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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781406792515 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pomona Press |
| Publication date: | 01/01/2006 |
| Pages: | 284 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.64(d) |
About the Author
Robert Jeffery was ordained in 1959 and has written on matters of Church history, spirituality, mission, and ecumenism. An Honorary Doctor of Divinity of Birmingham University, he retired from his post as Canon and Sub-Dean of Christ Church in 2002. He lives in Oxford, England.
Max von Habsburg is the author of Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi 1425–1650. He lives and teaches in Northamptonshire, England.
Read an Excerpt
Imitation of Christ
By Thomas A. Kempis
Nuvision Publications
Copyright © 2006 Thomas A. KempisAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9781595479624
Chapter One
Imitating Christ & Condemning the World
"Whoever shadows my every move won't lose me in the dark." At least that's what Christ says, or what the Evangelist John heard Him say (8:12). He tells us to walk on, through the darkness, with Christ as our only torch. That way, when morning comes, we mayn't have gained a step, but we won't have lost one either. And on into the day we must pursue with doggéd tread the life of Jesus Christ.
We Devouts know more about Christ than we do about the Saints. For example, whoever finds the spirit of Christ discovers in the process many "unexpected delights," if I may use an expression of the Apostle John's from the Last Book of the New Testament (2:17).
But that isn't often the case. Many who've heard the Gospel over and over again think they know it all. They've little desire to discover if there's more to the story. That's because, as the Apostle Paul diagnosed it in his Letter to the Romans (8:9), "they don't have the spirit of Christ."
On the other hand, whoever wants to understand the words of Christ and fully and slowly savor their sweetness has to work hard at making himself another Christ.
If you're not humble, you make the Trinity nervous, and in thatwretched state what possible good do you get out of standing up in public and disputing to high heaven about the Trinity as an intellectual entity? The real truth, if only you'd learn it, is that highfalutin words don't make us Saints. Only a virtuous life can do that, and only that can make God care for us.
"Compunction" is a good example. The Schoolmen at the University -- that's to say, the Philosophers and the Theologians -- could produce lengthy, perhaps even lacy, definitions of this holy word, but that wouldn't move them one inch closer to the Gate of Heaven. The humble Devout, on the other hand, who can neither read nor write, might very well have experienced compunction every day of his life; he's the one, whether he knows it or not, who'll find himself already waiting at that very gate when the Final Day comes.
By the way, I do know what compunction means, and so should you: a prickling or stinging of the conscience.
Are you any the richer, if I may put it the way Paul did in his First Letter to the Corinthians (13:3), for knowing all the proverbs of the Bible and all the axioms of the Philosophers, when you're really all the poorer for not knowing the charity and the grace of God?
"Vanity of vanities, and everything is vanity," says the Ancient Hebrew Preacher in Ecclesiastes (1:2). The only thing that isn't vanity is loving God and, as Moses preached to the Israelites in Deuteronomy, serving him alone (6:13). That's the highest wisdom, to navigate one's course, using the contempt of the World as a chart, toward that Heavenly Port.
Just what is vanity? Well, it's many things. A portfolio of assets that are bound to crash. A bird breast of medals and decorations. A brassy solo before an unhearing crowd. Alley-catting one's "carnal desires," as Paul so lustily put it to the Galatians (5:16), only to discover that punishment awaits further up and farther in. Pining for a long life and at the same time paying no attention to the good life. Focusing both eyes on the present without casting an eye toward the future. Marching smartly in the passing parade instead of falling all over oneself trying to get back to that reviewing stand where Eternal Joy is queen.
Don't forget the hoary wisdom of the Ancient Hebrew Preacher: "The eye is never satisfied by what it sees; nor the ears, by what they hear" (1:8). With that in mind, try to transfer your holdings from the visible market into the invisible one. The reason? Those who trade intheir own sensualities only muck up their own account and in the process muddy up God's Final Account.
Continues...
