My all time favorite and most inspiring Christian Book

books:


	• The Imitation of Christ (An Image Classic) Thomas à Kempis Image, 1955 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 70 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

wonderful translation

I've been reading a chapter a day for over a yr. It's a great motivator for the day ahead. I've found this translation to be the best I've read. Other translations have been boring or too dense. This one was very powerful.

Must read for in depth understanding.

In depth, though provoking reading for those seeking deep, meaningful reflection.

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Incredible

I've only read the first six chapters, but already this book has amazed me. Each small passage contains profound insight into life as well as wise instruction for the Christian's spiritual journey.

In the third passage of chapter 3, the author says, "The more a man is thus concentrated within himself, and the more he has purified his affections, so much the more easily will he understand even the profoundest matters, because he then receives the gift of understanding from above." It seems that this is exactly what has occured in the author's own life because every sentence I've read so far is a revelation.

While the book contains profound wisdom, it is not difficult to read or understand. In fact, the small sections make it easy to read a little at a time. I found this helpful because each concept can be read and then contemplated so that the reader gets the full value of what the author is saying. If you're looking for a book with some substance, you will be very happy with The Imitation of Christ.

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Recurring Classic of Western Christian Mysticism

I have seen several editions of this ancient classic (ca. AD 1440). The exact one I read (New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House, 1981) does not seem to be currently available on Amazon. This Image Classic is a very similar translation to the one I read. This form is somewhat old, in the early 20th Century, but it is much more like our language now, so can be understood and assimilated without effort.

I noticed that the Moody edition and some others are a reprint of a much older translation, still using confusing and stodgy Elizabethan phrasing, verbs and vocabulary, which makes for halting and laborious reading for most people. Even for me and those who grew up reading that style of Bible, the language form gets in the way and limits concentration on the meaning.

Most people in this generation are unfamiliar with Mystical thought, and Medieval thought in general. It is helpful to have this more genial introduction to A Kempis' classic.

This is a classic of Christian Contemplation for the Middle Ages. