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In 1521, Martin Luther was the talk of German cathedrals and taverns, castles and hovels. Posters of Luther (single-sheet woodcuts) sold out as soon as they went on sale, and many were pinned up in public places. Why was Luther the rage? Because this theology professor had enraged the authorities.

Four years earlier, Luther had tried to start an academic debate by publicly posting 95 propositions challenging some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. The 95 Theses sparked not just an argument but a revolution.

As he debated authorities in person and in print, two radical ideas crystallized in his mind: people are saved by faith (not by human effort), and Scripture (not the church) is the test of truth.

These ideas seemed subversive to authorities of both church and state. So the earthly head of the church, the pope, kicked Luther out of the church and declared him hell-bound. Then the Holy Roman Emperor ordered the "heretic" to appear before him.

Two crucial questions
Luther relished the idea of arguing his views before, and perhaps convincing, Emperor Charles V. So he appeared at Worms, Germany, in April 1521. Charles V sat, raised on a dais. His advisers flanked him, and all around were his Spanish troops decked out in their parade best. The hall was filled with the politically powerful—bishops, princes, and representatives of the great cities. In the midst of this assembly, there was a table. And on the table lay a pile of books.

An official gestured toward the pile. Luther had been called to answer two questions: Had he written these books? Was there a part of them he would now choose to recant?

Luther, a miner's son who was now merely a teacher in a backwater university town, was stunned that there would be no debate, nor a judicial hearing. His judges had already made their decision.

His voice could barely be heard: "The books are all mine, and I have written more." To the second question, he said, "This touches God and his Word. This affects the salvation of souls. I beg you, give me time."

He was given one day.

No regrets
The next evening, the room was jammed with dignitaries, and, as torches flickered, the same questions were put to him: "Will you defend these books all together, or do you wish to recant some of what you have said?" Luther, his wits about him now, replied in a short speech.

Some of his books, he said, even his opponents agreed contained edifying teaching. Naturally, he would not retract these. Other writings attacked "the papacy and papist teaching," yet to retract them would only encourage tyranny, he said. In some writings, he admitted, he had attacked individuals, perhaps too harshly. Still he couldn't retract these books because these people defended papal tyranny.

The examiner rebuked Luther. Surely a single individual, he argued, could not call into doubt the traditions and teachings of the entire church. Finally, he asked, "You must give a simple, clear, proper answer to the question: Will you recant or not?"

Luther's reply is now famous: "Unless I can be instructed with evidence from the Holy Scriptures. … I cannot and will not recant." Knowing he could be arrested or killed for his answer, he concluded, "Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

It was a defining moment in history, eventually leading to what we know today as Protestant Christianity. Martin Luther is rightly honored as the man who rediscovered the primacy of grace and faith and Holy Scripture. But it took more than faith to make the Reformation. At just the right moment, it needed a dash of courage.

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