Did you miss us? Well, we're back for the first full week of Lent Madness action! Hopefully you survived the past 24 hours with no voting -- we know it can be tough on the Lenten psyche.
One thing you may not know is that our Bracket Czar, Adam Thomas, wakes up early every morning to updated the online bracket. This is a great service to you, faithful voters, because he also posts links to all the previous battles. This will come in especially handy in subsequent rounds when you want to revisit those early rounds as you make an educated choice based on the all saintly write-ups.
In case you missed the news on Facebook or Twitter, Mechtild of Magdeburg easily swept past Isaac the Syrian on Saturday 77% to 23% to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. A few folks have lamented about the lack of close contests in the first round. This happens sometimes but...just wait.
John Wycliffe
“The morning star of the English Reformation,” John Wycliffe is best known for his translations of the Vulgate into Middle English and his attempts to reform church structures in England. A philosopher, theologian, professor, and translator, Wycliffe was condemned by the Council of Constance after his death—his bones were dug up and burned.
Born in England in the mid-1320s, Wycliffe centered his life and work at Oxford University—his intellectual home and frequently his physical address. He came of age during the Black Death, living through the upheaval caused by the plague. The dramatic changes caused by the Black Death prompted many cultural questions, and Wycliffe extended his questioning into theology and church organization. Wycliffe was drawn to the Platonist spirit of Augustine of Hippo—students frequently referred to him as “John of Augustine.” Under the influence of both Plato and Augustine, Wycliffe added his voice to a growing undercurrent in medieval theology that questioned the political power, the wealth, and control of the clergy embodied in the hierarchy based in Rome.
Contrary to popular belief, there was no official blanket ban on translating the scriptures into the languages of the common people. However, most of these texts either contained commentary clarifying Church teaching or were paraphrases written from the perspective of Church teaching. Wycliffe rejected any kind of clerical control and issued his new literal translation in order to separate the word of scripture from the Church’s interpretation of it. This position drew the wrath of church authorities and a condemnation by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel.
Wycliffe protested the wealth and political power of the Church and advocated for a religious institution stripped of its wealth, lands, and titles that would be under the authority of the king and the nobles. Not surprisingly, theologically sympathetic, powerful nobles protected him from enemy clerics. Toward the end of his life, Wycliffe’s teachings against the conventional understanding of the sacraments, including the physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the necessity of confession, turned many of his former political allies against him.
Collect for John Wycliffe
Stir up in us, O God, the zeal for your Word that inspired your servant John Wycliffe that we, like him, may boldly challenge stifling systems and cling to the promises of your power and presence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Moses the Black
Moses the Black was born in Ethiopia around 330. As a young man he left Ethiopia for adventures in Egypt. A servant to a wealthy Egyptian landowner, Moses surreptitiously stole from his boss, lining his pockets with the profits. When the man discovered Moses’ perfidy, he expelled Moses from his house.
Moses, a large and formidable man, gathered around him other bandits. Together they robbed and harassed people living in the Egyptian countryside. As he was fleeing the authorities, he took refuge among monks in Sketes, a desert community outside of Alexandria. Inspired by their contented piety, Moses converted to Christianity and renounced violence and carousing.
Sometime later, when four robbers assaulted the monastery, Moses stood his ground and tied up the would-be thieves, bringing them to the brothers to ask advice about the robbers’ punishment. He suggested that it would not be very Christian to repay violence with violence. The robbers were so moved by the compassion of the monks that they joined the monastery. On another occasion, Moses was summoned to a council to pass judgment on a brother. Going to council reluctantly, Moses carried a leaking jug of water into the meeting. His brothers were perplexed; Moses replied that his sins follow behind him but he did not see them and yet he was coming to judge another. The brothers were moved by this gesture and forgave the offending monk.
Moses ultimately became abbot of a community in the desert, and despite enduring racist stereotyping, he was later ordained a priest. In 405 he was warned of marauding Berbers plotting to attack his monastery. Moses sent all but a few of the monks from the monastery, insisting that the building and the brothers would not respond to any attacks with violence. “Those that live by the sword die by the sword,” he reminded his brothers. He and the remaining cohort of monks welcomed the bandits with open arms and were killed.
