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My protest is made, not in defense of the Papacy, but of the Bible. If any one can point <em>to a single passage of Scripture </em>relating to Antichrist, whether in the Old Testament or in the New, which can, without whittling it down, and frittering away the meaning of the words, find its <em>fulfillment </em>in Popery, I will publicly retract, and confess my error. Take 2 Thessalonians 2:4 as a sample of the rest. The "man of sin" "opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped [Greek, that is an object of worship], so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God." This means merely, forsooth, that on certain occasions the Pope's seat in St. Peter's is raised above the level of the altar on which the "consecrated wafer" lies! Such statements I care not what names may be cited in support of them are an insult to our intelligence and an outrage upon the word of God.  
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==WICLIFFE AND HIS TIMES, OR ADVENT OF PROTESTANTISM==
<strong>[[#12|12]] </strong><br>
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'''[[Chapter 1 WICLIFFE: HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION]]'''
Then, again, in the ninth verse, the coming of the "Lawless One" is said to be "according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders." These words are explained by the vision of the Beast in the thirteenth chapter of the Revelation, which declares that "the Dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great authority." And we have from the lips of our blessed Lord Himself the warning, that the "great signs and wonders," thus to be wrought by Satanic power, shall be such that, "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24.) In a word, the awful and mysterious power of Satan will be brought to bear upon Christendom with such terrible effect, that human intellect will be utterly confounded. Agnosticism and infidelity will capitulate in presence of overwhelming proof that supernatural agencies are at work. And if faith itself, divinely given, shall stand the test, it is only because it is impossible for God to allow His own elect to perish. <br>
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The Principle and the Rite — Rapid Growth of the One — Slow Progress and ultimate Triumph of the Other — England — Wicliffe — His Birthplace — His Education — Goes to Oxford — Enters Merton College — Its Fame — The Evangelical Bradwardine — His Renown — Pioneers the Way for Wicliffe — The Philosophy of those Days — Wicliffe's Eminence as a Scholastic — Studies also the Canon and Civil Laws — His Conversion — Theological Studies — The Black Death — Ravages Greece, Italy, etc. — Enters England — Its awful Desolations — Its Impression on Wicliffe — Stands Face to Face with Eternal Death — Taught not to Fear the Death of the Body.  
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'''[[Chapter 2 WICLIFFE, AND THE POPE'S ENCROACHMENTS ON ENGLAND]]
When we demand the meaning of all this, we get answer "Popery." But where, we ask, are the "great signs and wonders" of the Popish system? And, in reply, we are told of its millinery, and its mummery, and all the well-known artifices of priestcraft, which constitute its special stock-in-trade. As though there were anything in <em>these </em>to deceive the elect of God! To take the low ground of mere Protestantism, it is notorious that here in England none become entangled in the toils of Rome save such as have already become enervated and corrupted by sacerdotalism and superstition within the communion they abandon. And it is no less notorious that, in Roman Catholic countries, the majority of men maintain towards it an attitude of either benevolent or contemptuous indifference. Remembering, moreover, that the followers of the Beast are doomed to endless and hopeless destruction, we go on to inquire whether this is to be the fate of every Roman Catholic. By no means, we are assured; for, in spite of the evils and errors of the Romish Church, some within its pale are reckoned among the number of "God's elect." <br>
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Personal Appearance of Wicliffe — His Academic Career — Bachelor of Theology — Lectures on the Bible — England Quarrels with the Pope — Wicliffe Defends the King's Prerogative — Innocent III. — The Pope Appoints to the See of Canterbury — King John Resists — England Smitten with Interdict — Terrors of the Sentence — The Pope Deposes the King — Invites the French King to Conquer England — John becomes the Pope's Vassal — The Barons extort Magna Charta — The Pope Excommunicates the Barons — Annuls the Charter — The Courage of the Barons Saves England Demand of Urban V. Growth of England — National Opposition to Papal Usurpations — Papal Abuses — Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire.  
