No one should be coerced to learn another language to comprehend God’s Word and experience the Bible’s life-transforming power.  John Wycliffe , an Oxford professor and a leading theologian of his time, believed this. He was among the few individuals who had read the Latin Bible.

Despite being a scholar who lived a life of privilege, he felt a special empathy for the uneducated and the poor. He challenged the Church princes to face their widespread corruption and hypocrisy and repent. He opined the Church was no longer fit to be the keeper of God’s Word.

Wycliffe proposed a truly revolutionary idea of God’s Word being made available to people in both Latin and English so they can read it in the tongue most known to them. He strongly believed that with God’s Word literally in their hands, individuals would be able to work toward their own salvation without needing any...