John Wycliffe (1320–1384)
John Wycliffe earned the title Morning Star of the Reformation for the blazing light he cast over medieval darkness. A century before Luther nailed his theses to the Wittenberg door, Wycliffe attacked the corruptions of the Roman church with the full force of Scripture.
The First English Bible
Wycliffe supervised the first complete translation of the Bible into English, working from the Latin Vulgate. His Lollard preachers — the "poor priests" — carried handwritten portions of Scripture across England, planting seeds that would bear fruit in the English Reformation.
Condemned After Death
So threatening was Wycliffe's legacy that the Council of Constance (1415) ordered his remains exhumed, burned, and his ashes cast into the River Swift. Ellen White records this in The Great Controversy, noting that the river carried his ashes to the sea — a symbol of his truth spreading to all the world.
Ellen White and the Great Controversy
The Great Controversy opens its Reformation narrative with Wycliffe, presenting him as the first in a long line of faithful witnesses who refused to subordinate Scripture to church tradition. His stand for sola scriptura is foundational to the Advent movement's self-understanding.