The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis (trans. William Benham) · 1874
4.8 · 8 ratings
About the book
The most-read Christian book after the Bible: four books of counsel on humility, the inner life and consolation, written by a monk who spent seventy years copying manuscripts and watching his own heart. Benham's translation keeps the quiet, needle-sharp voice.
Try the short course
Part 1 · Why a good life beats clever words. The first six slides, free.
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Thomas à Kempis spent the last seventy years of his life in a small monastery in the Low Countries, copying manuscripts by hand. When he wrote a book of his own, he did not open with a definition of faith. He opened with a saying of Christ's about walking: whoever follows me will not walk in darkness.
That choice sets the terms for everything after it. To imitate Christ, for Thomas, is not to agree with a set of ideas about him. It is to follow, the way a student follows a teacher's life and not only his lectures.
And the promise attached to following is light. Not more information, but deliverance from what Thomas calls blindness of heart, which is a different thing from ignorance. Plenty of well-informed people have it.
Inside the course
12 parts- Of the imitation of Christ, and contempt of the world's vanitiesFree above
- Thinking humbly of oneself
- The danger of too much familiarity
- Of the uses of adversity
Questions
Is The Imitation of Christ free to read in Astra Trainer?
Yes. The full book opens free in the app’s reader, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
What is the short course?
12 short parts that walk through the book’s key ideas in slides, each with a quick quiz. The first six slides are free to try on this page.
Where do I get the app?
Astra Trainer is free on the App Store and Google Play. The Imitation of Christ is waiting in the app’s library.
