The First Evangelicals.

The story of England's first evangelical movement.

Neil Rees  30 September 2024.

(Photo: Getty/iStock)

The Lollards were England's first evangelicals. This is the story ...

John Wycliffe

In the mid-fourteenth century John Wycliffe (c1324-1384), who was a dean at Oxford University, protested against the abuses of the Established Church.

Wycliffe protested against many of the abuses and corruption of the organised Church. At that time the Catholic Church used Latin for the services and used the Latin Bible. It was basically a good translation but few people, including many of the priests, knew Latin well.

The Church was a series of rituals and ceremonies which most people did out of duty. The gospel was there but often lost under layers of tradition, corrupt practices, complications and superstitions, mixed up with politics. Instead John Wycliffe emphasised personal faith and a simpler form of religion, with priests living in poverty.

Wycliffe was himself a priest who wanted to see the Church radically reformed, and he believed that they should use English instead of Latin. His quarrel was not with faith itself. He was a strong Christian who emphasised personal faith based upon the Bible, but he was opposed to the errors of man-made organised religion.

In 1368, Wycliffe moved from Oxford to Bucks when he became rector of Ludgershall, near Aylesbury. He was there until 1374, when he became a priest at Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, where he stayed until he died in 1384.

Wycliffe Bible

Wycliffe and his followers translated the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English, which was completed about 1382, and went through various revisions. This was the first complete Bible in English, and it opened up the Scriptures to ordinary people. This was before the printing press came to England, and parts were copied by hand and distributed widely.

The Lollards

Many people supported Wycliffe's ideas which spread across England. Some people became itinerant preachers. They went in pairs to towns and villages, telling people the good news (gospel) about Jesus, and doing so in English. These were known as the Lollards. They were particularly numerous in the West Country, the Chilterns, the East Midlands and East Anglia. They were mainly in England, but there were also some in Scotland.

Lollards met without a priest and were mainly a lay movement although some priests were also Lollards. They prayed in English and read the Bible in English instead of Latin, and held meetings outside a consecrated building. People gathered in each other's homes, to pray and read the Bible in English. They were educated and peaceful people. CT.