In Switzerland from 1516 to 1525 - James Aitken Wylie

Reformation. Putting his finger upon the page of
the New Testament, Wicliffe said: Here it is; here
is what you seek. You must forget the past
thousand years; you must look at what is written on
this page; you will find in this Book the Pattern of
the Reformation of the Church; and not the Pattern
only, but the Power by which that Reformation can
alone be realised.
But the age would not look at it. Men said, Can
any good thing come out of this Book? The Bible
did well enough as the teacher of the Christians of
the first century; but its maxims are no longer
applicable, its models are antiquated. We of the
fifteenth century require something more profound,
and more suited to the times. They turned their
eyes to Popes, to emperors, to councils. These,
alas! were hills from which no help could come.
And so for another century the call for Reformation
went on, gathering strength with every passing
year, as did also the corruption. The two went on
by equal stages, the cry waxing ever the louder and
the corruption growing ever the stronger, till at
length it was seen that there was no help in man.
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