John Wycliffe was the first translator of the English Bible. Seven centuries on, modern-day Bible translators are following his example to ensure their peoples have the Bible in their language. He said that ‘believers should have the Scriptures in a language which they fully understand.’
It seems obvious, doesn’t it? And yet, that was just one of the radical statements made by John Wycliffe in the 1300s that challenged the status quo of the church. In that period, most people in England were unable to read or understand the Bible – because it was in Latin, rather than their native English.
Wycliffe came to realise that this was a huge barrier. He became convinced of the need to translate the Bible into English, and God led him to understand that the Bible was central to people knowing Jesus. As a result, Wycliffe became the first translator of the English Bible.
