrey of Paris, French chronicler
- Emperor Renzong of Yuan China
- Farsi, Persian mathematician and physicist (born 1260) Category:1320 ko:1320년

1384

Events

- May / September 3 - Siege of Lisbon by the Castilian army, during the 1383-1385 Crisis.
- November 16 - Hedwig is crowned King of Poland, although she is a woman.

Births

- Antoine, Duke of Brabant (died 1415)
- St Frances of Rome (died 1440)
- Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxiana (died 1411)

Deaths

- January 1 - King Charles II of Navarre (b. 1332)
- January 30 - Louis II of Flanders (b. 1330)
- June 8 - Kanami, Japanese actor and playwright (born 1333)
- August 20 - Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life (born 1340)
- September 20 - King Louis I of Naples (b. 1339)
- December 31 - John Wycliffe, English theologian and Bible translator
- Joanna of Dreux, Countess of Penthievre and nominal Duchess of Brittany (born 1319)
- John of Fordun, Scottish chronicler
- Lubart, King of Galicja
- Peter of Enghien, Count of Lecce
- Ruaidri mac Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht Category:1384 ko:1384년

Theologian

Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, "God", + λογος, logos, "word" or "reason"). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. A theologian is a person learned in theology. religious topics

History of the term

The word "Theology" is derived from Hellenistic Greek, but its meaning has changed significantly through its use in the European Christian thought of the Middle ages and Enlightenment The term theologia is used in Classical Greek literature, with the meaning "discourse on the gods or cosmology" (see Lidell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon for references). Since the authority of Hellenistic city states was partly based on religious observance, those who first sought to ask difficult questions about the gods were often viewed as heretics, or in the language of the day "atheists". Socrates is famous for having been condemned to death for teaching youths atheism (though in fact he had not). Plato, his pupil, wrote several discourses on the gods, though his doctrine of forms and emanations would be more significant for later Theology. Aristotle divided theoretical philosophy into mathematice, phusike and theologike, with the latter corresponding roughly to metaphysics, which for Aristotle included discussion of the nature of the divine. The term has since been appropriated by a number of Eastern and Western religious traditions. Drawing on Greek sources, the Latin writer Varro influentially distinguished three forms of such discourse: mythical (concerning the myths of the Greek gods), rational (philosophical analysis of the gods and of cosmology) and civil (concerning the rites and duties of public religious observance). Christian writers, working within the Hellenistic mould, began to use the term to describe their studies. It appears once in some biblical manuscripts, in the heading to the book of Revelation: apokalupsis ioannou tou theologou, "the revelation of John the theologos". There, however, we are probably dealing with a slightly different sense of the root logos, to mean not "rational discourse" but "word" or "message": ho theologos here is probably meant to tell us that the author of Revelation has presented God's revealed messages – words of God, logoi tou theou – not that he was a "theologian" in the modern English sense of the word. Other Christian writers used the term with several different ranges of meaning. # Some Latin authors, such as Tertullian and Augustine followed Varro's threefold usage, described above. # In patristic Greek sources, theologia could refer narrowly to the discussion of the nature and attributes of God. # In other patristic Greek sources, theologia could also refer narrowly to the discussion of the attribution of divine nature to Jesus. (It is in this sense that Gregory Nazianzus was nicknamed "the theologian": he was a staunch defender of the divinity of Christ.) # In medieval Greek and Latin sources, theologia (in the sense of "an account or record of the ways of God") could refer simply to the Bible. # In scholastic Latin sources, the term came to denote the rational study of the doctrines of the Christian religion, or (more precisely) the academic discipline which investigated the coherence and implications of the language and claims of the Bible and of the theological tradition (the latter often as represented in Peter Lombard's Sentences, a book of extracts from the Church Fathers). It is the last of these senses which lies behind most modern uses (though the second is also found in some academic and ecclesiastical contexts), and while the term "theology" can refer to any discussion of the nature of God or the gods, or indeed the discussion of any religious topic, it is also regularly used to denote the academic study (in Universities, seminaries and elsewhere) of the doctrines of Christianity, or of any other religion, or of the relationships and contrasts between various different religions, although the latter is a field more usually termed "comparative religion."

A brief history of "Theologies"

::Main article: History of theology Classical Greek theology (c.700 BC to 323 BC). Various forms of systematic and philosophical reflection on Ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology arose in the classical period - from Hesiod's attempts to organise the diverse materials of mythology into a unified Theogony to the more properly philosophical analysis reportedly carried out by Socrates. Plato's Timaeus and Aristotle's Metaphysics Book Lambda are two of the most influential writings of Classical Greek theology. Hellenistic theology (323 BC to 529 AD). Philosophical reflection on the gods, on religion, and on the origins and governance of the Universe, flourished in the Hellenistic period amongst both Greek- and Latin-speaking thinkers. Amongst the very diverse movements of Hellenistic philosophy in which theological reflection could be found were Cynicism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Middle Platonism, and Neoplatonism. Influential texts include Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus, Cicero's de Natura Deorum, Lucretius' de Rerum Natura, Epictetus' Enchiridion, and Plotinus' Enneads. Hellenistic theology, which could be deemed to last until the suppression of the Athenian Academy in 529 by Justinian I, overlaps with early Jewish and early Christian theology (see below), and several strands of thought important particularly to early Christian thought arise within Hellenistic circles: attempts to explain the apparent caprice of the gods, Atheism, the development of monotheism, the idea of God as first cause or form of the Good, the dualism of spirit and matter in humanity, and redemption (the release of the spirit from its material prison to a higher spiritual world) through knowledge. See also Greek mythology - Hellenistic rationalism and Ancient Greek religion - Theology Early Jewish theology (to c.200 AD). Two strands of Jewish theology develop in this period. On the one hand, there are those oral traditions of Rabbinic exegesis (Midrash) and legal discussion (Mishnah) that eventually began to be written down towards the end of the 2nd Century AD. Important figures include Gamliel I, Yohanan ben Zakkai, Gamliel II, Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Judah haNasi. On the other hand, there is the attempt to accommodate traditional Jewish exegesis of the Jewish Scriptures and tradition with Greek philosophy - a strand of thought of which Philo is the best known proponent. The destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 AD and the dispersion of many Jews from Israel had a profound effect on Jewish Theology. Early Christian theology, coming partly from Hellenistic Judaism, therefore had no trouble in expressing itself in the Greek language (i.e. the New Testament). Whilst the conception of a canon of sacred books was inherited from Judaism, their interpretation soon came to be heavily influenced by Greek allegorical methods (e.g. Origen). Origen" during the long decline of the Roman Empire]] Patristic Theology (c. 100 – 500 AD) is so called because certain men (Fathers or "Patroi") concerned themselves with determining the degree to which the Christian faith could be accommodated to Hellenistic thought. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote to combat those who made Christianity into Gnostic Theology. Justin Martyr sought to use Hellenistic philosophy and Natural Theology to justify Christianity to the Romans. Later Theologians especially sought to show how three divine persons could be one in substance (the Trinity, see Council of Nicea) and how Jesus (a man of material flesh, see Council of Chalcedon) could at also be divine. These statements though held to be philosophically illogical were nevertheless held to be true, human reason being incapable of understanding them. This was an important development that would define the Theology of the Middle Ages in Islam as well as Christianity. Important theologians were Athanasius, Gregory of Nazanzius, Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome. The fall of the Roman empire affected Theology in two main ways; Firstly monasticism became more popular and ascetic, and mystical theology therefore became more prevalent. Secondly, the increasing influence of the Bishop of Rome (The Pope) in theological doctrine and cultural differences between the two remnants of the Roman empire caused the doctrine of apostolic succession to be more important. The two sides finally split in 1054. The collapse of the Roman Empire meant that most Theology occurred in Monasteries with few of the resources of classical scholarship available. Over time many local variations in Theology developed and the traditions of pre-Christian religions were sometimes included in Theology as well as practice. Likewise, in the East, (Greece and the Levant) Theology became increasingly influenced by speculative neo-Platonism. The epistle of Dionysius the Areopagite was a popular guide with such ideas. Many monks came to emphasize the idea of the inherent evil of the world. Islam established itself in this atmosphere and began also to practice Theology. Although Islam is often considered to lack a "Theology" as in Christianity there were many attempts to frame Islamic ideas within Greek thought, especially during the early abbassids and the reign of the caliph al-mamun. However, this