Too frequently the biblical hermeneutics of the Lollards have been oversimplified and described as “sola scriptura” or “literal” for the purpose of comparison. Limited attention has been given to the hermeneutic of Scripture particularly that of the Old Testament, present in the Wycliffite homiletic tradition as espoused in the Middle English Wycliffite festial. Building on the work of Kantik Ghosh and Curtis V. Bostick, this study asserts that the Middle English Wycliffite sermons' focus upon the Old Testament prophetic literature as a source of figures fulfilled in the New Testament, the reluctance of the politically conservative Wycliffite movement to embrace a radical apocalyptic vision, and the overriding concern of Lollard hermeneuts to acquire certitude resulted in the limited use of the book of Daniel in Wycliffite sermonic literature. When compared to contemporary sermon cycles and later uses of Daniel by more radical English groups, it becomes obvious that the Wycliffite sermons did not utilize a radical critique of empire or maintain a radical apocalyptic vision that might have found greater use for Daniel.
Parish priest, religious reformer, theologian. Credited with moving the Anabaptism of northern Germany and the Netherlands toward organization and a peace witness, Menno gave leadership after Münster and until his natural death to groups of Dutch Anabaptists which came to bear his name as Mennonites.
Theologian, ethicist, historian, pacifist. Born in Smithfield, Ohio to a family with Amish Mennonite heritage, Yoder was reared in an educated Mennonite community. Yoder attended public schools and augmented his high school education with classes from the Presbyterian school, The College of Wooster. He received a Bachelor's degree from Goshen College, studying under the influential church‐historian, Harold S. Bender, who had recently published “The Anabaptist Vision” (1944).
George Fox was a British Seeker, religious reformer, and founder of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Born in Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, the son of Christopher Fox, a weaver and churchwarden, Fox was reared in a devout Puritan home and his parents were influential in his spiritual formation. He was trained in country business and enjoyed rural life, but became aware of perceived inconsistency and hypocrisy in the lives of observed “Christians.” Fox went on a spiritual journey in 1643, characterized by solitary wandering throughout England, and through various movements, including Baptists, Seekers, Levellers, and Ranters. In 1647, overcome by despair that he could find no resource to guide him to consistent spiritual truth, Fox had a mystical experience of the love of God. Buoyed by his experience outside of any institutionalized authority, Fox spread the message that practices, doctrines, and traditions had separated people from the truth. The truth, which brought a changed life, was personal, immediate, and unmediated in the Inner Light of Christ.
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