What a Privilege....

I'm getting ready to do my second day of reading and thinking about what a privilege it is to read the Scriptures in safety and in freedom. But it was not always so. Our ancestors were beaten, burned, and imprisoned for trying to do the same.

Here are two quick stories of men who gave all so that we can read the Bible ourselves. First is John Wycliffe. He was an Oxford professor who translated the Bible from Latin so that anyone could read it. The Pope was so infuriated by his teachings and his translation of the Bible into English, that 44 years after Wycliffe had died, he ordered the bones to be dug-up, crushed, and scattered in the river!

One of Wycliffe’s followers, John Hus, actively promoted Wycliffe’s ideas: that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of the Roman church that threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, “in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.” That man was Martin Luther.

If you're interested in these heroes of the faith who fought and died so that we can have access to God's word, click here for a great website on the history of the English Bible.