Excerpted from Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis Copyright © 2006 by Thomas A. Kempis. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Preface ix
Useful Admonitions for a Spiritual Life
Following Christ 3
A Humble Sentiment 4
The Doctrine of Truth 6
Prudence in Our Doings 8
The Holy Scriptures 9
Inordinate Affections 10
Flying Vain Hope and Pride 11
Shunning Familiarity 12
Obedience and Subjection 13
Avoiding Superfluity of Words 14
Acquiring Peace and Zeal 15
Advantage of Adversity 17
Resisting Temptation 18
Avoiding Judgment 20
Works of Charity 21
Bearing the Defects of Others 22
A Monastic Life 24
Examples of the Holy Fathers 25
Excercises of a Religious Man 27
Love of Solitude and Silence 30
Compunction of Heart 33
The Misery of Man 35
The Thoughts of Death 38
Punishment of Sins 42
Amendment of Our Lives 45
Admonitions Concerning Interior Things
Interior Conversation 53
Of Humble Submission 56
Of a Good Peaceable Man 57
Of a Pure Mind 58
Consideration of One's Self 60
Joy of a Good Conscience 61
Love of Jesus 63
Of Friendship with Jesus 64
Want of All Comfort 66
The Grace of God 69
Lovers of the Cross 72
Highway of the Cross 74
Of Internal Consolation
Christ to a Faithful Soul 83
Christ Speaks within Us 84
The Word of God 85
Walking in God's Presence 88
Effects of Divine Love 90
Proof of a True Lover 93
Grace and Humility 95
Our Unworthiness 98
All Things to be Referred to God 99
The Service of God 100
Moderation of Our Desires 103
On Learning Patience 104
On Obedience 106
The Judgments of God 108
Our Dispositions and Desires 109
Comfort is to be Sought in God 111
Casting our Care on God 112
The Example of Jesus Christ 114
On Supporting Injuries 115
Our Infirmities and Miseries 117
Resting in God 119
The Benefits of God 122
Things which Bring Peace 124
Curiosity 127
Peace and Progress 128
The Eminence of a Free Mind 130
Self Love 131
On Detraction 133
The Time of Tribulation 134
The Divine Assistance 135
Disregard of All Things Created 137
Renouncing Cupidity 140
Inconstancy of Our Heart 141
The Love of God 142
Insecurity Against Temptation 144
Vain Judgments 146
Resignation of Ourselves 147
Government of Ourselves 149
Eagerness in Worldly Affairs 150
Man Cannot Glory in Anything 151
Contempt for Temporal Honour 153
Peace is Not to be Placed in Men 153
Against Vain Learning 155
Deadness to Exterior Things 156
Men Are Prone to Offend 157
Confidence in God 160
Things to be Endured 162
Of the Day of Eternity 164
Desire of Eternal Life 167
An Offering to God 170
Practice of Humble Works 174
Man Unworthy of Consolation 175
The Grace of God 177
Nature and Grace 178
The Corruption of Nature 182
On Self Denial 185
Evils of Dejection 187
Searching into High Matters 189
All Our Hope in God 193
Of the Blessed Sacrament
How Christ is to be Received 199
The Great Goodness of God 204
On Frequent Communion 207
Benefits to Devout Communicants 209
Dignity of the Sacrament 212
A Petition Before Communion 214
Resolution of Amendment 214
The Oblation of Christ 216
An Offering to God 218
The Holy Communion 220
The Body of Christ 223
Preparation for Communion 226
Desires of a Devout Soul 228
Desire to Receive Jesus 230
Humility and Self-Denial 231
Laying Open Our Necessities 233
Desire to Serve Christ 234
That a Man Follow Christ 236
Reading Group Guide
"God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."--Archbishop Desmond TutuThe Vintage Spiritual Classics present the testimony of writers across the centuries who have pondered the mysterious ways, unfathomable mercies, and deep consolations afforded by God to those who call upon Him from out of the depths of their lives. These writers are our companions, even our champions, in a common effort to discern the meaning of God in personal experience.The questions, discussion topics, and background information that follow are designed to enhance your group's reading of the six works that make up the first series in Vintage Spiritual Classics. We hope they will provide you with a variety of ways of thinking and talking about these ancient and important texts.We offer this word about the act of reading these spiritual classics. From the very earliest accounts of monastic practice--dating back to the fourth century--it is evident that a form of reading called lectio divina ("divine" or "spiritual" reading) was essential to any deliberate spiritual life. This kind of reading is quite different from that of scanning a text for useful facts and bits of information, or advancing along an exciting plot line to a climax in the action. It is, rather, a meditative approach, by which the reader seeks to taste and savor the beauty and truth of every phrase and passage. There are four steps in lectio divina: first, to read, next to meditate, then to rest in the sense of God's nearness, and, ultimately, to resolve to govern one's actions in the light of new understanding. This kindof reading is itself an act of prayer. And, indeed, it is in prayer that God manifests His Presence to us.
1. Like the three previous classics of monastic literature, The Imitation of Christ is a guide to changing our lives and learning to grow closer to Christ in spirit and in deeds. The book opens with a quote and an exhortation: "'Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness'--.These are Christ's own words by which He exhorts us to imitate His life and His ways" [p. 3]. What does it mean to "follow" Christ in your life? How does Thomas à Kempis approach this task differently from the Desert Fathers, Benedict, and Saint Francis?
