Sermones Quadraginta are orthodox in their teachings on the Trinity, predestination, the Virgin Mary, purgatory, the life of the Church, and the penitential system. Though Wyclif allies reason with faith, Scripture is preeminent, its authority and unity unquestioned. Grace receives particular emphasis, in the acts of God as well as in the lives of sinners, though merit, enabled by grace, also has a place in salvation. He preaches predestination of the elect and God's foreknowledge of the damned but also insists on the free will of his hearers. Such concern with his audience also motivates practical concern with spirituality, personal morality, and even social issues such as war. The sermons thus offer what may justly be called a homiletical theology.