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'''[[Chapter 3 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH ROME FOR ENGLAND'S INDEPENDENCE]]
What conclusion, then, are we to come to? Are we to accept it as a canon of interpretation that Scripture never means what it says? Are we to hold that its language is so loose and unreliable as to be practically false? We repudiate the profane suggestion; and, adopting the only possible alternative, we boldly assert that all these solemn words still await their fulfillment. In a word, we are shut up to the conclusion that THE ANTICHRIST IS YET TO COME. </p>
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Impatience of the King and the Nation — Assembling of Lords and Commons — Shall England Bow to Rome? — The Debate — The Pope's Claim Unanimously Repudiated — England on the Road to Protestantism — Wicliffe's Influence — Wicliffe Attacked by an Anonymous Monk — His Reply — Vindicates the Nation's Independence — A Momentous Issue — A Greater Victory than Crecy — His Appeal to Rome Lost — Begins to be regarded as the Centre of a New Age.  
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'''[[Chapter 4 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH THE MENDICANT FRIARS]]
APPENDIX 3. </strong><strong>FOOTNOTES </strong><br>
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Wicliffe's Mental Conflicts — Rise of the Monastic Orders — Fascinating Pictures of Monks and Monasteries — Early Corruption of the Orders — Testimony of Contemporary Witnesses — The New Monastic Orders — Reason for their Institution — St. Francis — His Early Life — His Appearance before Innocent III. — Commission to Found an Order — Rapid Increase of the Franciscans — St. Dominic — His Character — Founds the Dominicans — Preaching Missionaries and Inquisitors — Constitution of the New Orders — The Old and New Monks Compared — Their Vow of Poverty — How Evaded — Their Garb — Their Vast Wealth — Palatial Edifices — Their Frightful Degeneracy — Their Swarms Overspread England — Their Illegal Practices — The Battle against them Begun by Armachanus — He Complains against them to the Pope — His Complaint Disregarded — He Dies.  
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'''[[Chapter 5 THE FRIARS VERSUS THE GOSPEL IN ENGLAND]]
<div id=""19-1"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-1"><strong>1 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>Were I now writing that note in the light of passing events, I should specify France where I have named Germany, and I should allude to the efforts now making by Russia to acquire a naval station in the Mediterranean. <br>
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The Joy of the Friars — Wicliffe Resumes the Battle — Demands the Abolition of the Orders — The Arrogance of the Friars — Their Luxury — Their Covetousness — Their Oppression of the Poor — The Agitation in England — Questions touching the Gospel raised thereby — Is it from the Friar or from Christ that Pardon is to be had? — Were Christ and the Apostles Mendicants? — Wicliffe's Tractate, Objections to Friars — It launches him on his Career as a Reformer — Preaches in this Tractate the Gospel to England — Attack on the Power of the Keys — No Pardon but from God — Salvation without Money.  
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'''[[Chapter 6 THE BATTLE OF THE PARLIAMENT WITH THE POPE]]
<div id=""19-2"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-2"><strong>2 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>2 Thes salonians 2:1, 2, R. V. "The day of Christ" in A. V. is a wrong reading. <br>
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Resume of Political Progress — Foreign Ecclesiastics appointed to English Benefices — Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire meant to put an End to the Abuse — The Practice still Continued — Instances — Royal Commissioners sent to Treat with the Pope concerning this Abuse — Wicliffe chosen one of the Commissioners — The Negotiation a Failure — Nevertheless of Benefit to Wicliffe by the Insight it gave him into the Papacy — Arnold Garnier — The "Good Parliament" — Its Battle with the Pope — A Greater Victory than Crecy — Wicliffe waxes Bolder — Rage of the Monks.  
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'''[[Chapter 7 PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE BY THE POPE AND THE HIERARCHY]]
