The Diet of Worms (1521)

In 1521 Martin Luther was called to appear before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms (pronounced dee-it of Vorms). He was asked if he would recant his writings. Luther knew that his life was on the line and he would likely not leave Worms alive. He know that a stand now would mean that he would, like John Huss a century earlier, most likely be burned at the stake if he did not recant.

His strength and courage wavered. He asked for 24 hours to think about how he would answer. J. H. Merle D’Aubigne in his great History of the Reformation gives us part of Luther’s prayer that he prayed that night in his cell.

“O Almighty and Everlasting God! How terrible is this world! Behold, it openeth its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust in Thee!…...How weak is the flesh, and Satan how strong! If it is only in the strength of this world that I must put my trust, all is over”…..My last hour is come, my condemnation has been pronounced…...O God! O God! O God! Do thou help me against all the wisdom of the world! Do this; thou shouldest do this…..thou alone…...for this is not my work, but Thine….I have nothing to do here, nothing to contend for with these great ones of the world! I should desire to see my days flow on peaceful and happy. But the cause is Thine and it is a righteous and eternal cause. O Lord! help me! Faithful and unchangeable God! In no man do I place my trust. It would be vain! All that is of man is uncertain; all that cometh of man fails O God! my God, hearest Thou me not? My God, art Thou dead! No! Thou canst not die! Thou hidest thyself only! Thou hast chosen me for this work. I know it well!…..Act, then, O God!…...stand at my side, for the sake of thy well-beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defence, my shield, and my strong tower.”

After a moment of silent struggle, he continues:
“Lord! where stayest Thou?…..O my God! where art Thou? Come! come! I am ready. I am ready to lay down my life for Thy truth…..patient as a lamb. For it is the cause of justice—it is thine…..I will never separate myself from Thee, neither now nor through eternity!…..And though the world should be filled with devils,—though my body, which is still the work of Thy hands, should be slain, be stretched upon the pavement, be cut in pieces…..reduced to ashes…..my soul is Thine! Yes! Thy Word is my assurance of it. My soul belongs to Thee! It shall abide for ever with Thee…..Amen!…..O God! help me…..Amen!”

The next day Luther was once more brought before the assembly of princes. He was told that he need to give a clear answer. Luther responded:

“Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning,—unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted,—and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience.”

And then, looking round on this assembly before which he stood, and which held his life in its hands, he said “Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me! AMEN!”

Luther did not recant.

Deo vindice,

Kenith

Ecclesiastical Myths

We live in a day of great knowledge. Knowledge flows freely through cyberspace and is accessible to all people as never before in history. Along with the "real" knowledge that is at our fingertips is a whole lot of pseudo-knowledge as well. Much of this pseudo-information is called urban myths.

Urban myths are not new; they have been around for millennia. One pre-cyberspace urban myth is that beforeChristopher Columbus people thought the world was flat. That is just plain false. Men have known the world was round for as long as there have been men.

The educated peoples of the ancient world knew the earth was round. In fact Eratosthenes (276BC-194BC) was, with amasing accuracy, able calculate the size of the earth. Eratosthenes calculated the earth to be 252,000 stadia around. 252,000 stadia equals 24,662 miles, which is only off the mark by a mere 250 miles.

So there goes one ancient myth. Men have always known that the earth was round.

Let’s move on to a couple of other myths. Protestants believe that the Pope in Rome was the dictator of Europe throughout the Middle ages. That is false. For much of the mediaeval period the bishop of Rome was dependent upon and beholden to secular Emperors, kings and princes. Nor could he control who was appointed bishop in most parts of the Christian world. Kings, Emperors and princes often controlled the church in the territories that they governed.

It was not until the Papal Revolution (11th and 12th century) that the Church was able to make the appointment of the Pope a wholly ecclesiastical affair, which denied secular control over the process. Even after this it was not unusual for a Pope to have to flee Rome to keep some emperor or king from capturing him just so that he could force his dictates on the Church.

It will probably shock many Protestants to know that there were a good number of very godly men who God made to be the Bishop of Rome through those years that we call the Middle Ages.

So no, the Popes were not the dictators of Europe during the Mediaeval period. Certainly there were great abuses and the Renaissance Popes, especially, were often very corrupt and decadent men. They did seek to control all of Europe. But we can’t apply these facts to the whole period of the Middle Ages.

