John Wycliffe

Best known early in his career as a philosopher, Wycliffe protested against philosophical skepticism. In the tradition of Augustine of Hippo, Wycliffe argued that individual beings reflect timeless realities originating in the creative acts of God. As a theologian he emphasized the teaching of Scripture and the early teachers of the church. As a reformer he contended that the Bible was the final norm for doctrine and appealed to the secular authorities to reform the corruption of the church. He attacked the authority of the pope and the doctrine of transubstantiation as without warrant in Scripture. His followers were known as Lollards.