O Almighty and all-knowing God, without beginning or end, who art the giver, preserver, and rewarder of all virtue: Grant me to stand firm on the solid foundation of faith, be protected by the invincible shield of hope, and be adorned by the nuptial garment of charity; Grant me by justice to obey thee, by prudence to resist the crafts of the Devil, by temperance to hold to moderation, by fortitude to bear adversity with patience; Grant that the goods that I have I may share liberally with those who have not, and the good that I do not have I may seek with humility from those who have; Grant that I may truly recognise the guilt of the evil I have done, and bear with equanimity the punishments I have deserved; that I may never lust after the goods of my neighbour, but always give thanks to thee for all thy good gifts... Plant in me, O Lord, all thy virtues, that in divine matters I might be devout, in human affairs wise, and in the proper needs of the flesh onerous to no one... And grant that I may never rush to do things hastily, nor balk to do things demanding, so that I neither yearn for things too soon, nor desert things before they are finished. Amen.
O Deus omnipotens, omnia sciens, principio et fine carens, qui es virtutum donator et conservator, digneris me stabilire solido fidei fundamento, et tueri inexpugnabili spei clypeo, atque decorare nuptiali charitatis vestimento; da mihi per justitiam tibi subesse, per prudentiam insidias Diaboli cavere, per temperantiam medium tenere, per fortitudinem adversa patienter tolerare; da bonum quod non habeo, ab habentibus humiliter quaerere; malum culpae quod feci, veraciter accusare, malum poenae quod sustineo, aequanimiter ferre: bono proximi non invidere; de bonis tuis semper gratias agere: habitu, incessu, et motu disciplinam semper servare; linguam a vaniloquio restringere, pedes a discursu cohibere: oculos a vago visu comprimere; aures a rumoribus separare: vultum humiliter inclinare: mentem in caelestia levare: transitoria contemnere: te tantummodo desiderare; carnem domare: conscientiam expurgare; sanctos honorare: te digne laudare: in bono proficere; et bonos actus fine sancto terminare. Planta in me, domine, virtutes, ut circa divina sim devotus, circa humana officia providus, circa usum proprii corporis nulli onerosus. Da mihi, domine, ferventem contritionem, puram confessionem, perfectam satisfactionem. Ordinare me digneris interius per bonam vitam; ut faciam quod deceat, et quod mihi proficiat ad meritum, et reliquis proximis ad exemplum. Da mihi ut nunquam ea quae fiunt insipienter appetam: et quae fiunt accidiose fastidiam; ne contingat inchoanda ante tempus appetere, aut inchoata ante consummationem deserere. Amen.
the standards against which refinement is usually judged are entirely secular—parsimony, clarity, logical unity, graceful expression, and the like. One seldom encounters standards of theological progress or refinement based on how effectively a doctrine could stir the faithful or satisfy the heart. As a result, the history of American religious ideas [(as distinguished from human actions and organizations)] always turns into an historical account of the march toward liberalism. That is, religious ideas always become more refined (i.e., better) when they are shorn of mystery, miracle, and mysticism—when an active supernatural realm is replaced by abstractions concerning virtue [(7)].
The use of economic tools in no way suggests that the content of religion is unimportant, that it is all a matter of clever marketing and energetic selling. To the contrary, we will argue that the primary market weakness that has caused the failure of many denomination, and the impending failure of many more, is precisely a matter of doctrinal content, or the lack of it. That is, we will repeatedly suggest that as denominations have modernized their doctrines and embraced temporal values, they have gone into decline [(9)].
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Martin Luther, WA-Tisch 1, no. 1038, p. 523:
"Omnes artes et disciplinae nunc sunt in summo fastigio, quanquam simul etiam sint despectissimae, nec mirum, cum Christus ipse, summum videlicet donum, in mundo summe contemptus sit. Typographia postremum est donum et idem maximum, per eam enim Deus toti terrarum orbi voluit negotium verae religionis in fine mundi innotescere ac in omnes linguas transfundi. Ultima sane flamma mundi inextinguibilis."