Another common myth is a Roman Catholic myth. Many Roman Catholics believe that the Bishop of Rome was always hailed as the "Pope" or leader of all Christendom. They believe this was true until those nasty Greek Christians broke with Rome in the 1054 AD and the Protestants did the same in 1517 AD.

This too is a myth. The authority of the Bishop of Rome grew over time by both slow crawls and sizable leaps. The Eastern Church never recognised the overall authority that was eventually claimed by the Roman Pontiff and this brought about the Great Schism of 1054.

The other day I pulled a book off the shelf that I had read many years ago titled Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition by Harold Berman. I was looking at things I had underlined way back then (I always underline when I read) and some of what I had underlined got me to thinking about these myths about the Bishop of Rome.

We need to dispel all such myths when we are able.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

Last week my friend Izzy (Israel) called and asked if I was interested in watching Luther. This is a new movie that has just come out on DVD. He knew I was very interested and I told him so. That evening he brought me a rented copy. I found it to be very good and (for a movie) quite accurate.

Martin Luther has long been one of my heroes. I’ve read his book Bondage of the Will (De Servo Arbitrio), which was written as a reply to Erasmus of Rotterdam’s De Libero Arbitrio Diatribe Sive Collatio (Diatribe on Free-Will). I read this book many years ago and found it a delight.

In the introduction to Luther’s book he pays Erasmus some lofty complements for his “eloquence” and “genius,” in the Diatribe. Erasmus, who was one of the greatest and most prominent scholars of the day, certainly had both qualities that Luther readily attributes to him. Luther says this about Erasmus’ eloquence in the Diatribe. “I greatly feel for you for having defiled your most beautiful and ingenious language with such vile trash; ... that such unworthy stuff should be borne about in ornaments of eloquence so rare; which is as if rubbish, or dung, should he carried in vessels of gold and silver.” (Note: Dung is the polite translation.)

I’ve read other items of Luther. His 95 Theses is a must for anyone wanting to understand the issue of indulgences. This issue is the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation.

Luther was very much a man of his times, and in that day men did not mince their words. Luther’s debating style (if it can be called that) was to always let his opponents have it with both barrels. Because of this the verbiage in his writings is, at times, quite colourful. He tended to push the envelope on matters, and often gave his opponents lots of ammunition to use against him.

This movie, Luther, is well made and is worth your time to watch. The facts presented are admitted on all sides. Luther lived in a time of great corruption in the church. The abuses he spoke out against where not new and Godly men had been trying to clean up these abuses long before Luther was ever born.

The time was ripe in 16th century Germany when Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg. There was no turning back. Watch the movie and encourage others to do the same.

I also recommend the masterful biography of Martin Luther titled Here I Stand by Roland Bainton.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

The Dutch painter Rijn van Rembrandt (1609-1669) was truly an awesome artist. I have seen many photographs of his paintings, and I am amazed at his tremendous talent. Rembrandt produced two most interesting self-portraits. The first of these is a painting titled Raising the Cross. It is a great work of art, but the thing most interesting is Rembrandt paints himself as one of those that is raising Christ’s cross to crucify Him. The other self-portrait also involves the crucifixion of Jesus; except in this portrait, titled Descent From the Cross, Rembrandt is one of the individuals that is recovering the body of Jesus for burial.

Rembrandt understood that even though he lived 1600 years after the death of Christ; he was responsible for his crucifixion. Christ died to save sinners and Rembrandt knew he was a sinner in need of a saviour. The second portrait is wonderful, because we see him as a disciple of Christ. Here he is a repentant sinner saved by Jesus’ sacrifice.

I first saw these two paintings in a very good book by Francis Schaeffer titled How Should We Then Live: The Rise an Decline Of Western Thought And Culture. This is a work I highly recommend. It gives a good history of the development of Christian and secular thought, and their consequences for Western culture. It starts with the fall of Rome and comes down to the 1970's. If you have ever wondered how we have developed into a post-Christian culture this is a good book to read.

Rembrandt saw that he stood guilty before the LORD as a sinner, and because he understood his true guilt, he could paint himself as one of Christ executioners. There is no salvation possible unless we see that we to are guilty before God and are in need of a Saviour. If we come to that point, then salvation is possible in our risen Lord.

There is no other means of salvation outside of Christ, and only sinners that know they are guilty can be saved.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Kenith