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Lyssna när som helst, var som helst

Zondervan

In the late afternoon of April 18, 1521, in the city of Worms, Germany, Martin Luther, 37 year-old Catholic monk appeared before Charles the Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor at the imperial assembly. Luther was called to answer certain charges and to make public confession to the ‘errors’ found within the multitude of books he had written. The speech he delivered that day, Here I Stand, marked the beginning of the Reformation, a critical turning point in Christian history that decisively altered the spiritual map of the world.

In this recording of one of the most consequential speeches ever given, Max McClean introduces the events leading to the Diet of Worms; Martin Luther’s prayer the night before he delivered his speech; Luther’s stirring defense; Eck’s rebuttal; and, Luther’s final heartfelt response.

Max McLean

Zondervan Academic

The Listener’s® Collection of Classic Christian Literature

Martin Luther's Here I Stand: The Speech that Launched the Protestant Reformation

After the conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus, the dramatic conversion of St. Augustine—as he himself tells it in his Confessions—is the most significant conversion story in Christian history.

Augustine’s experience speaks to his dilemma that many people have understood when counting the cost of converting to Christ. He had come to intellectual certainty about the truth of Christianity but he could not embrace it in faith. “The way of the savior attracted me greatly,” he wrote, “but I was reluctant to pass through the straight and narrow gate…I was weak and chose the easier way, and for this single reason my whole life was one of inner turbulence and listless indecision. I had found the pearl of great price; but I hesitated to sell all that I had to buy it.”

After a monumental struggle—not unlike Jacob wrestling with the Angel—Augustine hears the voice of a child chanting over and over again “take up and read…I snatched up the apostle’s book, opened it and read the paragraph on which my eyes first fell…At that moment there was infused in my heart the light of full certainty and all the gloom of doubt vanished away.”

Saint Augustine's The Conversion of Saint Augustine: Taken from The Confessions of St. Augustine

“…as I slept I dreamed a dream.”

So begins one of the most beloved stories in all of history. John’s Bunyan’s beautiful and moving allegory of Christian, the Pilgrim, on his perilous journey to the Celestial City, has touched hearts and minds for more than three hundred years.

Filled with unforgettable characters—Evangelist, Charity, Hypocrisy, Goodwill, Obstinate, and Mr. Worldly Wiseman—this wonderful story offers a unique insight into the Christian life, its joys and trials, its opportunities and struggles.

Max McClean’s lively, heartfelt reading is taken from a slightly updated, easier-to-follow text that retains the style and form of the original.

John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress: A Classic Story Wonderfully Told

George Whitefield is considered the greatest evangelist of the 18th century and was a major contributor to the ‘Great Awakening’ in Colonial America. Born in 1714 of humble origins, he grew up to become a very popular preacher. Churches were packed, bubbling over with eager anticipation to hear him. His preaching was described as apostolic, bold, purely gospel, with an immensity of pathos. His voice was so powerful that 30,000 people could hear him at once, and yet, so musical and well-toned that some have said, “he could raise tears by his pronunciation of the ‘Mesopotamia.’” In his sermon, The Method of Grace, Whitefield shows the way for a person to receive true, lasting peace in his soul.

George Whitefield's The Method of Grace: The Classic Work on Receiving True, Lasting Peace

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is American’s greatest theologian and philosopher. One of the key figures in the ‘Great Awakening,’ he entered Yale at twelve and was Head Tutor at twenty-one. Edwards pastored congregations for over 30 years and earned a reputation as a consummate rhetorician and master preacher. Shortly after becoming President of Princeton University he died of complications from a smallpox inoculation. He is buried in Princeton cemetery.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God was preached on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. It is considered the most famous sermon ever preached in American history. The vivid imagery Edwards employed made some tremble and cry out for mercy. Others fainted. Five hundred people were converted that day.