Beneath the Headlines
Each month, pastor Mike Woodruff sits down with a thoughtful guest to trace the quiet forces shaping tomorrow’s news.
No hot‑take sparring. Just brisk questions on birthrates, algorithms, ideas, and idols, all aimed at giving thoughtful Christians a clearer map of the moment and a steadier hope within it.
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Beneath the Headlines
Episode 30: The Origins of the Protestant Movement: The Return to Prominence of the Most Important Book in History
In today’s lecture, Mike will be focusing on two of the Pre-Reformers, John Wycliffe and Jan Hus, explaining what they did that got them sideways with the authorities, and why.
The Bible is the most significant book of all time. Most claims to be “the best” or “the biggest” are long on hype. Not here. There are many ways to substantiate the Bible’s dominance.
Today we turn to two men who are significant for a few reasons.
First, because they point ahead to an event that is going to rock Europe in about one hundred years. That event is the Protestant Reformation. And as you will see, it’s not just a church event. The Reformation ends up changing just about every aspect of life: government, family, business, the arts. The tectonic plates of Europe shift in a big way because of the Reformation.
The second reason they are significant is because of their efforts to get the Bible into the hands of ordinary people – which was not happening at the time. And which they believed was absolutely critical.
The third is because they end up being burned because of their efforts to get the Bible into the hands of everyday people.
I am talking about are John Wycliffe and Jan Hus.