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by Martin Luther

The eloquence and steadfast faith of Martin Luther was never more obvious than in his speech of defense at the Diet of Worms. He was one man standing against the world; with God, faith and conscience as his guide. He dared to oppose the most powerful empire in the world at that time: the Roman Catholic Empire, ruled by the Pope himself. "I do not think of myself as a saint;" he says, "...but neither can I retract these books, because I should, by so doing, sanction the impieties of my opponents, and they would thence take occasion to crush God's people with still more cruelty. Yet, as I am a mere man, and not God, I will defend myself after the example of Jesus Christ, who said: 'If I have spoken evil, bear witness against me.'-- He continued boldly, "What I have just said I think will clearly show that I have well considered and weighed the dangers to which I am exposing myself...." "Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require of me a simple, clear and direct answer, I will give one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the council, because it is as clear as noonday that they have fallen into error and even into glaring inconsistency with themselves..." His stand was steadfast and strong, and yet he still showed humility before his authorities. A powerful speech, with challenging wording.

approx. 7-8 min.