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    Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated)
    Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated)
    Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated)
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated)

    By Upper Room Books

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    About this ebook

    With:

    • Historical commentary
    • Biographical info
    • Appendix with further readings

    For nearly 2,000 years, Christian mystics, martyrs, and sages have documented their search for the divine. Their writings have bestowed boundless wisdom upon subsequent generations. But they have also burdened many spiritual seekers. The sheer volume of available material creates a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Enter the Upper Room Spiritual Classics series, a collection of authoritative texts on Christian spirituality curated for the everyday reader. Designed to introduce 15 spiritual giants and the range of their works, these volumes are a first-rate resource for beginner and expert alike.

    The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis has perhaps influenced Christian spirituality more than any other book except the Bible. From the time of its appearance around 1420, it has been a best seller. This volume includes accessible selections from this classic of Christian spirituality and Western literature.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUpper Room Books
    Release dateApr 1, 2017
    ISBN9780835816922
    Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated)

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      Book preview

      Writings of Thomas à Kempis (Annotated) - Upper Room Books

      Introduction

      The Imitation of Christ , by Thomas à Kempis, has had more influence on Christian spirituality today than any other book except the Bible. From the time of its first appearance around 1420, it has been a best-seller. It was one of the first books to be printed and went through fifty editions before 1500. Even persons who have never read it have received its message through others who have read it, both Catholic and Protestant. Luther, Calvin, and Wesley all cherished it. Its echoes sound in countless hymns.

      Despite this popularity, modern readers may find The Imitation troubling. Language about despising the world and having contempt for oneself may seem to contradict modern emphases on appreciation of all creation and on self-actualization. But Thomas is talking about a love for Christ so all-consuming that every other love must wither away. If Christ is everything, then all else must be nothing unless it is in Christ or loved for Christ’s sake. If the goal is to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, then no other goal—personal, communal, or national—can be allowed to stand in the way. And so, says Thomas, one’s own will must be put to death so that God’s will may be done.

      One of the first books published by John Wesley was his own abridged translation of The Imitation, which he called The Christian’s Pattern. In the preface he says that it is impossible for anyone to know the usefulness of this treatise who has not read it in such manner as it deserves. That manner, as he goes on to describe it, is prayerfully, attentively, methodically, and reflectively, always seeking to bring one’s life, and not just one’s mind, under its influence. Wesley himself reread the book constantly throughout his life.

      Thomas’s World

      The early fifteenth century in northern Europe could be viewed as a time of recovery. During the fourteenth century, famine, wars, and above all the Black Death had reduced the population of Europe by a third. Many farming communities were abandoned as people moved to the cities to work at various crafts, creating a growing middle class.

      Many people saw that earlier upheaval as a sign from heaven, a call to repentance. One of them was Geert Grote (or Gerhard de Groote), a well-to-do scholar from the Low Countries (Netherlands), who experienced a conversion in 1374, when he was thirty-four years old. He felt called to live a devout and simple life and spent some time in a monastery. He also visited John of Ruusbroec (or Jan Ruysbroeck), a Dutch mystical writer and teacher who attempted to become a hermit but finally founded a monastery at Groenendael. At John’s urging, Geert did not seek ordination but obtained a license as a missionary preacher in Utrecht. His preaching attracted a number of followers in a movement generally called the Devotio Moderna or New Devotion. Some of those followers began to live communally in houses of men or women as the Brothers or Sisters of the Common Life. Though they did not take vows, they agreed to share their resources, to attend and support their local churches, to submit to the authority of the bishop and priest, and to pursue the virtues in humility and love. Many of the women supported themselves through making lace. Many of the men worked as copyists. They also educated young men preparing for the priesthood.

      After Geert’s death in 1384, his movement continued to grow. In addition to the informal houses, several dozen monasteries were organized as the Windesheim Congregation of Canons Regular, a monastic order following the Rule of Saint Augustine. One of these, at Agnietenberg (Mount Saint Agnes), near Zwolle in the Low Countries, was founded in 1398 and became the home of Thomas à Kempis.

      Thomas’s Life

      Thomas Hemerken was born about 1380 in the town of Kempen in northern Germany in a poor family. In later life he used the name of the town to identify himself as Thomas à Kempis. As a teenager, he was educated by the Brothers of the Common Life in Deventer. In 1399, he joined his brother, John, at the monastery in Agnietenberg. John had helped to found the monastery and was serving as prior. In 1406 Thomas took his solemn vows as a monk and was ordained priest about seven years later. Except for one short trip to attend his dying brother (John had gone on to found another monastery), he lived in that community for seventy-two years.

      Thomas’s primary work within the community was as a copyist. He produced two complete copies of the Bible (ten volumes each) as well as numerous psalters and prayer books. He also served as subprior of the monastery and as novice master. It might have been the latter work, training new members of the community, that inspired him to write out the basic advice on the Christian life that became The Imitation of Christ. Certainly the books of The Imitation summarize the New Devotion, with many echoes of the preaching and writing of Geert Grote and his early followers.

      The four books of The Imitation were produced separately and circulated anonymously. This led to many different guesses as to the author’s identity. The oldest existing copy of Book I is dated 1424. The oldest manuscript containing all four books is from 1427. Other early manuscripts contained two or three of the books in various orders and combinations. In 1441, Thomas himself copied out a revised edition, together with some of his sermons and other writings.

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