The Reformation · 1516
The Paraclesis
Desiderius Erasmus · c. 1466–1536
What it is
A preface wishing that the gospels were translated into every tongue, so that the farmer might sing them at the plough and the weaver hum them at the shuttle.
Why it lasted
The most quoted argument for vernacular scripture in the sixteenth century, and it came from a man who died in communion with Rome.
Where to read it
This work is in the public domain and can be read in full, free, at the archives below. The Library catalogues it; it does not host the text.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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