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497 Years Later: Here I Stand

October 31, 1517: the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses

May all our consciences be held captive by the Word of God:

In [commitment] a person asserts his rational independence by obeying the dictates of his own conscience, that is, of obligations laid down for himself by himself. Luther defined the situation by declaring, ‘Here I stand and cannot otherwise.’ These words could have been uttered by a Galileo, a Harvey or an Elliotson, and they are equally implied in the stand made by any pioneer of art, thought, action or faith. Any devotion entails an act of self-compulsion’…

…The freedom of the subjective person to do as he pleases is overruled by the freedom of the responsible person to do as he must.

– Michael Polanyi, Personal Knowledge, pp. 308, 309

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