<div id=""19-3"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-3"><strong>3 </strong></a><strong>] </strong><em>See </em>1 Corinthians 11:26: "As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death <em>till He come." </em>No past but the Cross; no future but the Coming. To separate the believer from the Coming is as great an outrage upon Christianity as to separate him from the Cross. <br>
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Wicliffe's Writings Examined — His Teaching submitted to the Pope — Three Bulls issued against him — Cited to appear before the Bishop of London — John of Gaunt Accompanies him — Portrait of Wicliffe before his Judges — Tumult — Altercation between Duke of Lancaster and Bishop of London — The Mob Rushes in — The Court Broken up — Death of Edward III. — Meeting of Parliament — Wicliffe Summoned to its Councils — Question touching the Papal Revenue from English Sees submitted to him — Its Solution — England coming out of the House of Bondage.  
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'''[[Chapter 8 HIERARCHICAL PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE RESUMED]]
<div id=""19-4"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-4"><strong>4 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>Romans 11; <em>see </em>vv. 1, 2, 9, 12, 15-26. Note that "all Israel" is not = <em>every Israelite, </em>for in the Greek there is no such ambiguity as in English; and the seeming contradictions in the chapter are explained by the fact that the "cast away" of vv. 1, 2, is a wholly different word from the "casting away" of ver. 15, and the "fall" of ver. 11 from the "fall" of ver. 12. <br>
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Arrival of the Three Bulls — Wicliffe's Anti-Papal Policy — Entirely Subversive of Romanism — New Citation — Appears before the Bishops at Lambeth — The Crowd — Its Reverent Behavior to Wicliffe — Message from the Queen — Dowager to the Court — Dismay of the Bishops — They abruptly Terminate the Sitting — English Tumults in the Fourteenth Century compared with French Revolutions in the Nineteenth — Substance of Wicliffe's Defense — The Binding and Loosing Power.  
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'''[[Chapter 9 WICLIFFE'S VIEWS ON CHURCH PROPERTY AND CHURCH REFORM]]
<div id=""19-5"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-5"><strong>5 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>2 Thessalonians 1:7, 8. The "mighty angels" of the prophecy are, I presume, the "holy ones" of Zechariah 14:5. <br>
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An Eternal Inheritance — Overgrown Riches — Mortmain — Its Ruinous Effects — These Pictured and Denounced by Wicliffe — His Doctrine touching Ecclesiastical Property — Tithes — Novelty of his Views — His Plan of Reform — How he Proposed to Carry it out — Rome a Market — Wicliffe's Independence and Courage — His Plan substantially Proposed in Parliament after his Death — Advance of England — Her Exodus from the Prison-house — Sublimity of the Spectacle — Ode of Celebration.  
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'''[[Chapter 10 THE TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, OR THE ENGLISH BIBLE.]]
<div id=""19-6"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-6"><strong>6 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>Between the first of these and the second, there will no doubt intervene a period at least as long as that which elapsed between His coming to Bethlehem and His manifestation to Israel at His first advent, and probably a period very much more prolonged. Whether the interval between the second and third will be measured by days or years, we are wholly unable to decide. The only certain indication of its length is that the Antichrist, whose power will be broken by the one, will be actually destroyed by the other. <br>
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Peril of Wicliffe — Death of Gregory XI. — Death of Edward III. — Consequent Safety of Wicliffe — Schism in the Papal Chair — Division in Christendom — Which is the True Pope? — A Papal Thunderstorm — Wicliffe Retires to Lutterworth — His Views still Enlarging — Supreme Authority of Scripture — Sickness, and Interview with the Friars — Resolves to Translate the Bible — Early Translations — Bede, etc. — Wicliffe's Translation — Its Beauty — The Day of the Reformation has fairly Broken — Transcription and Publication - Impression produced — Right to Read the Bible — Denounced by the Priests -Defended by Wicliffe - Transformation accomplished on England.  
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'''[[Chapter 11 WICLIFFE AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION]]
