Pr Joshua Yong

How convicted are you of God’s Word and God’s Truth? Will you contend for the faith even if you are opposed and powerful people stand against you? Luther’s conviction was firmly rooted in Christ, that despite immense pressure to recant his statements, he would not do so.

On 31 October 1517, in response to John’s Tetzel’s sale of indulgences in Germany, Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses or statements on the Church door of Wittenberg. But what happened after the nailing of the ninety-five theses?

As was the custom in those days, the nailing of these documents on the Church’s door was an issuing of public notice for a debate. Luther’s intention was to hold a debate centring on the abuse of indulgences, with the debate taking place within the faculty at the University of Wittenberg. But Luther’s theses were copied and distributed and spread all across Germany and beyond. The papacy received these statements and saw them as a direct challenge of papal authority. It sought a response.

The Heidelberg Disputation

In April 1518, Johann von Staupitz, the Vicar General of the Augustinian friars in Germany, allowed Luther to defend his views in a disputation held in Heidelberg (a very important electorate in Germany). At that time, a disputation was a form of lecture. During the disputation, Luther presented forty theses that expressed the doctrine of the bondage of the will, and of what Luther called the theology of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This encompassed the doctrine of the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Rome was furious and Luther was accused of heresy.  Pope Leo X had ordered Frederick the wise, the elector of Saxony, to arrest Luther, but Frederick became Luther’s protector instead.

The Leipzig Disputation

During that time, Johann Maier von Eck of the University of Ingolstadt wrote and published thirteen theses against Luther’s ninety-five theses in December 1518. Luther’s colleague, Andreas Karlstadt, the dean of Wittenberg, saw the need to defend Luther and challenged Eck to a debate which was to be held in Leipzig. The debate was held on 29 June 1519. During the course of the debate, Eck challenged Luther to join the debate.

Eck’s strategy was very clear. He wanted to tie Luther together with John Huss, because by that time Huss was already condemned as a heretic. Eck was not seeking to present or defend the truth. His agenda was to condemn Luther as a heretic.

During the course of his debate, John Eck pointed out that Luther was associating himself with Huss and Wycliffe by what he was doing. Eck argued that Luther was saying that councils and the Church had erred, thus undermining the authority of the Church. Luther had initially rejected associating with John Huss, but later he changed his position and admitted that he agreed with John Huss’ writings. He also admitted that the church councils had erred and could err. Johann Eck got what he wanted. Luther was condemned as a heretic and this gave Pope Leo X the basis to excommunicate Luther from the Catholic Church. The Pope banned Luther’s works from being published or disseminated.

The Imperial Diet of Worms 

In June 1520, Pope Leo issued a papal bull citing forty-one alleged errors of Luther and gave Luther sixty days to recant the alleged errors. On 10 December 1520, instead of recanting, Luther burned the papal bull publicly. In response, the pope issued the bull of excommunication on 3 January 1521, and Luther was officially excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

As Germany was under the Roman Empire in those days, and because Luther was excommunicated by the Catholic Church, it was the responsibility of the Roman state to bring Luther to trial. This trial took place in the form of an Imperial Diet. An Imperial Diet was the highest representative assembly in an empire. Because this assembly was held in the German city of Worms, it came to be known as the Diet at Worms.

Luther was summoned to the Imperial Diet at Worms in April 1521 by Emperor Charles V. Luther arrived in Worms on 16 April 1521 and was scheduled to appear before the Diet the next day. Gathered at the Diet were Emperor Charles V, six imperial electors, papal legates, archbishops, bishops, dukes, and princes. These were the most powerful men in Germany.

What is noteworthy was that Luther spoke first in German, showing that this was a German problem, before he spoke in Latin.

Johann von Eck (not the Johann Eck of Leizpig), the imperial prosecutor, asked Luther to identify the books before him and if he wanted to recant these books. Luther asked for a recess to think about this.

When Luther entered the Diet the next day, Luther explained that his work may be divided into three parts. Some of his works dealt with piety and morals. Secondly, some of his works dealt with papacy. Luther argued that the reason why the Diet was convened was to deal with the chaos in the papacy, and so if he was to be tried, then the legitimacy of the Diet itself must be questioned. Thirdly, he wrote against individuals who defended Roman tyranny and he was trying to save the Church.

When pressed to give a reply as to whether he would recant these statements, Luther then replied in Latin: “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor wise to go against conscience.”

He then concluded with these words in German: “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. So help me God. Amen.”

On 25 May, an imperial edict was issued declaring Luther to be an outlaw and a criminal. No one was permitted to assist Luther, and all his books were banned. He was also declared to be a heretic of the Church. Frederick “kidnapped” Luther to protect him. Luther was taken to Wartburg castle where he lived until 1522.

May the Lord grant us the same conviction based upon Christ and His Word that we will never surrender our faith.