On the Truth of Holy Scripture by John Wyclif

First published:De veritate sacrae scripturae, wr. 1377-1378, pb. 1904-1905, revised 1905-1907 (English translation, 2001)

Edition(s) used:On the Truth of Holy Scripture, translated with an introduction and notes by Ian Christopher Levy. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Medieval Institute, 2001

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Didactic treatise; hermeneutics; theology

Core issue(s): Church; faith; pastoral role; scriptures; truth

Overview

On the Truth of Holy Scripture is one of twelve treatises contained in John Wyclif’s Summa theologiae (wr. 1375-1381; a summary of theology). Internal evidence suggests that the treatise was composed over the course of about one year, from the fall or winter of 1377 until late 1378. Its thirty-two chapters reflect not only the author’s mature thought on the nature and authority of Holy Scripture but also his growing estrangement from the Roman curia at the onset of the Great Western Schism (a split within the Catholic Church).

The first nine chapters of On the Truth of Holy Scripture deal with a variety of hermeneutical issues, ranging from discussion of the various levels of Holy Scripture to the concept of divine logic. According to Wyclif, the highest and most authoritative level of Holy Scripture is the “book of life,” or spiritual truth. The fifth and lowest level of Scripture is represented by individual manuscripts, the spoken word, or other physical reminders of God’s will and ordination; these, however, do not actually contain the truth in any ontological sense but can lead to it when properly interpreted.

Because God cannot lie or contradict himself—otherwise he would not be God—it follows that his word can contain neither deceit nor contradiction. Scripture, Wyclif insists, is never self-contradictory, but rather it is “equivocal” (aequivoca), meaning that it can signify different things on different levels at different times. When sophists armed with human logic assert that the Bible contains contradictory statements, they indulge in blasphemy. Blinded by sin, they cannot or will not learn the divine logic of Holy Scripture. They fail to distinguish between literal and figurative manners of speech, or they reason out of context without consideration for the whole.

Christians, Wyclif contends, should humbly submit to the eloquence of Scripture, because it is inherently superior to the grammar and logic of human reason. Faith and constant exposure to God’s word are required before one can ascend to the first level of Scripture and fully grasp God’s “intended meaning” (virtus sermonis).

In chapters 10 to 15, Wyclif examines the relationship between scriptural authority and ecclesiastical law. No doubt, he argues, both the Old and New Testaments are authentic parts of Scripture. Although faith moves Christians to accept the authority of these texts a priori, reasons may be adduced a posteriori to justify and fortify that faith. In response to those who call into question the authority of Holy Scripture by pointing to minor verbal discrepancies between Old and New Testament passages, Wyclif counters that the fifth and lowest category of Scripture is merely a physical representation of divine truth. Because Holy Scripture mirrors God’s will, it becomes for Wyclif the ultimate source of truth and the standard by which all authority, including that of papal bulls and canon law, may be judged.

According to Wyclif, the vicars of Christ deviated from the law of Scripture during the period following Constantine the Great’s alleged donation to the Church in the fourth century c.e. Since that time, “the Church has proven herself deceptive, mistaken, and ignorant,” and the papacy has issued “a procession of contradictory bulls.” Wyclif does not deny the authority of bishops and popes to issue statutes in the interest of governing the Church, yet he firmly insists that their proclamations must not contradict prior statutes or Holy Scripture.

In chapters 14 to 19, Wyclif considers various manners in which lecture-hall sophists falsify Scripture. In his view, all errors of interpretation are in some way rooted in sin. While some forms of sin are venial, others are deliberate and pernicious. Individuals who maintain that Scripture contains contradictions or lies—even “pious lies”—are guilty of falsifying God’s intended meaning, but not all such individuals are malevolent. As Saint Jerome teaches, only those who arrogantly and obstinately defend erroneous opinions may be considered heretics.

In the book’s final thirteen chapters, Wyclif turns his attention to the discussion of practical and doctrinal issues relating to Church governance, including the nature of evangelical law, the organization of the Church, the fulfillment of pastoral duties, the significance of Mosaic Law in the age of grace, and criteria for the judgment of heresy.

Wyclif admits that laws are necessary to assure peace and stability, yet laments that a lust for “worldly dominion” has corrupted the medieval Church. To seek holy office “chiefly for reasons of pride or profit” is a mortal sin. Every Christian, he writes, should be familiar with Holy Scripture, but this holds especially true for priests. Church law requires bishops and archbishops to know the entirety of Holy Scripture, and their primary duty should be to preach the word of God. “If a bishop does not preach,” Wyclif boldly asserts, then “he is not a bishop.”

Clerics who neglect their duties should be censured and, when appropriate, removed from office. Excommunication, however, should be used for the purpose of saving souls, or for removing “poisonous sinners” from the Church, but not as a means for “exacting money for the clergy.” Only qualified theologians should judge heresy, and they should proceed with moderation. If the Church cannot enforce its laws in accordance with Holy Scripture, says Wyclif, then the laity must intervene. Hence, under certain circumstances, it may be lawful for civil authorities to pursue the vices of delinquent priests or to confiscate Church property.

Christian Themes

Wyclif’s purpose in writing On the Truth of Holy Scripture was primarily academic and faith-bound. He sought to preserve the authority and integrity of Holy Scripture against the perceived impiety of those who would quibble over the literal meaning of biblical passages in the late medieval lecture halls at Oxford University. In his view, theologians ought to accept the authority of Scripture through faith, rather than impose the standards of human logic on it for the vainglorious purpose of extracting contradictions, lies, or falsehoods from God’s written word.

By insisting that Holy Scripture resides not on parchment but rather in Christ, Wyclif deemphasized the sacred importance of the physical, scribal records of Christianity. Such records, he noted, could be miscopied, falsified, defiled, or even destroyed. Instead, he identified Holy Scripture in its most proper form as a transcendental “book of life”—an incorruptible and infallible archetype of truth present in God’s mind, embodied in Christ, and inscribed in the hearts of faithful Christians.

In Wyclif’s approach to hermeneutics, recourse to formal methods of interpretation became less important (but not irrelevant) for a proper understanding of biblical truths. Proper interpretation became more a matter of attitude and less one of method. In his view, those who understand Holy Scripture will live in accordance with Christ’s law and will already possess the “intended meaning” of the written word, no matter how paradoxical it might appear to human logic. Knowing in the heart what Christ means, means knowing what Christ meant.

It would be difficult not to notice the circularity of Wyclif’s hermeneutical approach. In all likelihood, its glaring “irrationality” must be seen as a deliberate and mature reflection of the Englishman’s humble submission to the logic of Holy Scripture.

Sources for Further Study

Evans, G. R. John Wyclif: Myth and Reality. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2005. A biography portraying the Englishman not as a religious firebrand but as an “able academic” whose links to Lollardy and the Reformation have been overstated.

Ghosh, Kantik. Wycliffite Heresy: Authority and Interpretation of Texts. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. According to Ghosh, Wyclif’s “textual idealism” paradoxically ignores essential hermeneutical problems by relegating them to “the irrelevant category of scripture quinto modo.”

Levy, Ian Christopher. John Wyclif: Scriptural Logic, Real Presence, and the Parameters of Orthodoxy. Milwaukee, Wis.: Marquette University Press, 2003. Examines the fundamental concepts of authorship, intended meaning, and scriptural logic within the framework of Wyclif’s theological realism.

Tresko, Michael. “John Wyclif’s Metaphysics of Scriptural Integrity in the De veritate sacrae scripturae.” Dionysius 12 (1989): 153-196. Discusses Wyclif’s opposition to the threat of biblical literalism in fourteenth century nominalist thought; recommended reading.