18 April 1521 A.D. WORMS, GERMANY: Martin Luther’s Noble Stand & Words—“Hier stehe ich, ick kahn nicht anders, Gott helfe mir! Amen!”—“Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me! Amen!”
18 April 1521 A.D. WORMS, GERMANY: Martin Luther’s Noble Stand & Words—“Hier
stehe ich, ick kahn nicht anders, Gott helfe mir! Amen!”—“Here I stand, I can
do no other, God help me! Amen!”
Graves, Dan. “Martin Luther’s Most Noble
Words.” Christianity.com. Apr 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/martin-luthers-most-noble-words-11629925.html. Accessed 17 Apr 2015.
Since your majesty and your lordships desire a
simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am
convicted by scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes
and councils for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to
the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against
conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, God
help me. Amen."
Perhaps the most notable words spoken in the
Reformation, this according to early printed reports, was Luther's reply at
Worms when urged to recant. He uttered the memorable lines in German on this
day, April 18, 1521, and then, upon request, repeated their gist in Latin for
those who did not understand his native tongue. He was sweating, said
witnesses. With a victory gesture he slipped out of the room.
Frederick the Wise, Luther's supporter was uneasy.
Did the scriptures condemn Luther or not? "He is too daring for me,"
the elector admitted. Nonetheless, on the next day, when asked to stand against
Luther with the emperor, he did not sign the condemnation although the other
four electors did so.
As for the Emperor, he reasoned that a single friar
who went contrary to the whole church could not possibly be right. Descended
from a long line of Christian emperors, he felt that to accept Luther's view
was to betray the faith of his fathers. He would take prompt action against
Luther, he vowed. But since Luther had been given safe conduct to Worms, he
allowed him to depart in safety.
Luther did not leave Worms at once. For several
days a committee reasoned with him, begging him not to rend the church in two.
They pointed out that war would surely come to Germany. Melanchthon, his
beloved associate, might be killed. Luther could not help but be moved, but his
determination held. God's word must be followed whatever the cost. To this
confrontation his stand against indulgences had finally brought him.
There are grounds to doubt that Luther said
"Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise." Although the earliest printed
versions contain these lines, the official transcripts do not. Whether spoken
or not, the words convey the brave monk's attitude. When Luther left Worms, the
Reformation was irrevocable.
Martin Luther was at his noblest at Worms. His bold
words have stirred men's imagination through subsequent centuries, for they
have the same ring to them as Peter's famous defiance of the Sanhedrin.
"Judge for yourselves whether we ought to obey God or men."
Bibliography:
Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand; A life of
Martin Luther. New York: mentor, 1950.
Durant, Will. The Reformation. New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1957.
Ganns, H. G. "Luther, Martin." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
George, Timothy. "Luther, Martin." Biographical
Dictionary of Evangelicals. Timothy Larsen, editor. Downers-Grove,
Illinois: Intevarsity Press, 2003.
"Luther, Martin." The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross
and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
Last updated April, 2007.
Comments
Post a Comment