movement, Mu’tazilism, became discredited through the Abassids attempts to use it to enforce religious unity, and the popular and orthodox considered Hellenistic thought to be unhelpful and error. Theology would continue to be practiced, but was usually done so by an elite of intellectuals whose ideas would seldom be made public. These included Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Averroes, Avicenna and Al-Ghazali. High Medieval theology in Western Europe combined the Theology inherited from Dark-age monasticism with new learning from classical Hellenistic documents from the Islamic world. Thomas Aquinas, Anselm, John Duns Scotus and Peter Abelard were among the most important Theologians of this period. Peter Abelard]] The Renaissance yielded scholars the ability to read the scriptures in their original languages and this in part stimulated the Reformation, a Theological movement that based its "Protests" on a new understanding of the Bible. Most important were Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, Melancthon, Martin Bucer and the Anabaptists. Their Theology was developed by successors such as Theodore Beza, the English Puritans and Francis Turretin. The Catholic counter-reformation spearheaded by the Jesuits under Ignatius Loyola took their Theology from the decisions of the Council of Trent. The overall result of the Reformation was therefore to highlight distinctions of belief that had previously co-existed uneasily. The fall of Constantinople in the east, 1453, led to a significant shift of gravity to the rising state of Russia, the "Third Rome". The Renaissance would also stimulate a program of reforms by patriarchs of prayer books. A movement called the "Old believers" consequently resulted and influenced Russian Orthodox Theology in the direction of conservatism and Erastianism. After the Reformation protestant groups continued to splinter, leading to a range of new Theologies. The "Enthusiasts" were so named because of their emotional zeal. These included the Methodists, the Quakers and Baptists. Another group sought to reconcile Christian faith with "Modern" ideas, sometimes causing them to reject beliefs they considered to be illogical, including the Nicene creed and Chalcedonian creed. these included Unitarians and Universalists. The Nineteenth Century saw the rise of biblical criticism, new knowledge of religious diversity in other continents and above all the growth of science. This led many church men to espouse a form of Deism. This, along with concepts such as the brotherhood of man and a rejection of miracles led to what is called "Classic Liberalism". Immensely influential in its day, classic liberalism suffered badly as a result of the two world wars and fell prey to the criticisms of postmodernism.postmodernism Theologian]] Postmodern theology seeks to respond to the challenges of post modern and deconstructionist thought, and has included the death of God movement, Process Theology, Feminist theology and Queer Theology and most importantly Neo-orthodox Theology. Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann and Reinhold Niebuhr were Neo-Orthodoxies main representatives. In particular Barth labeled his Theology "Dialectical Theology", a reference to existentialism. The predominance of Classic Liberalism resulted in many reactionary movements amongst conservative believers. Evangelical theology, Pentecostal or Renewal theology and Fundamentalist theology, often combined with Dispensationalism, all moved from the fringe into the academy. Marxism stimulated the significant rise of Liberation Theology which can be interpreted as a challenge to Academic Theology that fails to challenge the establishment and help the poor. From the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth many groups established themselves that derived many of their beliefs from protestant evangelical groups but significantly differed in doctrine. These include the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Latter Day Saints and many so called "cults". Many of these groups use the protestant version of the bible and typically interpret it in a fundamentalist fashion, adding, however, special prophecy or scriptures, and typically denying the trinity and the full deity of Jesus Christ. Ecumenical Theology sought to discover a common consensus on theological matters that could bring the many Christian denominations together. As a movement it was successful in helping to provide a basis for the establishment of the World council of churches and for some reconciliation between more established denominations. But ecumenical theology was nearly always the concern of liberal theologians, often protestant ones. The movement for ecumenism was opposed especially by fundamentalists and viewed as flawed by many neo-orthodox theologians. The pattern of challenge from a changing world, liberal response from official representatives and orthodox backlash from conservatives is found also in the history of Islam and Judaism. Reform Judaism represents a liberal interpretation as against Orthodox Judaism, and moderate or Liberal Islam continues to be theologically distinct from Islamic Fundamentalism, notably its Wahabi and Deobandi Schools. As other religions came to be studied in Western post Christian academies the term Theology was applied to them, though, as noted below, this may be a serious misnomer!

