'The Imitation of Christ' first appeared 1418. It was published
anonymously but spread quickly around Europe. A Latin manuscript
from 1441 exists, but there was a German translation as early as
1434. A French translation appeared in 1447, a Spanish edition in
1482, and an Italian one in 1488. The first English translation
appeared in 1503, which was just Book 4, but the other three books
followed in the same year and a complete translation appeared in
1556. In 1663, an Arabic edition was printed in Rome, and in 1837,
a Hebrew version printed in Frankfurt. It has since been translated
into many languages, and has won for itself a variety of celebrity
admirers. John Wesley and John Newton were men of the Evangelical
wing of the Church yet both named this Catholic manual as important
in their conversion, while General Gordon took it into battle with
him. Thomas More, St Francis Xavier and Dr Johnson were other
famous devotees. The work is comprised of four books, though they
are not all found in all manuscripts, and neither are they always
in the same order. This makes little practical difference to the
reader, however. This manual of devotion is pitched at a
challenging level of Christian experience, but does not offer an
ordered journey. Like a merry-go-round, the same themes are visited
again and again throughout the books; Thomas is a teacher who
believes in repetition. Book 4 is unique in that it has a specific
subject, the Eucharist, and explores our attitudes towards the
bread and wine. But even here, the author weaves in themes familiar
from the other three books: human worthlessness, the need for
humility, advice on temptation and adversity, disdain for the
attractions of the world, contempt for scholarship, sorrow for sin,
forgiveness of perceived injustice, submission to God in all things
and ardour for union with the life of Jesus in his death and
resurrection. There is a manic-depressive feel to much of the
writing, which can be disturbing for the modern reader. Although
Thomas calls Christians to an equanimity that is neither too happy
when things go well or too sad when things go badly, the author's
own mood tends to be either one of extreme despair and self-hate or
an ecstatic happiness at the sweetness of God and the joy to be
found in him. To an extent, this mirrors the character of the God
he describes who both loves us unendingly whilst also preparing
eternal punishment for the unfaithful. Kempis offers no resolution
to this paradox; but sensed in all he writes is the fire of
personal dismantlement through which humans must walk in the cause
of their spiritual development. Here is a radical and disturbing
self-help book, penned for the 14th century monk. Thomas writes as
a monk for monks, but clearly his passion and insights spill well
beyond the cloistered world of the monastery. One writer called it
'The diary of a soul on its way to perfection,' which captures well
the author's spiritual ambition both for himself and others. As he
himself says in the second book, 'Disdain that which is
superficial, dedicate yourself to your inner being and you shall
see that the Kingdom of God grows inside you.' St Augustine was
patron of Thomas' monastery and it was he who famously said, 'Oh
God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless
until they find their place in you.' The restless Thomas a Kempis
could not have agreed more.
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