The Imitation of Christ - Hardcover

Knox, Ronald Arbuthnott; Oakley, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0898708729 ISBN 13: 9780898708721

Publisher: Ignatius Press, 2005

Synopsis

The spiritual classic by a Kempis, the second most widely read spiritual book after the Bible, has had an astonishing impact on the spiritual lives of countless saints, peasants, and popes for centuries. Even today, the soul-searching words of the fifteenth-century cleric Thomas a Kempis continue to resonate, unbounded by time or geography. Drawing on the Bible, the Fathers of the early Church and medieval mysticism, his four-part treatise shrugs off the allure of the material world, blending beauty and bluntness in a supremely spiritual call-to-arms.

This beautiful translation by Ronald Knox and Michael Oakley is considered by many teachers, writers, and readers to be the best English translation ever, and one that greatly enhances the life-changing insights of Thomas a Kempis. Illustrated.

"If we could construct a composite picture of all great Christians--Catholic or non-Catholic--of the last five hundred years who found The Imitation substantially beneficial, enlightening, and inspiring, we would need no further proof that familiarity with this great classic is an integral part of a mature spiritual life and even a path to holiness."
--Father Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R., Author, Arise From Darkness

About this title

Review:

If a man tells you that he is fond of the Imitation, view him with sudden suspicion; he is either a dabbler or a saint...Heaven help us if we find easy reading in the Imitation of Christ (Ronald Knox)

None, I believe, except the Bible, has been so universally read and loved by Christians of all tongues and sects (Thomas Carlyle)

The most influential devotional book in Western Christian history (Professor John van Engen)

About the Author:

Thomas à Kempis was born at Kempen near Dusseldorf in 1380. At thirteen he left the local grammar school to join his elder brother John, who had attached himself to the Congregation of the Common Life. In 1399 Thomas' mentor Florentius allowed him to travel to Zwolle to seek admission to the new monastery at Mount St Agnes. He was professed in 1406 and received the priesthood in 1413. Thomas wrote many other devotional works besides The Imitation of Christ, his masterpiece, as well as biographies of Gerald Groote and Florentius Radewyn. He died in 1471.

The Very Revd Robert Jeffery was born in 1935 and ordained in 1959. He has written on matters of Church history, spirituality, mission and ecumenism. In 1978, he became Archdeacon of Salop, and was Dean of Worcester from 1987-96 and subsequently Canon and Sub-Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. He retired in 2002 and is an Hon Doctor of Divinity of Birmingham University.

Max von Habsburg is the author of Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi 1425-1650 (2011).

About this edition

• Publisher: Ignatius Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0898708729
• ISBN 13: 9780898708721
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 265