What do you think?
Rate this book
Wyclif
John Wyclif is best known as the originator of the first Bible in English and as a theologian whose ideas anticipated the Reformation. In celebration of Wyclif's sexcentenary, this collection illustrates his achievement as the foremost scholar of medieval England. The eminent contributors to the volume, who span a wide range of disciplines and contrasting schools of thought, examine Wyclif's enduring influence in the fields of history, philosophy, theology, and English language and literature.
- GenresPhilosophy
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1985
21 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Kenny
171 books116 followersSir Anthony Kenny is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of religion.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 24, 2022
Wyclif: "By making distinctions I reconcile opinions which seem verbally to be contrary to each other" (41).
“Historians of philosophy and theology have fostered the idea that in the Middle Ages realism belonged with Catholic orthodoxy and it was the growth of nominalism which paved the way for the Protestant Reformation. But this association is too facile, as is shown by Wyclif’s own career: an arch-heretic in his later life, he was at all times a passionate realist" (8).
“One of the heresies for which Wyclif was condemned after his death was the doctrine that everything happens by absolute necessity. As a result of this condemnation, he has been reputed an extreme determinist, and his theory of the relationship between the power of God and the acts of men has often been described as a rigid predestinarianism. But in fact the theory of necessity contained in his philosophical writings was a carefully nuanced one; his system left as much room for human freedom as that of any comparable theologian. Wyclif’s affirmation of predestination was no stronger than that of many Catholic thinkers, and he tried to show that it was perfectly compatible with a continuing belief in the freedom of the will" (31).
“Wyclif’s objections to current teaching on the Eucharist are both philosophical and theological. Philosophically, the theory that accidents can exist without a substance leads to many absurdities; theologically, the doctrine of transubstantiation is a novelty imposed on the faithful in recent centuries. It is not only a superfluous addition to the creeds, but contradicts the teaching of the Fathers, especially of St Augustine" (82).
“Shortly after the peasants’ revolt, Wyclif decided to leave Oxford. He resided until his death at Lutterworth, to which he was presented in 1374. One of his last acts at Oxford was to pawn his copy of the Papal decretals, the manual of Canon Law. The volumes of the Church Fathers he took with him to Lutterworth" (92-3).
“Four days later, on 21 May, the council condemned ten of these as heretical and censured fourteen less severely as ‘erroneous’. The heresies concerned the Eucharist, the limits of the sacramental powers of the clergy, the dispensability of the Papacy, and the wickedness of clerical endowment. The proceedings were interrupted by an earthquake. Wyclif, when he heard of this, naturally interpreted it as a sign of God’s displeasure at an unjust verdict. Archbishop Courtenay, however, rose to the occasion and explained to his colleagues that it was merely a symbol that the realm was breaking wind of the foul heresies that had been bottled up in it" (94).
“It is clear that the editing of Wyclif gave qualms, of varying kinds, to his nineteenth-century Lutheran, Anglican, and Catholic editors. The Low Church subscribers to the Society no doubt enjoyed the polemical works, but must have been more and more dismayed as crabbed scholastic texts began to arrive through their letter boxes. Some of the editors were so sure that Wyclif was a good Lutheran that they would read Lutheran doctrine into the text where none was to be found. Thus in the On the Truth of Scripture we find Wyclif concluding a rather balanced treatment of the celibacy of the clergy by saying, ‘It seems to me that if a priest is married he should refrain from intercourse with his wife, and indeed should not be ordained before he is released from his marriage obligations.’ Wyclif’s editor Buddensieg valiantly inserts a marginal summary: ‘Therefore a priest may marry’.
The Catholic Dziewicki, on the other hand, felt difficulties from the opposite quarter: ‘People have asked me many a time how I, nominally a Catholic, could aid in publishing the works of one so contrary to Catholicism as Wyclif is universally considered to be; and they readily supposed that I was indeed a Catholic only in name. They mistook; and though I have sincerely - and I hope successfully - tried to edit Wyclif with perfect impartiality from first to last, I have no sympathy with those of his doctrines that contradict the teaching of my Church. The facts are briefly as follows. When I was offered the position of editor of Wyclif’s Latin works, I consulted a clergyman of my faith in London, He told me that a translation into the vernacular would be forbidden, but that a mere edition of the Latin text was quite another thing'" (106).
“Historians of philosophy and theology have fostered the idea that in the Middle Ages realism belonged with Catholic orthodoxy and it was the growth of nominalism which paved the way for the Protestant Reformation. But this association is too facile, as is shown by Wyclif’s own career: an arch-heretic in his later life, he was at all times a passionate realist" (8).
“One of the heresies for which Wyclif was condemned after his death was the doctrine that everything happens by absolute necessity. As a result of this condemnation, he has been reputed an extreme determinist, and his theory of the relationship between the power of God and the acts of men has often been described as a rigid predestinarianism. But in fact the theory of necessity contained in his philosophical writings was a carefully nuanced one; his system left as much room for human freedom as that of any comparable theologian. Wyclif’s affirmation of predestination was no stronger than that of many Catholic thinkers, and he tried to show that it was perfectly compatible with a continuing belief in the freedom of the will" (31).
“Wyclif’s objections to current teaching on the Eucharist are both philosophical and theological. Philosophically, the theory that accidents can exist without a substance leads to many absurdities; theologically, the doctrine of transubstantiation is a novelty imposed on the faithful in recent centuries. It is not only a superfluous addition to the creeds, but contradicts the teaching of the Fathers, especially of St Augustine" (82).
“Shortly after the peasants’ revolt, Wyclif decided to leave Oxford. He resided until his death at Lutterworth, to which he was presented in 1374. One of his last acts at Oxford was to pawn his copy of the Papal decretals, the manual of Canon Law. The volumes of the Church Fathers he took with him to Lutterworth" (92-3).
“Four days later, on 21 May, the council condemned ten of these as heretical and censured fourteen less severely as ‘erroneous’. The heresies concerned the Eucharist, the limits of the sacramental powers of the clergy, the dispensability of the Papacy, and the wickedness of clerical endowment. The proceedings were interrupted by an earthquake. Wyclif, when he heard of this, naturally interpreted it as a sign of God’s displeasure at an unjust verdict. Archbishop Courtenay, however, rose to the occasion and explained to his colleagues that it was merely a symbol that the realm was breaking wind of the foul heresies that had been bottled up in it" (94).
“It is clear that the editing of Wyclif gave qualms, of varying kinds, to his nineteenth-century Lutheran, Anglican, and Catholic editors. The Low Church subscribers to the Society no doubt enjoyed the polemical works, but must have been more and more dismayed as crabbed scholastic texts began to arrive through their letter boxes. Some of the editors were so sure that Wyclif was a good Lutheran that they would read Lutheran doctrine into the text where none was to be found. Thus in the On the Truth of Scripture we find Wyclif concluding a rather balanced treatment of the celibacy of the clergy by saying, ‘It seems to me that if a priest is married he should refrain from intercourse with his wife, and indeed should not be ordained before he is released from his marriage obligations.’ Wyclif’s editor Buddensieg valiantly inserts a marginal summary: ‘Therefore a priest may marry’.
The Catholic Dziewicki, on the other hand, felt difficulties from the opposite quarter: ‘People have asked me many a time how I, nominally a Catholic, could aid in publishing the works of one so contrary to Catholicism as Wyclif is universally considered to be; and they readily supposed that I was indeed a Catholic only in name. They mistook; and though I have sincerely - and I hope successfully - tried to edit Wyclif with perfect impartiality from first to last, I have no sympathy with those of his doctrines that contradict the teaching of my Church. The facts are briefly as follows. When I was offered the position of editor of Wyclif’s Latin works, I consulted a clergyman of my faith in London, He told me that a translation into the vernacular would be forbidden, but that a mere edition of the Latin text was quite another thing'" (106).
October 18, 2024
An excellent and approachable guide to Wycliffe's key philosophical ideas and writings, the perfect companion to anyone new to the study of medieval scholastic theology.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews