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fractaltexan's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful book that I will be reading as often as I can. It is easy to see why this book is considered a classic, with its reflections and prayers after every chapter.
ehays84's review
3.0
full of good words, but not that readable and mostly geared toward those in the monastic life. a good book to pick up for some selective reading.
wwatts1734's review
5.0
The Imitation of Christ is the most widely read book of religion besides the Bible itself, and it's not hard to figure out why. This concise little book is a compilation of all of the great spiritual lessons of the Church Fathers and the Spiritual Masters down through the ages. It is written in very vivid language (although it was originally written in Latin), so the prose is very easy to read and to relate. If you have a good translation, this book will come alive in your hands, which is so much more than I can say about most of the books of Christian spirituality that I have read through the years. By far, this is the best book of Catholic spirituality ever written.
The book begins with the soul and mind of the convert. How is it that we could ever live our lives without God, and once we have Him in our lives, how could that fact not be the most re-eminent truth in the world. From there we learn about how to grow closer to God, how to grow in virtue, how to reflect Christ in our own lives. The book concludes with reflections on the Eucharist. It is truly a beautiful work.
I have read that several of the greatest saints of the past 500 years have had a great devotion to this book. St. Therese of Lisieux, for example, memorized whole chapters of this book in her devotions. I really believe that, if one were to follow the precepts of this book completely, one would by necessity become a saint.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Catholic spirituality.
The book begins with the soul and mind of the convert. How is it that we could ever live our lives without God, and once we have Him in our lives, how could that fact not be the most re-eminent truth in the world. From there we learn about how to grow closer to God, how to grow in virtue, how to reflect Christ in our own lives. The book concludes with reflections on the Eucharist. It is truly a beautiful work.
I have read that several of the greatest saints of the past 500 years have had a great devotion to this book. St. Therese of Lisieux, for example, memorized whole chapters of this book in her devotions. I really believe that, if one were to follow the precepts of this book completely, one would by necessity become a saint.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Catholic spirituality.
authorjbr's review against another edition
5.0
There are moments that A Kempis speaks directly to me and there are times I feel like he is advising a superhuman. Few books have made me feel so incredibly inspired to dive into Christianity and made me want to give it up completely. This is a great book, but I might not have been ready for it yet. A book to come back to in a few years and put into practice then.
bubbajones1221's review
2.0
If you are considering reading this book, please first read the the gospel.
Let me start by saying this was recommended to me, and now I'm thinking they only read the first 1/4 of the book. It's broken into four Books and the first one has a lot of really good content. But then... there were a few things that made me change it from my "christian" shelf to my "non-fiction" shelf. I think there are common grace elements of this writing that make for some good and convicting content, but I probably won't read this again.
Kempis is a gifted author and his writings helped lead me to be convicted in being too comfortable and loving the world too much, but that is something I can get from 1 John and from God's Word.
Side Notes
-In the chapter where he commends the monks, Kempis makes it seem like the ascetic lifestyle is 'more holy' than the everyday person living for God as they cobble shoes or farm or something.
-This was published almost 100 years before the Protestant Reformation (in Latin and in the Netherlands) and is still considered one of the most popular "Christian" books to date.
-There was mention of "losing Jesus" when you sin, in context of the quote, it's possible he meant being distant in our relationship with Jesus, but Kempis seems to be inferring that you can lose your salvation when you're not pursuing holiness.
-Now, Kempis very clearly states that it God alone, Christ alone and not human works that earn your salvation. But I guess there's still a contradiction when he also mentions "holiness" or your ever-changing status before God. We don't have an ever-changing status because we are bought with a price (Christ's sacrifice and righteousness)
-He has strong statements against loving the world, and exhortations to take up your cross, but it seems as though he also condemns joy itself.
-He talks about the 'inner self' as being way more important than outer works.
-He has sections where he "speaks as Christ speaking to a follower"... where it's like, God already gave us His word and I don't think we need to speak for him (I actually skimmed over these parts because it felt weird to read). This actually got me to think about this concept in general.
-Ok, got to Book Four, and the Holy Communion/eucharist/transubstantiation is pretty clear. If anything this book is showing me how SIMILAR Catholic doctrine can sound to the truth, how beautiful and glorious they can still make God to be, but the seemingly small differences, that make the most crucial differences. Words you think of as "Catholic" weren't very present in this either, didn't get those trigger warnings, the Virgin Mary didn't come up at all until the last few pages of the book.
Overall, I would proceed with caution. It got me thinking and especially showed me how similar wrong theology can sound to the truth. Kempis makes his God and way of life sound beautiful, but that's just deception and false theology. I feel like I could write a whole paper on this book and would need to do more research before forming a definitive opinion, because Thomas a Kempis really totes the line of ambiguity in some places. Ultimately only God knows the heart and I would hope to fellowship with Kempis in heaven.
But... there were some good quotes:
“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”
“Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of His cross.”
“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.”
“If you wish to draw profit, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never with the design of gaining a reputation for learning.”
“Let temporal things be in the use, eternal things in the desire.”
“It is not really a small thing when in small things we resist self.”
Let me start by saying this was recommended to me, and now I'm thinking they only read the first 1/4 of the book. It's broken into four Books and the first one has a lot of really good content. But then... there were a few things that made me change it from my "christian" shelf to my "non-fiction" shelf. I think there are common grace elements of this writing that make for some good and convicting content, but I probably won't read this again.
Kempis is a gifted author and his writings helped lead me to be convicted in being too comfortable and loving the world too much, but that is something I can get from 1 John and from God's Word.
Side Notes
-In the chapter where he commends the monks, Kempis makes it seem like the ascetic lifestyle is 'more holy' than the everyday person living for God as they cobble shoes or farm or something.
-This was published almost 100 years before the Protestant Reformation (in Latin and in the Netherlands) and is still considered one of the most popular "Christian" books to date.
-There was mention of "losing Jesus" when you sin, in context of the quote, it's possible he meant being distant in our relationship with Jesus, but Kempis seems to be inferring that you can lose your salvation when you're not pursuing holiness.
-Now, Kempis very clearly states that it God alone, Christ alone and not human works that earn your salvation. But I guess there's still a contradiction when he also mentions "holiness" or your ever-changing status before God. We don't have an ever-changing status because we are bought with a price (Christ's sacrifice and righteousness)
-He has strong statements against loving the world, and exhortations to take up your cross, but it seems as though he also condemns joy itself.
-He talks about the 'inner self' as being way more important than outer works.
-He has sections where he "speaks as Christ speaking to a follower"... where it's like, God already gave us His word and I don't think we need to speak for him (I actually skimmed over these parts because it felt weird to read). This actually got me to think about this concept in general.
-Ok, got to Book Four, and the Holy Communion/eucharist/transubstantiation is pretty clear. If anything this book is showing me how SIMILAR Catholic doctrine can sound to the truth, how beautiful and glorious they can still make God to be, but the seemingly small differences, that make the most crucial differences. Words you think of as "Catholic" weren't very present in this either, didn't get those trigger warnings, the Virgin Mary didn't come up at all until the last few pages of the book.
Overall, I would proceed with caution. It got me thinking and especially showed me how similar wrong theology can sound to the truth. Kempis makes his God and way of life sound beautiful, but that's just deception and false theology. I feel like I could write a whole paper on this book and would need to do more research before forming a definitive opinion, because Thomas a Kempis really totes the line of ambiguity in some places. Ultimately only God knows the heart and I would hope to fellowship with Kempis in heaven.
But... there were some good quotes:
"We must imitate Christ's life and his ways if we are to be truly enlightened and set free from the darkness of our own hearts. Let it be the most important thing we do, then, to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ."
“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.”
“Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of His cross.”
“If God were our one and only desire we would not be so easily upset when our opinions do not find outside acceptance.”
“If you wish to draw profit, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never with the design of gaining a reputation for learning.”
“Let temporal things be in the use, eternal things in the desire.”
“It is not really a small thing when in small things we resist self.”