Thomas à Kempis

The Imitation of Christ

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is one of the most widely read Christian devotional works ever written, second only to the Bible in its influence across five centuries and countless traditions. Written in Latin in the early fifteenth century, most likely by Thomas Haemmerlein (à Kempis), a monk who spent seventy years in quiet Augustinian monasteries near the Rhine, the book makes a single, urgent argument: that a life of intellectual achievement, worldly success, or even religious busyness means nothing unless it is rooted in humble union with Jesus Christ. "What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity," Thomas asks, "if thou lack humility, and be thus displeasing to the Trinity?" The work is divided into four books — practical admonitions for the spiritual life, counsel on the inner life, a sustained dialogue of the soul with Christ on inward consolation, and a meditation on the Eucharist — each pressing the reader deeper inward, away from self and toward God.