I am here assuming that all the events which are yet to be fulfilled will occur in a comparatively brief period. But I wish to guard myself against the idea that I <em>assert </em>this. I deprecate in the strongest way the idea, now so common, that students of astronomy and mathematics have solved the mystery which God has expressly kept in His own power. Could any student of the Old Testament have dreamed that nearly two thousand years would intervene between the sufferings of Christ and His return in glory? Would the early Christians have tolerated such a suggestion? And if another thousand years should yet run their course before the Church is taken up, or if a thousand years should intervene between that event and the Coming to the Mount of Olives, not a single word of Scripture would be broken. As, I have said, "it is only in so far as prophecy falls within the seventy weeks that it comes within the range of human chronology." Much is made of supposed eras of 1, 260 and 2, 520 years. But even if we could certainly fix the epoch of any such era, the question would remain whether they may not be <em>mystic </em>periods, like the 480 years of 1 Kings 6:1. <br>
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Wicliffe Old – Continues the War – Attacks Transubstantiation – History of the Dogma – Wicliffe's Doctrine on the Eucharist – Condemned by the University Court – Wicliffe Appeals to the King and Parliament, and Retires to Lutterworth – The Insurrection of Wat Tyler – The Primate Sudbury Beheaded – Courtenay elected Primate – He cites Wicliffe before him – The Synod at Blackfriars – An Earthquake – The Primate reassures the Terrified Bishops – Wicliffe's Doctrine on the Eucharist Condemned – The Primate gains over the King – The First Persecuting Edict – Wicliffe's Friends fall away.  
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'''[[Chapter 12 WICLIFFE'S APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT]].
<div id=""19-7"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-7"><strong>7 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>It occurs four times in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8. <br>
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Parliament meets – Wicliffe appears, and demands a Sweeping Reform – His Propositions touching the Monastic Orders – The Church's Temporalities – Transubstantiation – His growing Boldness – His Views find an echo in Parliament – The Persecuting Edict Repealed.  
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'''[[Chapter 13 WICLIFFE BEFORE CONVOCATION IN PERSON, AND BEFORE THE ROMAN CURIA BY LETTER]]
<div id=""19-8"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-8"><strong>8 </strong></a><strong>] </strong><em>Se </em>e, <em>e. g., </em>Chap. 9. and App., note C. <br>
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Convocation at Oxford — Wicliffe cited — Arraigned on the Question of Transubstantiation — Wicliffe Maintains and Reiterates the Teaching of his whole Life — He Arraigns his Judges — They are Dismayed — Wicliffe Retires Unmolested — Returns to Lutterworth — Cited by Urban VI. to Rome — Unable to go — Sends a Letter — A Faithful Admonition — Scene in the Vatican — Christ's and Antichrist's Portraits.  
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'''[[Chapter 14 WICLIFFE'S LAST DAYS]]
<div id=""19-9"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-9"><strong>9 </strong></a><strong>] </strong><em>See </em>especially the quotation from Dean Alford. <br>
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Anticipation of a Violent Death — Wonderfully Shielded by Events — Struck with Palsy — Dies December 31st, 1384 — Estimate of his Position and Work — Completeness of his Scheme of Reform — The Father of the Reformation — The Founder of England's Liberties.  
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'''[['''Chapter 15 WICLIFFE'S THEOLOGICAL AND CHURCH SYSTEM]]]
<div id=""19-10"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-10"><strong>10 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>It is only by reason of its almost inconceivable silliness that such. teaching can escape the charge of profanity. <br>
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His Theology drawn from the Bible solely — His Teaching embraced the Following Doctrines: The Fall — Man's Inability — Did not formulate his Views into a System — His "Postils" — His Views on Church Order and Government — Apostolic Arrangements his Model — His Personal Piety — Lechler's Estimate of him as a Reformer.
