Thomas a Kempis
Thomas à Kempis (Thomas Hemerken, Thomas Hämerken, Thomas van Kempen) (1380 - 1471) was a Renaissance Roman Catholic monk and author of the Imitation of Christ, one of the most well-known Christian books on devotion.
Thomas à Kempis was born at Kempen (hence the "A Kempis") in the duchy of Cleves in Germany around 1380. He was educated by a religious order called the Brethren of the Common Life, and in due course joined the order, was ordained a priest, became sub-prior of his house (in the Low Countries), and died in 1471 (his feast is observed a day early to avoid conflict with that of James bar-Zebedee the Apostle.
He is known almost entirely for composing or compiling his manual of spiritual advice, the Imitation of Christ, in which he urges the reader to seek to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to be conformed in all things to his will.
Life
He was born at Kempen, Germany (40 miles northwest of Cologne) in 1380 and died near Zwolle (52 miles east-north-east of Amsterdam) in 1471. His paternal name was Hemerken or Hämmerlein, "little hammer."
In 1395 he was sent to the school at Deventer conducted by the Brethren of the Common Life. Later, 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, Rudolph of 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.
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, and biographies of Groote, Radewijns, and nine of their companions. Works similar in content to the Imitation of Christ and pervaded by the same spirit are his prolonged meditation on the life and blessings of the Savior and another on the Incarnation. Both of these works overflow with adoration for Christ.
Imitation of Christ
The Imitation of Christ (or De imitatione Christi), by Thomas à Kempis is a widely read Christian spiritual book. It was first published anonymously, in Latin, ca. 1418; several other authors have been proposed, but Kempis's authorship is now generally accepted.
Imitation of Christ is a writing of the mystical German-Dutch school of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and together with the Confessions of Augustine and John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress it occupies a front rank among manuals of devotion, after the Bible. Protestants and Roman Catholics alike join in giving it praise. The Jesuits give it an official place among their "exercises." John Wesley and John Newton listed it among the works that influenced them at their conversion. General Gordon carried it with him to the battlefield.
The number of counted editions exceeds 2,000; 1,000 different editions are preserved in the British Museum alone. The Bullingen collection, donated to the city of Cologne in 1838, contained at the time 400 different editions. De Backer (Essai, ut inf.) enumerates 545 Latin and about 900 French editions.
The book was written in Latin, but only a French translation from 1447 survived and exists as a manuscript. The first printed French copies appeared at Toulouse in 1488. The earliest German translation was made in 1434 by J. de Bellorivo and is preserved in Cologne. The editions in German began at Augsburg in 1486. The first English translation (1502) was by William Atkinson and Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, who did the fourth book. Translations appeared in Italian (Venice, 1488; Milan 1489), Spanish (Seville, 1536), Arabic (Rome, 1663), Armenian (Rome, 1674), Hebrew (Frankfort, 1837), and other languages. Pierre Corneille produced a poetical paraphrase in French in 1651.
The Imitation of Christ derives its title from the heading of the first of four books, De imitatione Christi et contemptu omnium vanitatum mundi. It seems to have been written in meter and rhyme, a fact discovered by K. Hirsche in 1874. The four books are not found in all the manuscripts, nor are they arranged invariably in the same order.
The work is a manual of devotion intended to assist the soul with its pursuit of holiness and communion with God. Its sentences are statements, not arguments, and are pitched in the highest key of Christian experience. It was meant for monastics and ascetics. Behind and within all its reflections runs the counsel of self-renunciation.
The life of Christ is presented as the highest study possible to a mortal. His teachings far excel all the teachings of the saints. The book gives counsel to read the scriptures, statements about the uses of adversity, advice for submission to authority, warnings against temptation and how to resist it, reflections about death and the judgment, meditations upon the oblation of Christ, and admonitions to flee the vanities of the world. Christ himself is more than all the wisdom of the schools and lifts the mind to perceive more of eternal truth in a moment of time than a student might learn in the schools in 10 years.
Excellent as these counsels are, they are set in the minor key and are especially adapted for souls burdened with care and sorrow and sitting in darkness. They present only one side of the Christian life, which can be supplemented by counsels for integrity, bravery, and constancy in the struggle for daily existence which encompasses the bulk of humanity.
It was written by a monk and intended for the convent. It lays stress on the passive qualities and does not advocate active service in the world. What makes it acceptable to most Christians is the supreme emphasis it lays upon Christ and the possibility of immediate communion with him and God.
The primary Protestant complaints about the book are with regard to what they might call medieval superstitions: the merit of good works and transubstantiation (IV:2 - i.e., volume IV, chapter 2), purgatory (IV:9), and the honoring of saints (I:13, II:9, III:6, III:59). These aspects of Kempis's writings, however, are in full conformity with the Catholic faith that he practiced and with the Catholic faith today.
Legacy
Thomas a Kempis's name will be remembered because of his world-famous book, "Imitation of Christ. Priests, nuns, and lay people have used it for hundreds of years, and it has helped many to become holy Christians and saints for heaven. Some claim that his book is so beautiful, that you would almost think that an angel had come and told him exactly what to write.
Quotes from Thomas a Kempis
The following quotes are attributed to him:
"If thou wilt receive profit, read with humility, simplicity and faith, and seek not at any time the fame of being learned."
"I have searched for peace everywhere, but have not found it anywhere except for in a corner with a book."
"At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done."
"If, however, you seek Jesus in all things, you will surely find Him."
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- a Kempsis, Thomas. The Imitation of Christ, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1990. ISBN 978-0585035635
- a Kempsis, Thomas, & Byrne, Frederick. Vera sapientia or true wisdom, R & T Washbourne, 1904. ISBN 0970652674
- Butler, Dugald. Thomas a Kempis: A Religious Study, Kessinger Publishing, 2006. ISBN 978-1428636484
- Creasy, William C. The Imitation of Christ: A Timeless Classic for Contemporary Readers, Christain Classics, 2003. ISBN 978-0870612312
External links
- Read Imitation of Christ online Retrieved September 15, 2007.
- Thomas à Kempis at The Catholic Encyclopedia
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