Theology and religions other than Christianity

In academic theological circles, there is some debate as to whether theology is an activity peculiar to the Christian religion. If so we should distinguish Christian Theology from others. It is seen by some to be a term only appropriate to the study of a deity (a theos) within a presupposed belief in the ability to speak and reason about the subject (in logia) - and so to be less appropriate in religious contexts which are organized differently (i.e. religions without a deity, or which deny that such subjects can be studied logically). reason For example, some academic courses on Buddhism which are dedicated to the rational investigation of a Buddhist understanding of the world prefer the designation Buddhist philosophy to the term Buddhist theology, since Buddhism lacks the same conception of a theos. The same might be said of Hinduism which has many devas (deities). See for example, Vaishnava Theology, Advaita Vedanta and Hinduism#Nature of God. Moreover, the application of the term Theology to religions similar to Christianity can be misleading. in Islam, theological discussion which parallels Christian theological discussion has been a minor and even slightly disreputable activity, named "Kalam"; the Islamic analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be the investigation and elaboration of Islamic law, or "Fiqh". In Judaism the historical absence of political authority has meant that most theological reflection has happened within the context of the Jewish community and synagogue, rather than within specialised academic institutions. Nevertheless Jewish Theology has been historically very active and highly significant for Christian and Islamic Theology. Once again, the Jewish analogue of Christian theological discussion would more properly be Rabbinical discussion of Jewish law and Jewish Biblical commentaries.

Theology and the Academy

Theology has a significantly problematic relationship to Academia that is not shared by any other subject. Most universities founded before the modern era grew out of the church schools and monastic institutions of Western Europe during the High Middle Ages (e.g. University of Bologna, Paris University and Oxford University). They were founded to train young men to serve the church in Theology and Law (often Church or Canon Law). At such Universities Theological study was incomplete with Theological practice, including preaching, prayer and the Mass. Ancient Universities still maintain some of these links (e.g. having Chapels and Chaplains) and are more likely to teach Theology than other institutions. During the High Middle Ages theology was therefore the main subject at universities, being named "The Queen of the Sciences" alongside the Trivium and Quadrivium that young men were expected to study. This meant that the other subjects (including Philosophy) existed primarily to help with theological thought. With the Enlightenment universities began to change, teaching a wide range of subjects, especially in Germany, and from a Humanistic perspective. Theology was no longer the principle subject and Universities existed for many purposes, not only to train Clergy for established churches. Theology thus became unusual as the only subject to maintain a confessional basis in otherwise secular establishments. As a result theology is often distinguished from many other established Academic disciplines that cover the same subject area. Those who contend it is different claim it is distinguished by its viewpoint (it is studied from within a faith, rather than from without) and its practical involvement (theology cannot be truly studied or understood without a practical faith). Many of the early Church Fathers described the theologian as a person who "truly prays.". Non-religious theologians often disagree with these viewpoints, arguing that the term theology covers the study of religion or peoples' beliefs about God, rather than God himself. They also argue that human reason alone is sufficient to understand such subjects and that prayer and worship are not necessary. Nevertheless theology should be distinguished from the following disciplines; Comparative religion/Religious studies Philosophy of Religion The History of Religions Psychology of Religion Sociology of Religion All of these approach religion with humanistic presuppositions and assume a uniformity in religious faith and experience, unlike most theology.