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<div id=""19-11"></a><strong>[ </strong><a href="http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Voice/The.Coming.Prince.Appendix.html#return 19-11"><strong>11 </strong></a><strong>] </strong>For instance, he becomes vehement in denouncing my statement that "all Christian interpreters are agreed" in recognizing a parenthesis in Daniel's prophetic vision of the beasts. No doubt he read the passage as though I had there spoken of the <em>fall </em>of the Roman empire, and not its "rise"; for the statement is indisputably true, and he himself is numbered among the "Christian interpreters" who endorse it. Here is another specimen. With reference to the question of the ten kingdoms, he says, "Dr. Anderson and other Futurist writers…teach – (1) that the ten horns are not yet risen; (2) that when they do rise five will be found in Greek territory, and five only in Roman; and that when at last developed, (3) after a gap of 1, 400 years of which the prophecy takes no notice at all, (4) they will last for three and a half years" (p. 737). <br>
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I have numbered these sentences to enable me briefly to remind the intelligent reader that, excepting No. I, everything here attributed to me is in flat opposition to some of the plainest statements in my book. In the same way he attributes to me the figment that the career of Antichrist will be limited to three and a half years. I have sometimes wondered whether he ever read <em>The Coming Prince </em>at all! A word as to his strictures on my title. I am aware of course that in the Hebrew of Daniel 9:26, there is not the article, but I am not misled by the inference he draws from its omission. Had the article been used, the prince intended would clearly have been <em>"Messiah </em>the Prince" of ver. 25. In English the article has not this force, and therefore it is rightly inserted, as both the Translators and the Revisers have recognized. Dr. Tregelles here remarks, "This destruction is here said to be wrought by a certain people, not by the prince who shall come, but by his people: this refers us, I believe, to the Romans as the last holders of undivided Gentile power; they wrought the destruction long ages ago. The prince who shall come is the last head of the Roman power, the person concerning whom Daniel had received so much previous instruction." Such is the pre-eminence of this great leader that he is bracketed with our Lord Himself in this prophecy, and the people of the Roman empire are described as being <em>his </em>people. Yet Mr. Guinness believes that Titus is referred to! Really the day is past for discussing such a suggestion. <br>
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I may here remark that the rendering of Daniel 9:27 in the Revised Version disposes of the figment that it was Messiah who made a seven years' covenant with the Jews. The causing the sacrifice to cease is not an incident in the midst of the "week," but a violation of the treaty <em>"for half of the week." <br>
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[[#a12|'''12''']]The reference to the Temple is explained by Daniel 9:27, 12:11, and Matthew 24:15. These teachers ask us to believe that while the Church of Rome is the Beast and the Harlot and everything that is corrupt and infamous in apostate Christianity, yet St. Peter's, the great central shrine of this apostasy, is owned by God as being <em>the Temple of God. </em>The sacrifice of the Mass they denounce as idolatrous and blasphemous, and yet we are t6 suppose that Holy Scripture refers to it as representing all that is Divine on earth! The sacred words admit of only one meaning, viz., that the Antichrist, claiming to be himself Divine, will suppress all worship rendered to any other god. <br>
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Such are the wild extravagances and puerilities of interpretation and of forecast which mar the writings of these interpreters, that men have come to regard these visions, which ought to inspire reverence and awe, as "principal subjects of ridicule" – the specialty of mystics and faddists. How great the need, then, for a united and sustained effort to rescue the study from the contempt into which it has fallen! Each of the recognized schools of interpretation has truth which the rival schools deny. A new era would begin if Christians would turn from all these schools – Preterist, Historical, and Futurist – and learn to read the prophecies as they read the other Scriptures: as being the word of Him who is, and was, and is to come, our Jehovah-God, with whom present, past, and future are but one "eternal now."
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Latest revision as of 20:54, 7 July 2015