In his recounting of the ancient church, historian Salminius Sozomen remarked of Moses, “No one else ever made such a change from evil to excellence.” Moses is a shining example of the transformative power of the gospel and is the patron saint of nonviolence.
Collect for Moses the Black
Almighty God, whose blessed Son guides our footsteps in the way of peace: Deliver us from paths of hatred and violence, that we, following the example of your servant Moses, may serve you with singleness of heart and attain to the tranquility of the world to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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285 comments on “John Wycliffe vs. Moses the Black”
I voted for Wycliff. Being burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English! Brave man!
Actually, Wycliffe died of a stroke. They dug up his bones and burned them, not him.
Oops! I mixed Wycliffe up with Tyndall!
They dug up his bones and burned them?! Holy smoke!
And wholly smoke (and mirrors).
I like to think of Wycliffe looking down and muttering "Well, if it makes you feel better, you mangy lot..."
[me laughing loud enough to wake the cats]
Ha ha! That smoke was holier than incense!
As the collector/owner of more than 50 Bible translations,commentaries,and special focus Bibles, it would have been very hard for me to not vote for John Wycliff. Moses the Black made it extremely hard.
A somewhat difficult choice, but I feel I must go with Moses the Black for his consistency in forgiveness, and his equal persistence in standing for non-violence,
I've tried to vote twice but both timed out. Don't know if either recorded but am giving up today. Voted (maybe) for Moses who indeed was a saint.
Moses the Black!!! Who doesn't love a good conversion story?
Vote for me!
I'm sorry, John, but I voted for Moses. I must say, though, your work of translating the scriptures into English was invaluable. Maybe the three of us could get together for a drink sometime!
When I reach an impasse, such as this challenge of two very deserving and outstanding persons of faith, I resort to Excel, random number generator, and compute a mean value from a long column of random numbers to resolve the vote. John was even, so the odd number in the computation, defined Moses. It is perplexing, because this is the 500th anniversary of the reformation, and John Wycliffe was a big reformer. Almost tempted to vote twice, but I will refrain. Perhaps there will be a tie.
I voted for John Wycliffe because my name is Jon too. - Jonathan (age 5)
Hi, Jonathan -- Welcome to Lent Madness --it's terrific that young people are interested in this contest!
Welcome, Jon!
Glad you're participating and commenting here, Sarah Rose! You make a great point about Wycliffe, but I am impressed by the personal courage Moses must have had.
Glad to have you here, Jon.
I voted for Moses the Black. You should too!!!!!
I feel he is a saint for our times, turning away from violence, living out ways to forgive and transform others. We need such models, beyond our recovery and re-entry programs.
Happy Birthday Oliver!! I hope you'll have a really fun day!
I don't think Wycliff was burned at the stake.
He wasn't. He died of a stroke. His bones were dug up and burned later. I guess that made someone feel better.
For John Wycliffe and Moses the Black
I love to tell the stories of saintly folks belov’d
Like holy scholar Wycliffe,
who knew the Church had erred.
He saw that wealth and power
And mind control were wrong.
Translated holy scripture
And fought his whole life long.
I love to tell the stories
Of folks beloved in Glory
Whose lives reveal some more of
God’s Holy Triune Love.
I love to tell the stories of folks who got it wrong.
They then discovered Jesus
And sang a whole new song.
St. Moses was a bandit
But Jesus showed the way.
Peacemaking then his watchword
Until his dying day.
I love to tell the stories
Of folks beloved in Glory
Whose lives reveal some more of
God’s Holy Triune Love.
How can we chose a saint today between these two strong men?
One fought with wit and wisdom
Against a church gone wrong.
One fought against the violence
Within his heart and soul.
And gave his life for loving
The Truth he’d come to know.
I love to tell the stories
Of folks beloved in Glory
Whose lives reveal some more of
God’s Holy Triune Love.
(Tune: I love to tell the story - revealing my Methodist background with gratitude.)
Wonderful. Thank you.
Wonderful,
Hey Adelaide! Lent Madness all the way! Oh and Moses the Black gets my vote today. I am dismayed to read that he also had to deal with racist stereotypes. But he died a martyr for the Christian cause.
Thank you for the poem!
Very nice, Diana. I'm not familiar with the hymn, but I found it on YouTube and was able to sing along with your relevant lyrics. But I'm still not sure who to vote for!
