John Wycliffe- 10th Most Influential Christian ever-

[kql314]

Hello- per our survey and pending book, 14th Century Englishman John Wycliffe has been selected as #10 on our list of Christians who most shaped modern Christianity.
Wycliffe, known as the Morning Star of the Reformation, was the first person to fully translate the entire Bible into English.
What do you think? Would he make the top 10 on your own "list"?

Thanks,
Ken L. (co-author)
"Top Ten Most Influential Christians (since the Apostles)"

 

[ViaCrucis]

I really don't know enough about Wycliffe's theology to say where he'd sit on my own personal list. Translating the Bible into Middle English is certainly no small feat, but I don't think that's sufficient to be ranked particularly high.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ebia]

I really don't know enough about Wycliffe's theology to say where he'd sit on my own personal list. Translating the Bible into Middle English is certainly no small feat, but I don't think that's sufficient to be ranked particularly high.

-CryptoLutheran

Likewise

 

[WinBySurrender]

I really don't know enough about Wycliffe's theology to say where he'd sit on my own personal list. Translating the Bible into Middle English is certainly no small feat, but I don't think that's sufficient to be ranked particularly high.

-CryptoLutheran

It has been enough that 700 years later his legacy lives on in the Wycliffe Society.

Wycliffe Bible Translators: World Missions for Unreached People Groups

 

[ebia]

It has been enough that 700 years later his legacy lives on in the Wycliffe Society.

Wycliffe Bible Translators: World Missions for Unreached People Groups

It does, but one could say that and more about a lot of people - I don't think that's sufficient to make the top 10.

 

[Djboo]

Wycliff smuggled the english bible.

We have the english bible today because of him.

His body was burnt because of what he's done.

 

[VolRaider]

I still think Oral Roberts should be in the Top 10. After all, when you can fleece thousands of believers by telling them to give some dough or a 500-foot Jesus is gonna call me home, you gotta be recognized!

 

[Knee V]

To me, it depends on where one is looking. Western and Eastern Christianity have had a separate set of influences as time progressed. Wycliffe is nowhere on the radar for Eastern Christians, while St Mark of Ephesus, who lived just a little after Wycliffe, is likewise not much of a factor in Western Christianity.

Wycliffe, as well as other Bible translators of that era, sewed seeds that would later be harvested by the Reformers, and had a good deal of influence in that arena. Modern Protestants can look back at them and know that their faith is in large part due to the work of those men. Those people, however, played no part in the goings-on of the progression of the Faith in the Christian East.

Modern-day Orthodox can look back to St Mark of Ephesus as the reason that the Orthodox Church still exists. Were it not for his persistence we (the Orthodox) would likely all be Catholic. Yet you won't find his influence in any of the Reformers or modern Catholic thinkers.

 

[Trogool]

Hello- per our survey and pending book, 14th Century Englishman John Wycliffe has been selected as #10 on our list of Christians who most shaped modern Christianity.
Wycliffe, known as the Morning Star of the Reformation, was the first person to fully translate the entire Bible into English.
What do you think? Would he make the top 10 on your own "list"?

Thanks,
Ken L. (co-author)
"Top Ten Most Influential Christians (since the Apostles)"

Not really. I think the top 10 spots are easily filled by those Church Fathers in the first few centuries who defended the Faith against terrible heresies like Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Sabellianism and Iconoclasm.

 

[kql314]

Good points above. There were very few mentioned that would be considered Eastern tradition fathers/ leaders who made our list. That would be because about 99% of the people that answered our survey were not of the Orthodox persuasion. That is because the Eastern tradition is just very popular in the USA- and we aimed to mimic the US Christian population with this survey.

Not taking anything away from those persons.

Also- today's average person has a tendency to overstate the significance of more recent or current persons. They do not know anything about anyone who lived in the first few centuries AD. That is just a sad fact.
God Bless.

 

[bach90]

He would probably be even higher for me. He brought the Scriptures back from a dead language.

 

[Albion]

I'd say "yes" to him being in the top ten.

 

[Lladro]

A persons top ten will only ever include people they agree with.

 

[rivertree]

Well, hello all you lollards! John Wycliffe was certainly pretty awesome, but now after reading these posts I want to find out all about St Mark of Ephesus!

 

[Knee V]

Well, hello all you lollards! John Wycliffe was certainly pretty awesome, but now after reading these posts I want to find out all about St Mark of Ephesus!

http://www.ephesus.com/Orthodox/St.Mark-of-Ephesus.txt
St. Mark of Ephesus and the False Union of Florence: Part III from His Life
Mark of Ephesus - OrthodoxWiki

Hope that helps.

 

[rivertree]

I hope my original response was not taken as disrepect for John Wycliffe, who gave his life to make the Bible available.

Knee-V, I did look up the links you gave. It was so sad that Mark of Ephesus died from a painful disease.

He stalwartly stood up for his beliefs.

 

[rivertree]

I agree with Lladro that the top ten would be considerably different many times, based on beliefs. It would be difficult to come up with a universal top 10.

 

[Albion]

It's probably possible to restrain the tendency to list those with whom you/we agree. And I think the task is made the easier and clearer if we keep in mind that the persons listed are supposed to be the most INFLUENTIAL, not just admirable for any number of other reasons.

That's why I agreed to Wycliffe's inclusion.

 

[rivertree]

Good point, Albion!

 

[Rhamiel]

He would probably be even higher for me. He brought the Scriptures back from a dead language.

you do know that there were books of the bible translated into other languages right?

It's probably possible to restrain the tendency to list those with whom you/we agree. And I think the task is made the easier and clearer if we keep in mind that the persons listed are supposed to be the most INFLUENTIAL, not just admirable for any number of other reasons.

That's why I agreed to Wycliffe's inclusion.

good point