WICLIFFE AND HIS TIMES, OR ADVENT OF PROTESTANTISM

Chapter 1 WICLIFFE: HIS BIRTH AND EDUCATION

The Principle and the Rite — Rapid Growth of the One — Slow Progress and ultimate Triumph of the Other — England — Wicliffe — His Birthplace — His Education — Goes to Oxford — Enters Merton College — Its Fame — The Evangelical Bradwardine — His Renown — Pioneers the Way for Wicliffe — The Philosophy of those Days — Wicliffe's Eminence as a Scholastic — Studies also the Canon and Civil Laws — His Conversion — Theological Studies — The Black Death — Ravages Greece, Italy, etc. — Enters England — Its awful Desolations — Its Impression on Wicliffe — Stands Face to Face with Eternal Death — Taught not to Fear the Death of the Body. 

Chapter 2 WICLIFFE, AND THE POPE'S ENCROACHMENTS ON ENGLAND

Personal Appearance of Wicliffe — His Academic Career — Bachelor of Theology — Lectures on the Bible — England Quarrels with the Pope — Wicliffe Defends the King's Prerogative — Innocent III. — The Pope Appoints to the See of Canterbury — King John Resists — England Smitten with Interdict — Terrors of the Sentence — The Pope Deposes the King — Invites the French King to Conquer England — John becomes the Pope's Vassal — The Barons extort Magna Charta — The Pope Excommunicates the Barons — Annuls the Charter — The Courage of the Barons Saves England — Demand of Urban V. — Growth of England — National Opposition to Papal Usurpations — Papal Abuses — Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire. 

Chapter 3 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH ROME FOR ENGLAND'S INDEPENDENCE

Impatience of the King and the Nation — Assembling of Lords and Commons — Shall England Bow to Rome? — The Debate — The Pope's Claim Unanimously Repudiated — England on the Road to Protestantism — Wicliffe's Influence — Wicliffe Attacked by an Anonymous Monk — His Reply — Vindicates the Nation's Independence — A Momentous Issue — A Greater Victory than Crecy — His Appeal to Rome Lost — Begins to be regarded as the Centre of a New Age. 

Chapter 4 WICLIFFE'S BATTLE WITH THE MENDICANT FRIARS

Wicliffe's Mental Conflicts — Rise of the Monastic Orders — Fascinating Pictures of Monks and Monasteries — Early Corruption of the Orders — Testimony of Contemporary Witnesses — The New Monastic Orders — Reason for their Institution — St. Francis — His Early Life — His Appearance before Innocent III. — Commission to Found an Order — Rapid Increase of the Franciscans — St. Dominic — His Character — Founds the Dominicans — Preaching Missionaries and Inquisitors — Constitution of the New Orders — The Old and New Monks Compared — Their Vow of Poverty — How Evaded — Their Garb — Their Vast Wealth — Palatial Edifices — Their Frightful Degeneracy — Their Swarms Overspread England — Their Illegal Practices — The Battle against them Begun by Armachanus — He Complains against them to the Pope — His Complaint Disregarded — He Dies. 

Chapter 5 THE FRIARS VERSUS THE GOSPEL IN ENGLAND

The Joy of the Friars — Wicliffe Resumes the Battle — Demands the Abolition of the Orders — The Arrogance of the Friars — Their Luxury — Their Covetousness — Their Oppression of the Poor — The Agitation in England — Questions touching the Gospel raised thereby — Is it from the Friar or from Christ that Pardon is to be had? — Were Christ and the Apostles Mendicants? — Wicliffe's Tractate, Objections to Friars — It launches him on his Career as a Reformer — Preaches in this Tractate the Gospel to England — Attack on the Power of the Keys — No Pardon but from God — Salvation without Money. 

Chapter 6 THE BATTLE OF THE PARLIAMENT WITH THE POPE

Resume of Political Progress — Foreign Ecclesiastics appointed to English Benefices — Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire meant to put an End to the Abuse — The Practice still Continued — Instances — Royal Commissioners sent to Treat with the Pope concerning this Abuse — Wicliffe chosen one of the Commissioners — The Negotiation a Failure — Nevertheless of Benefit to Wicliffe by the Insight it gave him into the Papacy — Arnold Garnier — The "Good Parliament" — Its Battle with the Pope — A Greater Victory than Crecy — Wicliffe waxes Bolder — Rage of the Monks. 

Chapter 7 PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE BY THE POPE AND THE HIERARCHY

Wicliffe's Writings Examined — His Teaching submitted to the Pope — Three Bulls issued against him — Cited to appear before the Bishop of London — John of Gaunt Accompanies him — Portrait of Wicliffe before his Judges — Tumult — Altercation between Duke of Lancaster and Bishop of London — The Mob Rushes in — The Court Broken up — Death of Edward III. — Meeting of Parliament — Wicliffe Summoned to its Councils — Question touching the Papal Revenue from English Sees submitted to him — Its Solution — England coming out of the House of Bondage. 

