Product Description
The 15th century treatise Of the Imitation of Christ is one of the most popular Christian books of all time. Although its authorship was disputed for a long time, it is generally now regarded as the product of Thomas a Kempis. The work is a manual of devotion assisting the soul in its pursuit of holiness and communion with God. Written as it was for the monastic life, it presents a high standard for spiritual life, and an ideal for devout Christians to aspire to. --J.B. Hare
About the Author
Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) was a late Medieval Catholic monk and probable author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the best known Christian books on devotion. He was born at the Lower Rhine region in 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 1392 he followed his brother John to Deventer in order to attend the city school. While attending school in Deventer, Thomas encountered the Brethren of the Common Life, followers of Gerard Groote's Modern Devotion. He attended school in Deventer from 1392 to 1399. After leaving school, Thomas traveled to Zwolle to visit his brother John who was at that time prior of the Mount St. Agnes monastery. Thomas was invested at the Mount St. Agnes monastery in 1406. He did not become ordained as a priest however, until 1413 or 1414. He became a prolific copyist and writer. 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 fittingly 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."
