Rev. Dr. Maxfield presents convention essay: “Luther at the Diet of Worms” 

EDMONTON – Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)’s convention included essayist Rev. Dr. John Maxfield presenting on “Luther at the Diet of Worms.” Rev. Dr. Maxfield is a professor of history and religious studies at Concordia University of Edmonton, and has recently accepted a Call to serve as Assistant Pastor at All Saints Lutheran Church in Edmonton.

Martin Luther’s stand before representatives of the Holy Roman Empire at the diet of Worms in April 1521 is one of the most legendary, and well-recorded, events of the reformation. Rev. Dr. Maxfield’s essay laid out the historical context for the event and addressed the question of what Luther’s confession of faith means for Lutheran Church–Canada today as we “Stand Firm.”  

“As Christians of Lutheran Church–Canada, we will stand firm in our faith only as we stand firm on scripture alone, confessing that the only rule and guiding principal according to which all teachings and teachers are to be evaluated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments alone.”

The Diet of Worms was an official gathering of civil officials of the empire, although many of them were also bishops. The diet started in late January 1521, shortly after Luther had been excommunicated by the pope. Labelled a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church, he was to be burned at the stake by the civil authorities, with no chance for appeal. However, thanks in large part to the influence of Duke Frederick the Wise, Luther was granted safe passage to appear before the diet.  

At the diet, Luther was presented with his published works and given the chance to recant them. In his famous speech, recorded by several attendees in German and Latin, he declined. There is some debate about the most legendary “here I stand” proclamation, as it appears in some transcripts but not others; however, the most important outcome of Luther’s speech is that “Martin Luther stood, as we do, on sola scriptura—on the truth of scripture alone,” Maxfield said. “As Christians of Lutheran Church–Canada, we will stand firm in our faith only as we stand firm on scripture alone, confessing that the only rule and guiding principal according to which all teachings and teachers are to be evaluated and judged are the prophetic and apostolic writings of the Old and New Testaments alone.”

After the diet, Luther spent almost a year in hiding, during which he translated the New Testament into German.  

Rev. Dr. Maxfield concluded the essay by inviting the assembly to sing “Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word,” which was composed by Luther some twenty years after the diet at Worms.  

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