Chapter 8 HIERARCHICAL PERSECUTION OF WICLIFFE RESUMED

Arrival of the Three Bulls — Wicliffe's Anti-Papal Policy — Entirely Subversive of Romanism — New Citation — Appears before the Bishops at Lambeth — The Crowd — Its Reverent Behavior to Wicliffe — Message from the Queen — Dowager to the Court — Dismay of the Bishops — They abruptly Terminate the Sitting — English Tumults in the Fourteenth Century compared with French Revolutions in the Nineteenth — Substance of Wicliffe's Defense — The Binding and Loosing Power. 

Chapter 9 WICLIFFE'S VIEWS ON CHURCH PROPERTY AND CHURCH REFORM

An Eternal Inheritance — Overgrown Riches — Mortmain — Its Ruinous Effects — These Pictured and Denounced by Wicliffe — His Doctrine touching Ecclesiastical Property — Tithes — Novelty of his Views — His Plan of Reform — How he Proposed to Carry it out — Rome a Market — Wicliffe's Independence and Courage — His Plan substantially Proposed in Parliament after his Death — Advance of England — Her Exodus from the Prison-house — Sublimity of the Spectacle — Ode of Celebration. 

Chapter 10 THE TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES, OR THE ENGLISH BIBLE.

Peril of Wicliffe — Death of Gregory XI. — Death of Edward III. — Consequent Safety of Wicliffe — Schism in the Papal Chair — Division in Christendom — Which is the True Pope? — A Papal Thunderstorm — Wicliffe Retires to Lutterworth — His Views still Enlarging — Supreme Authority of Scripture — Sickness, and Interview with the Friars — Resolves to Translate the Bible — Early Translations — Bede, etc. — Wicliffe's Translation — Its Beauty — The Day of the Reformation has fairly Broken — Transcription and Publication - Impression produced — Right to Read the Bible — Denounced by the Priests -Defended by Wicliffe - Transformation accomplished on England. 

Chapter 11 WICLIFFE AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION

Wicliffe Old – Continues the War – Attacks Transubstantiation – History of the Dogma – Wicliffe's Doctrine on the Eucharist – Condemned by the University Court – Wicliffe Appeals to the King and Parliament, and Retires to Lutterworth – The Insurrection of Wat Tyler – The Primate Sudbury Beheaded – Courtenay elected Primate – He cites Wicliffe before him – The Synod at Blackfriars – An Earthquake – The Primate reassures the Terrified Bishops – Wicliffe's Doctrine on the Eucharist Condemned – The Primate gains over the King – The First Persecuting Edict – Wicliffe's Friends fall away. 

Chapter 12 WICLIFFE'S APPEAL TO PARLIAMENT.

Parliament meets – Wicliffe appears, and demands a Sweeping Reform – His Propositions touching the Monastic Orders – The Church's Temporalities – Transubstantiation – His growing Boldness – His Views find an echo in Parliament – The Persecuting Edict Repealed. 

Chapter 13 WICLIFFE BEFORE CONVOCATION IN PERSON, AND BEFORE THE ROMAN CURIA BY LETTER

Convocation at Oxford — Wicliffe cited — Arraigned on the Question of Transubstantiation — Wicliffe Maintains and Reiterates the Teaching of his whole Life — He Arraigns his Judges — They are Dismayed — Wicliffe Retires Unmolested — Returns to Lutterworth — Cited by Urban VI. to Rome — Unable to go — Sends a Letter — A Faithful Admonition — Scene in the Vatican — Christ's and Antichrist's Portraits. 

Chapter 14 WICLIFFE'S LAST DAYS

Anticipation of a Violent Death — Wonderfully Shielded by Events — Struck with Palsy — Dies December 31st, 1384 — Estimate of his Position and Work — Completeness of his Scheme of Reform — The Father of the Reformation — The Founder of England's Liberties. 

'''Chapter 15 WICLIFFE'S THEOLOGICAL AND CHURCH SYSTEM]

His Theology drawn from the Bible solely — His Teaching embraced the Following Doctrines: The Fall — Man's Inability — Did not formulate his Views into a System — His "Postils" — His Views on Church Order and Government — Apostolic Arrangements his Model — His Personal Piety — Lechler's Estimate of him as a Reformer.