Preventing the Worldliness of the Church: "Imitação de Cristo" by Tomás de Kempis (transl. and annotated by Monsignor Manuel Martinho)

Imitação de Cristo" by Tomás de Kempis (transl. and annotated by Monsignor Manuel Martinho)

Thomas de Kempis found a fertile field to write the "The Imitation of Christ" providing practical guidelines for the life of the believer. The book is divided into independent chapters, that is, each has a beginning, middle and end, so it can be read autonomously. This justifies the traditional custom of saying a prayer and opening the book at random. Its characteristic is to put the believer in contact with Christ, helping him in his conversion process, which requires a break up with the world of mundane affairs.

It is precisely at this point that the work is criticized, because the separation from the world that it suggests makes it labeled individualistic, that is, with a disincarnated spirituality, outside the real world. Far from the truth! It is possible to overcome this obstacle, this side effect of such an excellent remedy, remembering that the book was written for monks, that is, people who already lived apart from the world. To do so, just adapt it on day-to-day basis. In spite of this, it is still a book of extraordinary importance, since in these current times when many in the Church itself embrace the worldly mentality, "The Imitation of Christ" puts things in a Christocentric perspective. The centrality in Our Lord Jesus Christ, the break with the world and with sin, in a spirituality that engages the person through the heart and makes him live for what really matters: Heaven.

The book is divided into four major sections, the first two introducing the reader to spiritual life. The third part is a dialogue between Christ and the soul. It is a devotional, and meditative part (my favourite). The fourth part refers to the Eucharist, teaching how to receive it, adore it and how to approach it properly.

"Imitation of Christ" should be on every Catholic's bedside. It is a valid stance, especially at a time when the Church, instead of being a missionary and evangelizing the world, is just being "evangelized" by it. "The Imitation of Christ" can undoubtedly help to prevent the worldliness of the Church and of each one of us.


NB: I own the 18th edition (1947) in Portuguese (vide photo above), translated and annotated by Monsignor Manuel Martinho (from Latin into Portuguese). ( )

The prose is beautiful, but the content of this book? That is another matter altogether, particularly in the third section, when much of the content purports to be from the mouth of Christ. As a Christian within the Reformed tradition and confessionally holding to the Three Forms of Unity it was at this point the book went out-of-bound theologically. Do you want to imitate Christ as you live by faith? Then read the Bible and read the Puritans, for their writings contain many of the same general ideas but they do so with frequent scripture references and they never claim to be putting words into the mouth of our Savior that were not placed by His Spirit into the Bible. ( )

I rated this solely on my personal reaction to the reading experience. Had I rated it in the context of historical importance or Catholic literary history, I would've given it 5 stars. Had I rated it in light of my own religious philosophies, I would've given it 1 star. ( )

The text is divided into four books, which provide detailed spiritual instructions: "Helpful Counsels of the Spiritual Life", "Directives for the Interior Life", "On Interior Consolation" and "On the Blessed Sacrament". The approach taken in the Imitation is characterized by its emphasis on the interior life and withdrawal from the world, as opposed to an active imitation of Christ by other friars.[1] The book places a high level of emphasis on the devotion to the Eucharist as key element of spiritual life

One of my parents' closest friends, who has remained one of my close friends even after watching me grow up (she's a saint), has recently started posting memes on facebook of the "religion is what you have when you fear the world; spirituality is what you have when you love life" variety. Now, there is something to be said for skepticism about organized religion. But this book accidentally makes an argument for skepticism about disorganized religion.

The Imitatio has been very influential, so I thought I'd give it a read, more or less for its historical interest. I have no idea how this might work as actual spiritual food, but I do know what it looks like intellectually: massive, disturbing, self-righteous selfishness. The focus of the books' authors (there are four books in here, and I'm pretty sure they're by different people, just due to the shifts in tone and form) is on *you*, dear reader, and how *you* can get through the veil of tears and enter the kingdom of heaven. A large part of doing so, it turns out, is ignoring everyone else and looking into yourself. There is literally *nothing* in here about helping others. No doubt the authors didn't intend to make such a statement--my second suspicion is that the book really was meant to be more like 'tips for how to get along in a religious community' than 'groundwork for spiritual practices.' But whether they intended it or not, the Imitatio mainly counsels a rejection of all other human beings, since they are just stumbling blocks in your way to paradise.

This edition is very well done; it reads clearly, the notes are exhaustive and even if you know literally nothing about the middle ages, bible or Christianity you will rarely be lost.

But I think I'd rather read an Imitation of St. Martin. ( )