JOHN WYCLIFFE by bill gemaehlich
T
his month’s hero of faith who encourages me as we walk through this tumultuous season is English theologian, Bible translator, and reformer, John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe was born near Richmond in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England sometime in the late 1320s. He went to study at Oxford University around 1345
and by 1360 was chosen to be Master of Balliol College. Soon after arriving at Oxford, the Black Death began to ravage England and it is estimated to have wiped out between 30 to 40 per cent of the population. This had a profound effect on Wycliffe’s life and the society in which he lived.
