The Imitation of Christ [Hardcover]

Thomas à Kempis (Author), Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (Translator), Michael Oakley (Translator), Benedict J. Groeschel (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2005

The spiritual classic by à Kempis, the second most widely read spiritual book after the Bible, has had an astonishing impact on the spiritual lives of countless saints, peasants, and popes for centuries. Even today, the soul-searching words of the fifteenth-century cleric Thomas à Kempis continue to resonate, unbounded by time or geography. Drawing on the Bible, the Fathers of the early Church and medieval mysticism, his four-part treatise shrugs off the allure of the material world, blending beauty and bluntness in a supremely spiritual call-to-arms. This beautiful translation by Ronald Knox and Michael Oakley is considered by many teachers, writers, and readers to be the best English translation ever, and one that greatly enhances the life-changing insights of Thomas à Kempis. Illustrated.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Author:

"Thomas à Kempis (Thomas Hemerken, Thomas Hämerken, Thomas van Kempen, Tomás de Kempis) (ca.1380 - July 25, 1471) was a Renaissance Roman Catholic monk and author of Imitation of Christ, one of the best known Christian books on devotion.

He was born at Kempen (Germany), County of Cleves in 1380 and died in 1471 near Zwolle in the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, 75 miles north of his birthplace. His paternal name was Hemerken, Kleverlandish for "little hammer."

In 1395 he was sent to the school at Deventer conducted by the Brethren of the Common Life. He became skillful as a copyist and was thus enabled to support himself. Later he was admitted to the Augustinian convent of Mount Saint Agnes near Zwolle, where his brother John had been before him and had risen to the dignity of prior. Thomas received priest's orders in 1413 and was made subprior in 1429.

The house was disturbed for a time in consequence of the pope's rejection of the bishop-elect of Utrecht, Rudolf van Diepholt; otherwise, Thomas' life was a quiet one, his time being spent between devotional exercises, composition, and copying. He copied the Bible no less than four times, one of the copies being preserved at Darmstadt in five volumes. In its teachings he was widely read, and his works abound in Biblical quotations, especially from the New Testament.

His life is no doubt fitly characterized by the words under an old picture first referred to by Francescus Tolensis: "In all things I sought quiet and found it not save in retirement and in books." A monument was dedicated to his memory in the presence of the archbishop of Utrecht in St. Michael's Church, Zwolle, on November 11, 1897. Because of the closing of the church, his shrine was replaced in 2006 in an historical church in the centre of Zwolle.

Thomas à Kempis belonged to the school of mystics who were scattered along the Rhine from Switzerland to Strasburg and Cologne and in the Netherlands. He was a follower of Geert Groote and Florentius Radewijns, the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life.

His writings are all of a devotional character and include tracts and meditations, letters, sermons, a life of Saint Lydewigis, a Christian woman who remained steadfast under a great stress of afflictions." (Quote from wikipedia.org) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From AudioFile

When one seeks classic works on religion (Christian or otherwise), this seminal work should be the first book on the second shelf. While not actual scripture, it's as close as one can get, and if one's goal is to be Christ-like, this recasts much of scripture in that mold. A true visionary, á Kempis lovingly crafted his sentences to transcend typical mystical writing. The narration is fluid, seeming more recited than read. David Cochran Heath once again produces a primer on tone, inflection, and diction. Many times the listener could audibly detect a smile from Heath, as a love of the themes and subject matter is clearly evident in the reading. S.M.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (September 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898708729
• ISBN-13: 978-0898708721
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listening with the Heart, January 10, 2007

By 

Mark Blackburn (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Imitation of Christ (Hardcover)

"Want to know the best advice I ever heard?" asked Larry King, in an interview published today in Canada's National Post newspaper: "I never learned ANYTHING while I was talking." 50 years experience at the interviewer's microphone and Larry's best advice comes down to one word. "Listen!"

Coincidentally (or maybe not!) I picked up this just-received book, sent to me by a dear friend who recalled my reviewing an earlier published edition of this same "Ronald Knox translation." And it literally it fell open to these words,

"By all means ask questions, but LISTEN to what holy writers have to tell you . . . often enough, (when we hear) Holy Scripture, we are distracted by mere curiosity; we want to seize upon some point and argue about it, when we ought to (listen) and move on."

I flipped open "The Imitation" just now and my eyes (lately fixated on my newest pride and joy were these: (p 32 under the heading, "ABOUT SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND HOW TO GET RID OF SELF-CONCEIT")

"It is nonsense to depend for your happiness on created things (and) why all this self-importance? Do not boast of riches, if you happen to possess them . . . nor about the important friends you have; boast rather of God's friendship.

"Do not give yourself airs, if you have physical strength or beauty; it only takes a spell of illness to waste the one, or mar the other. Do not be self-satisfied about your own skill or cleverness; God is hard to satisfy, and it is from him that they come, all these gifts of nature.

"He reads our thoughts, and will only think the worse of you, if you think yourself better than other people. Even your good actions must not be a source of pride to you: If you have any good qualities to show for yourself, credit your neighbor with even better qualities: that is the way to be humble.

"To be humble is to enjoy undisturbed peace of mind, while the proud heart is swept with gusts of envy and resentment."

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Seven years ago (on my birthday actually) I wrote my very first review for Amazon.com -- for an earlier re-print of this same translation. This latest version, from Ignatius Press of San Francisco, is far-and-away the most beautiful and features cover art by Andrea Solario (1480-1540) from the "Galleria Borghese, Rome" -- painted about a century after Thomas a Kempis produced his "Imitation." Inside artwork includes some marvelous, same-period woodcuts by Albrecht Durer.

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In his (2005) FOREWARD to this new edition, psychologist and priest Benedict Groeschel (seen by millions on his "Sunday Night Live" TV show on EWTN) recalls stealing his first copy of the "Imitation" from the public library in his Caldwell NJ hometown - slipping it into his schoolbag intending to return it "to its rightful place on the shelf, in two weeks time, the ordinary period for a book loan in those days."

"The title suggested to my 12-year-old mind that this must be a story about someone who pretended to be Jesus. I went and sat by a window . . . the spring sun (shining) on the oak table, I can still see my blue-sweatered arm around the book as I began to read:

"'Vanity of Vanities - all is vanity except to love God and serve him alone.' At that moment I was electrified, and I sat there reading page after page . . . . for two hours, mesmerized by the book!"

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As for the translation? Is it really the best-ever? I stand by my thoughts of seven years ago:

"I have several translations of the Imitation but I keep coming back to this one. I believe many readers will find this translation 'flows' better than the others, written as it is in a warm, gentle and accessible style by a master translator and communicator, Monsignor Ronald Knox. A convert to Catholicism who produced an acclaimed Latin-to-English translation of the Bible, Knox completed the first 30 or so chapters of the Imitation before his death in 1957. He wrote to Michael Oakley, two months before his passing: "If I die without finishing my translation, please tell my executors that you are to finish it." The younger Latin scholar did a splendid, seamless job of completing Knox's superb translation of what was--until this century--the second most widely read book in the world. What a delight that this version is once again available, [50 years] after its first publication. If you purchase only one copy of the Imitation in your lifetime, make it this one."

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars how to be at rest, June 24, 2008

By 

Logospilgrim "the quiet professor" (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Imitation of Christ (Hardcover)

This book is one of my most treasured possessions. I have three different editions of the Imitation, but this one is my favorite. The language is simple and yet filled with timeless reverence. Some of its counsels may appear to be difficult, but the teachings contained within its pages yield peace of heart. It shows us how to live a holy life, and thus how to be at rest even in the midst of hardships; it reminds us that earthly sorrows are passing and cannot be compared with the joy of communion with Christ. The passages I treasure the most have to do with humility, the virtue that shields us from all manners of suffering. "Watch your own step; be slow to criticize the doings of other people." Serenity is within our grasp, if only we remember that the Lord is above all things. The Imitation is definitely a book that calls for absolute surrender: a radical proposition nowadays. However, absolute surrender bestows absolute freedom, fearlessness and serenity.

~Logospilgrim, author of 'Just a thistle'

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Imitiaton of Christ on tape, November 12, 2006

By 

Kathy Kavanagh "kathkav" (Midwestern book lover) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Imitation of Christ (Mystics) (Audio CD)

My current job involves a total of 1.5 hours of commuting each day, and I bought this audio version of the Imitation for that drive. It is one of the best audio books I've ever heard. The narration is pitch-perfect for the material and pleasing to the ear. I've read the Imitation before, but listening to someone else read it, brings out even more meaning. This is one of the greatest Christian books ever written, and I had doubts that any recording could do it justice, but this one does.