You must be a fellow biblical storyteller? We in the Network of Biblical Storytellers Int'l also sing new verses composed by teller Dennis Dewey!
If not, check out nbsint.org.
Delightful lyrics to an old favorite. I am in awe of such wit and wisdom, and skill in versification. Thank you.
Love it!!
Awesome!
I look forward to your creative lyrics, Diana.
LOVE the lyrics.
Diana, as soon as the SEC announced there was a nun writing hymns I knew it had to be you!
Well done, from two of your truest fans.
Another tough choice! Although it's always hard for this writer to vote against writers, Moses for me because his example of nonviolence rings so deeply.
You are very talented. I grew up Seventh Day Adventist and know the hymn well!!
I had heard the leaking story and have always loved it. This is why I voted for Moses, but resurrecting Wycliffe's bones to burn them was a close second.
I think I actually got this reply on the wrong post. sorry. I liked both of these choices!!
Such a tough decision! Who cannot appreciate Wycliffe, a man who so disdained authority that said authorities had his bones dug up and burned, who understood language, all languages, are foundational to equality? In the end I voted for Moses. Not only is he the patron saint of non-violence, but he proves that we are not always what we start out to be.
I voted for Moses because he was chased down and was so kind and compassionate for others that I had to vote for him.
Happy birthday, Oliver.
As a reader of the Bible and a speaker of English, I'm voting for John Wycliff who gave the scriptures to his people in a pure form, uncontaminated by current church doctrine. Moses' story is compelling, and were he up against any other saint, I would have happily voted for him.
If influence on future generations is a criterion, it is hard to deny the strength of Wycliffe as a contender for the crown.
The desert abbas and ammas have been an influence on my faith. I love their simplicity and their depth of wisdom. Moses' story of transformation, of selflessness and nonviolence is so winsome! Moses for the Golden Halo!
Someone worked overtime to pit these two against each other, but I had to vote for Wycliffe. Also...a big shout out to the Bracket Czar for getting up early and updating the bracket.
Double-digit Oliver! Congratulations on your first decade!
Another tough choice. Wycliffe definitely has influenced more people through the ages with his dedicated work -under the duress of the institutional church. Moses the Black is an impressive inspirational story. I think I have to go with John Wycliffe this time, reluctant to leave Moses behind.
The difficulty in this choice has more to do with two people who stood up in the face of tremendous opposition than in the differences of their choices in how to follow Jesus. We often think of the Reformation and the beginnings of Protestantism as beginning with Martin Luther in the 16th century. But as Wycliffe shows, rumblings began long before and Wycliffe believed that every person should be able to read Scripture in his own language. While there may have been flaws in the translation at the time, his intent was to put the Bible in the hands of ordinary people. The fact that the powers that be couldn't accept that he was already dead shows the paranoia of the times believing that even the dead can still speak, not to mention the followers of Wycliffe who might honor his relics. Moses was an entirely different kind of prophet. To some extent he reminds me of Andrew (Peter's brother) who brought others to Jesus. Both Moses and Andrew did this by living the Gospel rather than preaching the Gospel. Even Moses' conversion was the result of the monks showing there was a better way. We have had many examples throughout history of people who, through non-violence, showed the better path. I had never heard of Moses the Black before this, but I am delighted that I have gotten to know him a little. I cannot begin to know what he felt and how his past experiences formed his life, but I can respect his commitment, once made, to live as Jesus showed.
If they burned Wycliff's bones to keep the dead from speaking...it didn't work.
Ha. Good point sister
I voted for Moses because of his commitment later in life for non-violence and restorative justice.
Happy Birthday, Oliver!
Crisis. I tried to vote, and my pc froze. I don't know if it registered or not, so mindful of the dire warnings of the SEC, I dare not try again. My intention was to vote for Moses the Black, in honour of a wonderful Coptic Christian who taught me Patristics and introduced me to the stories of the Desert Fathers. I have always found the story fo the leaking water jar moving.
If you still see the vote button on the same computer your vote wasn't registered as from what has been posted previously this Madness, by either Tim or Scott, the system won't let you vote twice from the same computer/smart phone.
Happy birthday Oliver, have a lovely day.
John Wycliffe, a man way before his time.
Happiest of birthday wishes