Theological studies in different institutions

In Europe, the traditional places for the study of theology have been universities and seminaries. Typically the protestant state churches have trained their ministers in universities while the Catholic church has used seminaries. However, the secularization of European states has closed down the theological faculties in many countries while the Catholic church has increased the academical level of its priests by founding a number of pontifical universities. However, at least Finland and Sweden have state universities with faculties of theology training Lutheran priests as well as teachers and scholars of religion. As study of theology in these countries includes a strong (Christian) humanist content, graduates of theology who do not wish to embark on clerical career may find work also in marketing, business or administration, although this is frowned upon by many. In the United States, study of theology does not enjoy state endorsement due to the nature of the constitution of United States. Theological studies (often called Biblical studies) take place in a large number of universities, the academic level of which may vary considerably. The academic freedom of thought in many of these institutions may not reach the level of the faculties of theology in European state universities. Theologians ending up with view deemed "heretical" by the denomination upholding the institution may find themselves out of work.

Divisions of theology

Theology can be divided up in any number of ways. Many of these divisions have originated in the study of the Christian religion, although some have been adapted and extended to apply to other religions, or to the study of multiple religions. The most established distinctions are Systematic Theology, Biblical Studies/Biblical Theology, Historical Theology and Pastoral Theology. Theology can also be divided up into : Academic subdisciplines;
- Biblical Theology - focused on the investigation and interpretation of a religions' scriptures, especially noting different emphases (theologies) within different biblical books.
- Biblical Studies - focused on the interpretation and exegesis of the Bible.
- Comparative religion - focused on the comparison of common themes among different religious traditions
- Historical Theology - focused on the intellectual history of the religion
- Moral Theology - explores the moral and ethical dimensions of the religious life
- Patrology - studies the teaching of Church Fathers.
- Practical Theology - dedicated to the practical application of theological insights. Generally includes the subdisciplines of pastoral theology, homiletics, and Christian education, among others.
- Systematic theology (doctrinal theology, dogmatic theology or philosophical theology) - focused on the attempt to arrange and interpret the ideas current in the religion. Topic (or by 'Loci');
- Angelology (less common than it used to be) - angels, the unseen world
- Bibliology (a less common term than most of the others) - the Bible, the nature and means of its inspiration, etc.; hermeneutics is the study of proper biblical interpretation (exegesis).
- Christology (normally only in Christianity) - Jesus Christ, the nature of Christ, the relationship between the divine and human in Christ
- Covenant theology, an interpretive grid that understands God's plans in the Old and New Testaments as being a result of God's covenant with his chosen people. This movement is an alternative to Dispensationalism.
- Demonology (much less common than it used to be) - Satan, demons, evil spirits
- Dispensational Theology - an interpretative grid that views God's relationship with the created order as passing through successive "dispensations", in each of which the covenants of the previous one(s) may no longer be valid.
- Ecclesiology - the church
- Eschatology - literally, the study of 'last things' or 'ultimate things'. Covers subjects such as death and the afterlife, the end of history, the end of the world, the last judgment, the nature of hope and progress, etc.
- Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology - the Vaishnava Theology which emphasizes the devotee's relationship to the "Divine Couple," Radha and Krishna, and looks to Caitanya Mahaprabhu as an avatar embodying both Radha and Krishna.
- Harmatiology (often considered under 'soteriology') - sin
- Krishnology - the discourse concerning the Hindu deity Krishna within the context of Vaishnava Theology.
- Missiology (often a subsection of ecclesiology) - missions, evangelism, etc.
- Radhavallabha Theology is the Vaishnava Theology of Harivamsa Gosvami, who started the Radhavallabha sect. His theology emphasizes devotion to Radharani. This sect also has a famous temple in Vrindavan of the same name.
- Soteriology - the nature and means of salvation
- Theodicy - Attempts at reconciling the existence of all the evil and suffering in the world with the nature and power of the God or gods of the religion
- Theological anthropology - nature of human being, formerly known as the Doctrine of Man.
- Theology Proper - God or the divine: attributes, nature, and relation to the world. Often includes discussion of Creation and providence. See the nature of God in Western theology.
- Pneumatology - the Holy Spirit or divine Spirit; sometimes also 'geist' as in Hegelianism and other philosophico-theological systems;
- Vaishnava Theology is the theological discourse concerning the Hindu deity Vishnu and/or one of His avatar. Modes;
- Apophatic theology (or negative theology; sometimes contrasted with "cataphatic theology") - the discussion of what God is not, or the investigation of how language about God breaks down
- dialectical theology
- Natural theology - the discussion of those aspects of theology that can be investigated without the help of revelation, scriptures or tradition (sometimes contrasted with "positive theology") - the discussion of those aspects of theology Movements;
- Black theology
- Ecumenical theology
- Evangelical theology
- Feminist theology
- Holocaust theology(In response to the horrors of the Holocaustespecially in relation to Theodicy,
- Liberal theology
- Liberation theology
- Neo-Orthodoxy
- Paleo-Orthodoxy
- Postliberal theology or Narrative theology
- Postmodern theology
- Queer Theology
- Revisionist theology
- Transcendental Theology

