Researcher Dick van Niekerk summarizes the teachings of John Wycliffe:
Jon Wycliffe in a nutshell:
- The Catholic Mass is a human invention for which there is no basis in the gospel;
- The belief in the transformation of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is (Called transubstantiation, in 1215 proclaimed by Innocent III);
- The divine status and infallibility of the pope is nonsense; on the contrary, he is the antichrist;
- There could be no ecclesiastical authority above the deacon and the Thus he rejects the positions of archbishop, cardinal and pope. Therefore decisions of the pope and the councils are without value.
- The power to ‘open or close heaven’ does not rest with the church or the pope; excommunication is therefore impossible;
- The rejection of the confession (instituted by pope Innocent III in 1215), pardons, and religious traditions;
- The rejection of saints and the necessity of pilgrimage;
- The opposition to clerical wealth;
- The Bible is Gods word and everyone has the right to read the Bible; the prohibition to do so, as defined in the Council of Valencia (1299), is absurd;
- Therefore, together with his secretary John Purvey and his assistants, he translated the Latin Bible into English.
Kirkby, Thomas; John Wycliffe (c.1330-1384); Balliol College, University of Oxford; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/john-wycliffe-c-13301384-221608