2. The injunction that one should "have a humble opinion of one's self" and "love to be unknown and be esteemed as nothing" [pp. 4-5] is quite at odds with the culture of ambition, striving, and success in which we live. What mental and practical conflicts arise when we attempt to live according to this rule? What does Thomas mean when he writes, "He is truly great who is unimportant in his own eyes and considers the greatest of honors a mere nothing"? Is it at all possible to reconcile such teachings with worldly success?
3. Thomas wrote his Imitation for his fellow monks and it is based on the monastic life. How can we who are not living in monasteries, but rather very much in the world, use his precepts to grow closer to God and to attain inner peace? Which of the principles here are easiest to adapt to the busy lives we lead at the end of the 20th century, which most difficult?
4. Like Benedict, Thomas encourages the practice of silence and the setting aside of time for prayer and deep personal reflection [pp. 26-29]. What are the parallels in our contemporary lives to "listening to idle news and gossip" [p. 27]? What time-wasting activities can we learn to do without, in order to make time for solitude and meditation? How does the Christian monastic practice of silence and meditation compare with that of Eastern religions like Buddhism? If you are familiar with "mindfulness meditation" or meditation as practiced by Buddhists, what is similar and what is different between these Asian-based approaches and the Christian monastic approach?
5. Thomas addresses the most difficult question of all, perhaps: that of having the resolve and making the commitment to change our lives: "Come now, and begin this very moment and say to yourself: 'Now is the time to do it--.Now is the right time to amend my life'" [p. 32]. How do you respond to such a radical challenge? Do you feel, like Augustine, the desire to be changed, but "not yet" [Confessions, Book VIII]?
6. How can Thomas's advice on living in community and "Bearing with One Another's Failings" [pp. 20-21] be used to better our relationships with those with whom we live and work? What particular insights into human intimacy did you find most useful?
Introduction
Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) or Thomas Hammerken was born at a place called Kempen, near Dusseldorf, Germany. His parents were people from the artisan class; their family name Haemerken (or Haemerlein) is derived from "little hammer." Thomas left home at the age of thirteen and traveled to Deventer, in the Netherlands, where Geert Groote had established the schools of the Brethren of the Common Life (1376). His service among the Brethren provided both the impetus and the shape for this, his most famous work. It was penned or compiled as a result of the years Thomas spent as a teacher and "Master of Novices" among the Brethren. For this reason, then, The Imitation of Christ, which was born in the practical piety of its author and his movement, breathes that same spirit into the reader. Surviving personal recollections of Thomas à Kempis are few indeed; but those that are extant demonstrate this deep inner connection between the man and his work. The Carthusian Prior at N&uulm;rnberg, for example, remembered Thomas as a "most wise, most sweet and most religious man." Thomas’s earliest biographer could detect no gap or distinction between his writing and à Kempis’ living witness: "As he taught others, so he lived; he fulfilled in very deed, or verified in himself what he recommended in his discourses should be done."
In 1406 Thomas professed a call to religious life, and in 1413 he entered the priesthood, at the age of thirty-three. He spent the balance of his life as a Canon of St. Augustine (member of the Augustinian Order), at the monastery of St. Agnes in Zwolle. À Kempis seems to reflect upon his monastic life in the Imitation; for example, addressing God, he wrote: "You have given grace and friendship beyond all my deserts. What return can I make to You for this grace? For it is not granted to all men to forsake everything, to renounce the world, and to enter the life of religion."(Bk. III: 10). Among Thomas’ duties were those typical of a monastic priest: preaching, study, writing, giving spiritual counsel, and copying manuscripts. Primary among his responsibilities, however, was the cultivation of his own spiritual life and Christian discipleship and if we were are to judge the success of this later responsibility by the power and popularity of his literary work Imitation of Christ we would be forced to conclude that à Kempis wrote from a deep well spring of spiritual practice and practical insight.
In the late-medieval period popular spirituality seemed to be at low ebb. For much of the populace Christianity had degenerated into a sort of "arithmetical piety" that sought to add up enough "good deeds" to counter balance one’s sins; it attached greater significance to rote repetition of prayers and sacraments than to introspection or personal reflection. In his classic text, R.W. Southern observed: "The vast majority of people remained firmly attached to the religious aids offered by the institutional church. To put it bluntly, Europe had sunk too much intellectual, emotional, and material capital in these aids to resign them lightly. Masses and prayers for the dead, indulgences, good works, and pious donations for the remission of purgatorial pains, have never been so widely and even wildly popular as they were in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries." Yet there was also a sparkling resurgence of lay-spirituality towards the end of the fifteenth century that was linked to the emergence of lay brother and sisterhoods (confraternities) as well as with the popularity of lay devotional aids like The Imitation of Christ.
