1918.09

“Hier sta ik. Ik kan niet anders. God helpe mij.”

In: Luther herdacht in 1917. “Hier sta ik. Ik kan niet anders. God helpe mij.” Door Dr. A. Kuyper, Minister van Staat. Had Luther, R.C. Priester, recht zich te verzetten tegen kerkelijk machtsmisbruik en pauselijke macht? Door Jhr. Mr. A.F. de Savornin Lohman, Minister van Staat.

[Amsterdam, H. v.d. Linde, 1918] (Leiden, Buurman & De Kler), pp. [5]–7, ill.

In this short sketch written for the four hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, Kuyper pays homage as a Calvinist to Luther. He argues that the commemoration of the Reformation should not be tied to the publication of the ninety-five theses in 1517, but to Luther’s trial at the Diet of Worms on April 18, 1521, when he uttered the legendary words: “Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me!” At the beginning of his essay, Kuyper refers obliquely to an unspecified article he had written in March. He must have meant the lead article “Wittenberg or Worms” from De Standaard, no. 13801, April 10, 1917, which dealt with the same topic. An article published in De Heraut, no. 2050, May 6, 1917 also reflected this theme.

This pamphlet was published more than six months after the commemoration of 1917. It is rather odd in several respects. There is no preface and the purpose of the publication is not clearly stated. Judging from the only announcement in De Standaard (no. 14128, May 4, 1918), the editor seems to have undertaken this project at his own initiative. The editor solicited two authors, Kuyper and De Savornin Lohman—both leaders of a Protestant political party and both listed with their ministerial titles—without linking their contributions together.