Our Redeemer Lutheran Church

10/21/2026

We come now to one of the most famous moments of the Reformation, when Martin Luther stood before the Diet of Worms in 1521. It is remembered especially for three words: “Here I stand.”

After Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther, Emperor Charles V summoned him before the imperial diet at Worms. Luther traveled under a promise of safe conduct, knowing that Jan Hus had been condemned and executed a century earlier despite receiving safe conduct of his own. When Luther appeared on April 17, he was shown a collection of his writings and asked whether they were his and whether he would retract them. He acknowledged the books but asked for time to consider his answer.

The next day, Luther returned. Rather than simply refusing everything at once, he distinguished among his writings. Some taught basic Christian truths that even his opponents accepted. Others criticized abuses, papal policies, and individuals. Luther admitted that his language had sometimes been harsher than was appropriate, but he wouldn’t retract the substance of his teaching unless he was shown that it was false.

Then came the words we can confidently attribute to him, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the 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. God help me. Amen.” The famous conclusion, “Here I stand, I can do no other,” appears in later accounts rather than the earliest records of the speech. It beautifully summarizes Luther’s position, but we should distinguish the tradition from what the historical evidence establishes.

What Luther actually said is powerful enough. His point wasn’t that every individual conscience is automatically correct. Luther’s conscience was captive, bound to something outside himself: the Word of God. Worms was therefore not a declaration that everyone should believe whatever seems right to them. It was a declaration that no pope, council, emperor, or theologian may demand that the conscience confess against God’s Word.

That was the stand.

10/21/2026

Looking to the coming Advent season, mark your calendars for this year's Advent Concert Series at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 402 Aumond Rd, Augusta, GA.

10/20/2026

10/18/2026

Today brings us to a turning point in Luther’s story, the Leipzig Debate of 1519. What had begun as a controversy over indulgences was becoming a much deeper dispute about authority in the Church. The debate was driven largely by Johann Eck, a formidable theologian from Ingolstadt who first challenged Luther’s colleague Andreas Karlstadt. Luther soon entered the controversy himself, and the discussion moved beyond indulgences to questions about the papacy, church councils, and ultimately what authority could bind the Christian conscience.

Eck was skilled at recognizing where Luther’s arguments were leading. He pressed Luther on whether the pope’s supremacy was truly established by divine right. Luther argued that the universal supremacy of the bishop of Rome couldn’t be demonstrated from Scripture and that the early Church had existed without such an arrangement.

Then Eck pushed harder, connecting some of Luther’s positions with those of Jan Hus, a Bohemian reformer who was condemned as a heretic a century earlier. Luther initially resisted the comparison, but after examining the issue he acknowledged that some of Hus’ teachings were, in fact, Christian and evangelical. This admission had enormous consequences. If a church council had condemned something true, then councils could err, and if popes and councils could err, neither could function as the Church’s final, infallible authority. The question then became unavoidable: What stands above them?

For Luther, the answer increasingly became the Scriptures. Leipzig didn’t instantly produce the fully developed doctrine of Scripture we associate with the later Reformation, nor did Luther leave the debate having broken with Rome. But the direction of the controversy had changed. In 1517, Luther had questioned the abuse and theology of indulgences. By 1519, he was questioning the authority structures used to defend them. The debate was no longer just about whether a particular church practice had gone wrong. It was becoming a question of who possesses the authority to say what the Church must believe.

Luther’s answer was becoming clearer: God’s Word stands above every human authority.

10/17/2026

Join us Sunday at 8:15am for our Traditional Service live stream via the link below:

Good Morning and thank you for joining us. We are happy that you ar...

10/17/2026

Trunk or Treat is Saturday October 24th from 4:30pm-6:30pm. We have started our candy collection of individually wrapped candy. Please place in the bins in the lobby area.
Your donations of candy may be dropped off in the box located in the lobby by THIS MONDAY, October 19.
There is also a sign up sheet available in the lobby to volunteer.

10/16/2026

Join us Sunday at 11am for our Contemporary Service live stream via the link below:

Good Morning and thank you for joining us. We are happy that you ar...