My (the Perisho) translation:
"All [of the] arts and sciences are now at [(in)] the[ir] highest peak, though they be held also, and at the same time, in the highest contempt, and not surprisingly, since Christ himself, obviously the highest gift [(summum . . . donum)], is in the world [(mundo)] despised in the highest degree. The [art of] printing [(Typographia)] is the last/latest/lowest/worst gift and at the same time the greatest [(postremum . . . donum et . . . maximum)], for by it God has willed that at [(in)] the end of the world [(mundi)] the business/matter/cause (in the sense of lawsuit) of (the) true religion become known throughout [(in)] the whole earth [(toti terrarum orbi, the whole circle of the world)] and be poured out in all tongues/languages. Indeed [(sane)], th[is] last (devouring) flame/torch/destruction of the world [is] inextinguishable | Th[is] last healthy/wholesome [(sane)] (devouring) flame/torch/destruction of the world [is] inextinguishable."
Other translations:
Werner H. Kelber, "The history of the closure of biblical texts," Oral tradition 25, no. 1 (2010): 132-133 (115-140): "Typography is the final and at the same time the greatest gift, for through it God wanted to make known to the whole earth the mandate of the true religion at the end of the world and to pour it out in all languages. It surely is the last, inextinguishable flame of the world."
J. F. Gilmont, The Reformation and the Book (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), 1: "Printing is God’s ultimate and greatest gift. Indeed through printing God wants the whole world, to the ends of the earth, to know the roots of true religion and wants to transmit it in every language. Printing is the last flicker of the flame that glows before the end of this world."
What Luther says: an anthology, ed. Ewald M. Plass (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1959), no. 332 (vol. 1, p. 109): "Printing is the last and also the greatest gift of God. By it He wanted to have the cause of the true religion become known and spread in all languages at the end of the world in all the countries of the earth."
Most-closely-related Tischreden:
Martin Luther, WA-Tisch 2, no. 2772a, p. 649 = Cord. 983-984:
Mirum est nunc partier omnes artes rediisse in lucem et simul omnes egregie contemni, velut chalcographia summum et postremem donum Dei, per quod er die sache treibt; at quam est illa despecta etiam his, qui ei praesunt!
Es ist die letzte flamme fur dem auſʒleschen [(auslöschen in Grimm)] in der welt. Sie ist am ende, wie Jerusalem geschahe; quando optimum Christum cum sanctissima sua praedicatione contemnebant, peribat. Doch ligt nicht daran, quia omnes sancti, qui dormiunt, (ut est in Apocalipsi (14:12 f.)) hunc diem expectant.
My (the Perisho) translation:
[It] is extraordinary [that] now at the same time all [of the] arts have come back/returned to light [(come to light?)] and simultaneously that [they] are all uncommonly despised, just as/for example printing [(chalcographia)] [is] the highest and latest/worst gift of God, through which [gift] he stirs thing[s] up; yet how [(quam)] it is looked down upon by even those who are taking the lead in it!
It [(Es)] is the last flame in the world before [(fur)] the extinguishment. It [(Sie)] is, in the end, as happened [in] Jerusalem; when they had contemned/despised the most worthy Christ [along] with his most holy preaching, he lost his life. And yet [it] did not last/[matter?], because all of the saints who sleep (as in Revelation [14:12 f.?]) await that day.
Martin Luther, WA-Tisch 2, no. 2772b, p. 650:
Omnes artes iam perfectissime et lucidissime prodierunt et sunt etiam proh dolor despectissimae. Ita mundus ipsi Christi fecit, quem despectissimum habuit. Chalcographia est summum et postremum donum, durch welche Gott die sache treibet. Es ist die letzte flamme vor dem ausleschen [(auslöschen in Grimm)] der welt; sie ist Gott lob am ende. Sancti patres dormientes (ut Apocalypsis dicit) desiderant hunc diem.
My (the Perisho) translation:
All of the arts have now come forth/advanced most perfectly and brilliantly and are also—O the sorrow[!]—held in the highest contempt. So the world did to Christ himself, whom it held in the highest contempt. Printing [(Chalcographia)] is the highest and latest gift, by which God stirs thing[s] up. It [(Es)] is the last flame before [(vor)] the extinguishment of the world; these are [(sie ist)], praise God, the end times. The holy fathers, asleep [in the Lord] (as Apocalypse [11:12 f.?] says), desire this day.
