So-called “Lollardsʼs Catechism”. The translation of part from middle English to Russian with commentary and introduction article

Publication of the Russian translation of part of so-called “Lollardsʼs Catechism”, which was written by anonymous author in 14th century England. The title “Lollardsʼs Catechism” was given by first editors in the early 20th century, because the text wasnʼt originally entitled. The text is an expanded version of official Catechism, written by ordered archbishop of York John de Thoresby (died 1373). In comparison with the original, anonymous author focused on the ethos of clergy. For some time, researchers believed that the author of the text was John Wycliffe (1320-1384), but now this point of view isn’t shared by scientists. The rhetoric presented in the text gives the reasons to believe that the text was written by one of the wandering preachers, who may have belonged to the Lollards, who were especially active in England in the second half of the 14th century.

How can the Reformation’s focus on faithfulness to Scripture inspire us for mission?

Since the 16th century Protestant Reformation, the issue of divine inspiration and authority of the Bible has stood at the centre of Reformed faith. The question asked then, which is still with us, is whether the Bible is sufficient and complete as a revelation from God? Conflicts that arose during the Reformation still brew today, albeit with different players and contexts. Furthermore, how does the faithfulness to Scripture by reformers, such as William Tyndale and Martin Luther, and pre-Reformer, John Wycliffe, influence the church’s involvement and influence in God’s mission today?

Patristic and Medieval Theologies of Sacraments

Part I, on patristic and medieval theologies of sacraments, covers Basil, Augustine, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas, and Duns Scotus. This chapter begins Part I and addresses the sacraments in patristic and medieval theology, how the “mysteries” of the Christian faith were understood and incorporated into the life of the early and medieval Christians with emphasis on “the unity of the church in the life of the Eucharist, as it was the definitive mark of grace upon a church that had been graced with the presence of the Spirit.” This chapter also describes Augustine’s focus on sacraments as expressions of the grace of God, the importance of sourcebooks compiled in the Early Middle Ages by the likes of Isidore of Seville, the impact of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) on sacramental theology, and Thomas Aquinas’s scholastic approach to the sacraments. Finally, this chapter addresses how John Wycliffe and Jan Hus responded, and how their response set the stage for the Reformation.

Experiencia Religiosa y Conocimiento de Dios: de John Wycliffe a Nicolás de Cusa / Religious Experience and Knowledge of God: From John Wycliffe to Nicholas of Cusa

For Nicholas of Cusa, excellence, worship, law and discipline are not the ways to arrive at divine wisdom and eternal life; instead, virtuous life, keeping the commandments, sensible devotion, mortification of the flesh, scorning the world, and everything that shows love and fear of God are the true ways. These points, which were considered essential to strengthening the religious experience for church members and leading the soul to knowledge of God, had been insisted upon already by thinkers before Cusanus, from Wycliffe to Hus, and including the authors of Devotio Moderna..