Springing from the efforts of Master Geert Groote (1340-84) of Deventer, Holland, the Brethren or "the New Devout" formed themselves into "houses" or communities of priests and laymen who resolved to renounce worldliness to live in the world by the power of God. The congregations of the New Devout were formed, in part, in reaction against the growing wealth and power of the established religious orders. Unlike their contemporaries they neither begged for alms nor collected rents; rather, like the tent-maker Saint Paul and ancient monks of the desert, the Brethren sustained themselves by working with their hands. Since they did not intend to found a new religious order, the Brethren took no formal vows that bound them to the movement. They sought to live, as described by the title of one of Master Groote’s founding documents, by Resolutions and Intentions, But Not Vows. In it he wrote: "I intend to order my life to the glory, honor, and service of God and to the salvation of my soul; to put no temporal good of body, position, fortune, or learning ahead of my soul’s salvation; and to pursue the imitation of God in every way consonant with learning and discernment and with my own body, and estate, which predispose certain forms of imitation." They intended to be devout, but not "religious" in the technical sense in which the late Middle Ages reserved that term for members of the established religious orders.
The spirituality of the Brethren of the Common Life was strongly Christocentric. It intended, as suggested by the title of this -- the most significant work that comes from this movement -- to imitate Jesus Christ; that is to say, they intended to live according to the injunctions and examples of Christ, and in so doing they intended to live "in Christ" and to have Christ live in them. To this end, the reverent reading of Holy Scripture especially the gospels -- formed a critical portion of their pious regimen. Their interest in the Bible had an ethical edge to it, since the Brethren were studying it to cultivate moral sanctity. And, finally, the imitation of Christ affected the inner person, and the New Devout were concerned about the "training of the heart" so that one’s fallen nature might be subdued and purged out and replaced by a renewing, affectionate devotion to Christ.
Scholars have debated whether Thomas à Kempis actually wrote The Imitation of Christ, though there is ample evidence to suggest that he did. But Thomas probably did not create the teaching contained in the book; it is more likely that he complied, organized, and set the Deventer devotional tradition into a fixed form. There seems to be a strong correlation between the authorship of the book and Thomas’ work as "Master of the Novices," a post he held from 1425 until his death in 1471.
The Imitation comprises four subsections, or "Books:" (1) Counsels on the Spiritual Life, (2) Counsel on the Inner Life, (3) On Inward Consolation, and (4) On the Blessed Sacrament. Each section is made up of a series of short meditations that lead the novice deeper and deeper into union with Christ. Unity with Christ was to be realized not only through contemplation, but also through inward and outward imitation of Christ, as well as sacramental oneness with him. These four books circulated separately prior to being circulated as a unified work. The sequela Christi (following, imitating Christ) is the unifying theme of the entire work; but this is not a merely external or ethical modeling reminiscent of the recent "What Would Jesus Do?" slogan and jewelry. À Kempis aims at utter transformation of the reader’s inner person. By meditating upon Christ’s life and teaching, the author intends that we would make Christ’s virtues our own and that we would conform our inner attitudes to His.
The aims of this work strongly dictated its shape and the resources used to develop it. The chapters amount to short meditations offered in a length entirely suitable for a morning or evening devotional reading; yet, the meditations are seasoned with nuggets of spiritual wisdom that are worth pondering over the course of a long life. While there is an occasional quote from classical Greek or Roman writers, or a passing allusion to a familiar saying from one of the Church Fathers, the preponderance of sources applied by our author are — by far — drawn from the Bible. Fr. Bernard Sappen has given this matter careful study and concluded: "The books most often quoted are the Psalms (140 times, notably the Penitential Psalms), the Wisdom books (60 times), the Prophets (42 times), Job (24 times), and etc. In the New Testament Saint Paul is utilized more than the four Evangelists (120 times against 100). Hence, Walter Elwell rightly observed: "the power of the Scripture surges through its pages."
The work does not fall neatly into any of the categories of classical Christian Spirituality, rather it represents a composite approach that includes the purgative (purging out), illuminative (receiving wisdom) and unitive ways (union with God through Christ). These three approaches receive successive emphasis in the first three books of the Imitation.
