Luther's Rose Long Sleeve Tee

When faced with legal and ecclesiastical conviction, excommunication and even execution as a heretic for his criticism of the Catholic Church in his 95 Theses, Martin Luther could not recant what Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, had convicted him of first. When asked at the Diet of Worms if he would recent he famously answered, “unless I am convinced by sacred Scripture, or by evident reason, I cannot recant, for my conscience is held captive by the Word of God, and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”

“For Luther, however, much more important than the study of history and theology was the study of the Bible. As he liked to say, the church had made him a professor of the Bible and had made him swear to teach the Bible faithfully, and that was what he was doing and had always done. His conscience was captive to the Word of God, which was his only ultimate authority. By implication, he was teaching clearly that the Bible alone was always true and never contradicted itself. The Bible alone was the utterly reliable authority of Christ in the church. Where the Bible spoke, the Christian must believe and follow—whatever the consequences…

Luther powerfully described himself and his teaching as “captive to the Word of God.” He was not being creative or self-assertive or reveling in rebellion. Rather, he was driven by the Word, taken and held by the Word. He knew the danger, but he also knew the joy and freedom of teaching as the Scriptures and the Apostles had taught. This was the path that was safe as he stood before God and sound as he hoped for the mercy of Jesus. Luther embraced the cross and whatever it brought to him because he knew from the Bible that whether he lived or died, he was the Lord’s…

He committed his cause to God, who alone could help him ultimately. He did not know if he would live or die. But he had confidence that he had served the Lord faithfully according to His Word and had preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. He believed that the Lord would help him accomplish all that He had ordained for him to do. And God did fulfill His purpose as Luther had expected when he had adopted as his life’s motto the words of Psalm 118:17: ‘I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.’”

-Robert Godfrey

• 100% airlume combed ring-spun cotton
• Heather colors are 52% combed and ring-spun cotton, 48% polyester
• Fabric weight: 4.2 oz./yd.² (142.4 g/m²)
• 32 singles
• Regular fit
• Side-seamed construction
• Crew neck
• Cover-stitched collar
• 2″ (5 cm) ribbed cuffs
• Blank product sourced from Nicaragua, Honduras, or the US

Size guide