Quotes

- "Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing." - H.L. Mencken
- "An authentic theology will not allow man to be obsessed with himself." - Thomas F. Torrance in Reality and Scientific Theology
- "Theology announces not just what the Bible says but what it means." - J. Kenneth Grider in A Wesleyan-Holiness Theology (Kansas City: Beacon Hill, 1994), p. 19.

External links

- [http://catholicapologeticsofamerica.blogspot.com Catholic Apologetics of America] (Roman Catholic)
- [http://swami-center.org/en/text/Theology.html General Theology — the Science about God] (New Age)
- [http://www.monergism.com/systematic.html Monergism: Systematic Theology] (conservative Calvinist)
- [http://www.geocities.com/dbusnipe/subjective_truth/theological.htm Theological Links] (Humor)
- [http://www.theopedia.com Theopedia] (conservative Calvinist)
- [http://www.theowiki.com/index.php/Main_Page TheoWiki] (InterFaith)
- [http://wesley.nnu.edu/ Wesley Center for Applied Theology] (Wesleyan/Holiness)
- [http://gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/ The Wesleys and their Times] (Wesleyan/Methodist)
- ja:神学 simple:Theology

English language

English is a West Germanic language that is spoken in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and many other countries. English is now the third-most spoken native language worldwide (after Chinese and Hindi), with some 380 million speakers. It has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries and that of the United States from the 20th century to the present. Through the global influence of native English speakers in cinema, airlines, broadcasting, science, and the Internet in recent decades, English is now the most widely learned second language in the world. Many students worldwide are required to learn some English, and a working knowledge of English is required in many fields and occupations.

History

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Old Saxon language brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of northwest Germany. The original Old English language was subsequently influenced by two successive waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of languages in the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who colonised parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The second wave was of the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke a variety of French. These two invasions caused English to become "creolised" to some degree (though it was never a full creole in the linguistic sense of the word); creolisation arises from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Friesian core of English; the later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of European languages; this new layer entered English through use in the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of considerable suppleness and huge vocabulary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, around the year 449, Vortigern, King of the British Isles, invited the "Angle kin" (Angles led by Hengest and Horsa) to help him against the Picts. In return, the Angles were granted lands in the south-east. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes). The Chronicle talks of a subsequent influx of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the heptarchy. Modern scholarship considers most of this story to be legendary and politically motivated. These Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants, whose languages survived largely in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The dialects spoken by the invaders formed what would be called Old English, which resembled some coastal dialects in what are now the Netherlands and north-west Germany. Later, it was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the north-east (see Jorvik). The new and the earlier settlers spoke languages from different branches of the Germanic family; many of their lexical roots were the same or similar, although their grammars were more distant, including the prefixes, suffixes and inflections of many of their words. The Germanic language of these Old English inhabitants of Britain would be partly creolised by the contact with Norse invaders. This resulted in a stripping away of much of the grammar of Old English, including gender and case, with the notable exception of the pronouns; thus, the language became simpler and plainer. The most famous work from the Old English period is the epic poem "Beowulf", by an unknown poet. For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and the high nobility spoke only a variety of French. A large number of Norman words were assimilated into Old English, with some words doubling for Old English words (for instance, ox/beef, sheep/mutton). The Norman influence reinforced the continual evolution of the language over the following centuries, resulting in what is now referred to as Middle English. Among the changes was a broadening in the use of a unique aspect of English grammar, the "continuous" tenses, with the suffix "-ing". During the 15th century, Middle English was transformed by the Great Vowel Shift, the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration, and the standardising