Numerous themes drawn from classical Christian Spirituality are intertwined in the book. Among these are: (1) Union with Christ: "Christ will come to you, and impart his consolations to you, if you prepare a worthy dwelling for Him in your heart. All true glory and beauty is within, and there He delights to dwell. He often visits the spiritual man, and holds sweet discourse with him, granting him refreshing grace, great peace, and friendship exceeding all expectation" (Bk. II: 1). Hence, "...you will never know peace until you become inwardly united to Christ." (2) Self-negation and humility: "Had you but once entered perfectly into the Heart of Jesus, and tasted something of His burning love, you would care nothing for your own gain or loss; for the love of Jesus causes a man to regard himself very humbly" (Bk. II: 1). (3) Purity or simplicity of heart: "There are two wings that raise a man above earthly things — simplicity and purity. Simplicity must inspire his purpose, and purity his affection. Simplicity reaches out after God; purity discovers and enjoys Him" (Bk. II: 4). (4) Divine Illumination and consolation through Christian wisdom: "Were you inwardly good and pure, you would see and understand all things clearly and without difficulty. A pure heart penetrates both heaven and hell. As each man is in himself, so does he judge outward things. If there is any joy to be had in this world, the pure in heart most surely possess it; and if there is trouble and distress anywhere, the evil conscience most readily experiences it. Just as iron, when plunged into fire, loses its rust and becomes bright and glowing, so the man who turns himself wholly to God loses his sloth and becomes transformed into a new creature" (Bk. II: 4). (5) Liberation through Detachment: "Keep yourself free from all worldly entanglement, and you will make good progress; but if you set great value on any worldly things, it will prove a great obstacle. Let nothing be great, pleasant, or desirable to you save God alone, and whatever comes from God" (Bk. II: 5). (6) Cultivation of true humility: "Set yourself always in the lowest place, and you shall be awarded the highest, for the highest cannot stand without the lowest. The Saints stand highest in God’s eyes who are lowest in their own; and the more glorious they are, the more humble is their spirit" (Bk. II: 10). (7) The Way of the Cross: "Jesus has many who love His Kingdom in Heaven, but few who bear His Cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share His feast, but few His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer for His sake" (Bk. II: 11).
The piety of the New Devout paved the way for the Sixteenth Century Reformations; Protestant and Roman Catholic alike. Martin Luther encountered it in the Brethren’s school at Magdeberg and through his acquaintance with the Theologica Germanica. John Calvin, Desiderius Erasmus, and Ignatius of Loyola each lived in the Brethren’s house in Paris, though at different times, and each bore the imprint of the practical piety found in the Imitation of Christ. The Anabaptists embraced the theme of imitation of Christ, whether or not they embraced à Kempis’ book. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was deeply affected by the book; both before and after his "Aldersgate experience," of May 1738, he read the work of "pious Kempis" with great appreciation. Wesley wrote: "one day I light on Thomas à Kempis. The more I read, the more I liked it. I bought one of the books, and read it over and over. I was more convinced of sin that ever, and had more power against it."
The artist Vincent van Gogh was also influenced by reading The Imitation. As Kathleen Erickson noted: "Vincent took from the Imitation of Christ the notion that the earthly life is one of trial and ordeal, a kind of journey through perils and pitfalls of earthy existence to the ultimate of glorious reunion with the Lord in heaven." This influence is discernable in van Gogh’s masterpiece entitled "Starry Night."
Former Secretary General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold, was known the world over as a just, fair, and deeply spiritual man. What was less well known about Hammar-skjold was the significant role that Imitation of Christ played in his own spiritual pilgrimage. Henry P. Van Dusen recalls seeing a French language copy of the Imitation at the bedside of the General Secretary’s New York apartment; the same book was found next to his bed, in Leopoldville, Congo, where Hammarskjold spent his last fateful night in 1963. Tucked inside the Imitation, written on an index card, was the General Secretary’s oath of office. The Imitation of Christ and the opportunity to serve the world merged to form an indissoluble whole in the life of the man who cherished them both. Hammarskjold’s devotional journal was published under the title V&aulm;gm&aulm;rken (Markings, 1964) soon after his death. It is clear from Markings that Hammarskjold turned to The Imitation of Christ at crucial periods of his life for spiritual reflection and direction. One such entry appeared in 1953 when, at the peak of his career as a Swedish diplomat, he had just been elected General Secretary of the U.N. Amidst phone calls, telegrams, and cables of congratulations Hammarskjold turned to the words of Thomas à Kempis as he wrote in his journal: "‘Not I, but God in me. ... I am the vessel.’ The drink is God’s. And God is the thirsty One."
John R. Tyson is professor of Theology at Houghton College in Houghton, NY, and professor of Church History at United Theological Seminary in West Seneca, NY. He earned a Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies at Drew University and is the author and editor of several books and numerous articles on topics in Church History and Christian Spirituality.