The Diet of Worms

The main events of the Diet of Worms relating to Luther took place from 16 to 18 April 1521. This year marks the 500th anniversary of the Diet of Worms, and on this occasion, we welcome Dr. Herman Selderhuis to rehearse the events of the diet and share his thoughts about its enduring significance for the church.

The Diet of Worms of 1521 was a formal deliberative assembly of the Holy Roman Empire called by Emperor Charles V and conducted in the city of Worms. Martin Luther was summoned to the Diet in order to renounce or reaffirm his views in response to a Papal bull of Pope Leo X. Luther defended these views and refused to recant them. At the end of the Diet, the Emperor issued the Edict of Worms, condemning Luther and banning citizens from propagating his ideas.

Dr. Herman Selderhuis is Professor of church history and church polity at the Theological University of Apeldoorn and President of the REFORC (Reformation Research Consortium). He is the author or editor of several books:

• Martin Luther: A Spiritual Biography (Crossway, 2017)
• John Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life (IVP Academic, 2009)
• The Calvin Handbook (editor) (Eerdmans, 2009)
• Calvin’s Theology of the Psalms (Baker Academic, 2007)
• Handbook of Dutch Church History (editor) (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014)
• A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy (editor) (Brill, 2013)

Participants: Camden Bucey, Herman Selderhuis