Book Review: The Imitation of Christby Thomas a’ Kempis
June 2019
Thomas a’ Kempis, or Thomas of Kempen, was born Thomas Haemerken in 1380 in Holland. He joined a non-formal order called the ‘Brothers of the Common Life’ which was introduced to him by his older brother. This order was formed as a result of a cumulative reaction to scholasticism[i]first begun in the early 1300’s that promoted mysticism and accent to God. Thomas was only thirteen at the time he was introduced to the order and was eventually ordained a priest when he was thirty-three years old.[ii]His whole life was dedicated to teaching, preaching, and most especially to writing about Christ. In his most well-known work, The Imitation of Christ, Kempis takes the reader through a series of four books within the book; Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul, The Interior Life,Internal Consolation, and An Invitation to Holy Communion. Through-out these books, Kempis invites the reader into deep spiritual contemplation and challenges every aspect of one’s interior life in order to conform and become more like Christ. It is unmistakable that his intended audience was for those in religious life, but nevertheless, this book has been one of the most well-read books by religious and lay alike in the world after the bible.[iii]There has been theories that there were possibly two or more authors to this book[iv]and it is easy to see why this might be so once the reader gets past the first two books. In these first two, the reader finds what seems like practical instruction from a very wise priest. But once the reader arrives at books three and four, there is a profoundly beautiful difference in the style of writing that makes one wonder about the circumstance and frame of mind these pages were penned under, and as noted above, one wonders if this is the same author at all? Below, I will consider the books in two halves in order to demonstrate this observation in style, as well as, give an overview of the richness found in this contemplative work which has made it so well loved.
Books One and Two: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul and The Interior Life
In book one, Kempis begins with the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, “It is vanity to wish for a long life and to care little about a well-spent life.”[v]This sets the stage for Kempis’ call to turn our hearts from what is visible and rather seek the truth of the invisible which is the interior life with God. He moves swiftly on to the need for humility, which includes admitting that what we perceive with our minds may not always be the whole truth. He admonishes that without Christ as the Word, “no man understands or judges aright.”[vi]The virtues are what follows, the need to live a life of virtue, the pursuit of prudence, learning to abstain from earthly things, despising our pride, and avoiding “idle talk.”[vii]In this way, the simple of heart will be blessed and “shall enjoy peace in abundance.”[viii] His practical instruction goes on and is similar to the instruction found in James 1:2, “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials” and encourages the reader to accept unavoidable temptations as “useful.”[ix]Some of Kempis’ words cut right to the heart of a soul wishing to grow in virtue and holiness. I found myself needing to pause several times in order to take in what was being said and how it applies to me. It was challenging to say the least, and I was tempted to set some of his direction aside as impossible for the lay. Yet, the author somehow knew to acknowledge those possible feelings of the reader, “One moment you resolve to be careful, and yet after an hour you act as though you had made no resolution”[x]and then reminds us that God’s Grace is the only way to rise to these challenges. He ends this book with the exhortation to “keep in mind the image of the Crucified”[xi]when we need to recall our “purpose” for our strife and suffering along the path to holiness.
In book two, we meet again with the practical advice of a good spiritual director who is concerned for our soul. He reminds us not to look to the world for our needs and points out that when we are overly disturbed by what we see, it is because of our attachments to earthly things.[xii]We must look to Christ alone who will be our ultimate repose and peace. He also revisits the need for humility, the need for purity of mind, and that we cannot rely on ourselves for understanding but must alsorely on Grace. He exhorts that we must not neglect ourselves, that we must learn to see our own actions before we judge the actions of others, “If you wish to have true peace of mind and unity of purpose, you must cast all else aside and keep only yourself before your eyes.”[xiii]This can only come if we love Jesus before all else and have an intimate friendship with Him, “let all things be loved for the sake of Jesus, but Jesus for His own sake.”[xiv]Perhaps the most difficult instruction for one to bear is Kempis’ treatment of the way of the cross. No one longs to suffer, yet suffering is everywhere and unavoidable, and offers man the destination of a “crown.” According to Kempis, “If you cast away one cross, you will find another and perhaps a heavier one.” With this, he reminds the reader that all of the Saints endured crosses on earth, and willingly so, for Christ. According to one modern analysis on suffering with disease, one must come to this realization “…through personal experience, not through academic analysis, that the theological depth of the relationship between sin and disease” is how patients learn to suffer with joy.[xv]
Books Three and Four: Internal Consolation and An Invitation to Holy Communion
In book three, we arrive at the question of authorship and at what seems like a peek inside the interior prayer of another soul. We move from practical, concise, and straight-forward instruction to what seems like one long conversation between Christ and the author. The format of these two chapters is quite distinct from the previous two books in that each one begins with either the words of the “Disciple” speaking to the Lord or the “Voice of Christ” responding to the disciple. Because of this, each section demands to be read prayerfully.
These two books seem to be a loving affirmation from Christ, that what we read in the first two books is correct. Through-out, we read Christ’s gentle yet firm call to live the divine life with Him in order to have the Grace to be conformed to Him in all humility and peace. It was satisfying to read a version of Augustine’s words from a thousand years before, “Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it reposes in Thee”[xvi]when I arrived at chapter thirty-three entitled, “Restlessness of Soul - Directing Our Final Intention Toward God.” The Voice of Christ is clear, all honor is due to God alone and all peace should be placed in Him.[xvii]There were many consolations offered in this book as the disciple, that would be the reader, admitted his weakness and cried out in his suffering and Christ readily offered His wisdom and truth, “What you do, do well. Work faithfully in my vineyard. I will be your reward.”[xviii]
As with any great book, the climax is found in book four as we enter into contemplation on the “source and summit”[xix]of the Catholic faith in the Holy Eucharist. The format remains the same as in book three, a back and forth between the disciple and the voice of Christ. Kempis wastes no time in pointing out how lax we have become in our fervor and desire for Christ in the Eucharist:
“Many people travel far to honor the relics of the saints, marveling at their wonderful deeds and at the building of magnificent shrines. They gaze upon and kiss the sacred relics encased in sleeked and gold; and behold, You are here present before me on the alter, my God, Saint of saints, Creator of men, Lord of angels!”[xx]
He goes on to question that if this Sacrament were only celebrated by one man in the whole world, how much more attracted would we be to it? Nevertheless, God in his compassion, goodness and mercy desires us to have Him and so gives us many priests and opportunities because without the reception of Holy Communion, man would never be refreshed or strengthened.[xxi]In one of the more intimate exchanges, the Voice of Christ makes clear that just as He offers himself to us, we too must offer ourselves to Him in order to remain in Him, that is, to be in communion with Him, “for I seek not your gift but you.”[xxii]Finally, we end with a mysterious and profound explanation of Christ’s true presence hidden under the veil of bread and wine, “My eyes could not bear to behold You in Your own divine brightness…In veiling yourself in the Sacrament, therefore, You have regard for my weakness.”[xxiii]There is no arguing with this logic, that in our weak human condition, could we really withstand the glory of the Lord, face to face? No, for this we must wait patiently for when we join the Saints.[xxiv]And so it is that our ardent unmet human desires can only be met with this Sacrament, a glimpse of Heaven to come[xxv]through a devotion that can only be sustained through humility and self-denial according to Kempis. Our imitation of Christ is a complete self-giving to Him just as He gave to the Father. This means our pride, our will, our devotion, our thoughts, our work, and our hearts. In doing so, we can have the faith it takes to set aside our doubts due to natural reason when it comes to the Eucharist, “For in this most holy and supremely excellent Sacrament, faith and love take precedence and work in a hidden manner”[xxvi], and that “work” is the work that Christ is doing in each of us.
I would have liked to have quoted a hundred more lines from this book, but space and time prohibited me from doing so. With this said, I hope these tiny morsels of beauty I attempted to convey will entice others to take the book up themselves, perhaps over and over again as I am certain I will do.
[ii] Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, trans. Aloysius Croft and Harold Bolton (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004), XIII.
[iii]Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, XVIII.
[iv]Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, XVII
[ix] Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 12.
[x] Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 25.
[xii]Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 36.
[xv] Corinna Delkeskamp-Hayes “Why Patients Should Give Thanks for Their Disease: Traditional Christianity on the Joy of Suffering,” Christian Bioethics: Non-Ecumenical Studies in Medical Ethics, no 12 (2006).
[xix] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), 2031.
[xxiv]Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 150.
[xxvi]Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 160.
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