Political Background of the Translation of the Bible into English

 John Wycliffe translated the Bible into English to solve the corruption of the English society in the name of religion which was being facilitated by the Holy Scripture being available in Latin only. Since the common people’s language was English, any priest could command them whatever they wanted demanding that they have found the instruction in the Bible. Nobody would be able to check them since the Bible had no English translation. Thus, it facilitated corruption, discrimination, and domination.

 

The church in Wycliffe’s period turned out to be a money-making machine, and priests corrupted their sacred profession by misinterpreting the Latin Bible to the commoners for personal benefit that Wycliffe tried to stop by translating the Holy Scripture. The church demanded one-third of a nation’s land as their property to use in earning money. They could command whatever they wanted to the common people as an instruction from the Holy Bible since nobody would be able to justify it. As a result, dangerous practices like pardon selling, money in exchange for a confession, and high church tax for expensive festivals started. Wycliffe planned to stop it by making the Bible available to common people so that they can raise their voices against these malpractices.

Discrimination in the name of religion was also being facilitated by misinterpretation of the Bible by the clergymen. Any rich person could buy forgiveness for any crime with money. Thus, they would indulge in limitless crimes against the poor. At the same time, they would not lose honor in society as they were being innocent once they buy pardon. Besides, a person would consider more religious than others by paying more money for the festivals. Although none of these are prescribed in the Bible, the English-speaking people could not be sure about that as long as the Bible was written in English. They had to trust the people of the church who knew Latin. Wycliffe tried to stop these discriminations by translating the Bible into English.

The church was dominating not only the common people but also the emperor’s being backed up by the Papal power. Even though the Holy Book instructed people to live a simple life and show compassion to others, the churches of Wycliffe’s period adorned themselves with gold and expensive metals by exploiting poor believers. They wanted to intrude political, social, and national decisions of a state. This domination was easier for them as they could invent a ‘God’s Order’ any time as per their need only because they had the sole authority over the Bible. John Wycliffe’s translation could end this situation for the common people and the statesmen alike.

So, the translation of the Bible into English from Latin by Wycliffe was an attempt to resolve the corruption, discrimination, and domination in the name of the religion that was happening because common people were deceived by the clergymen who knew Latin.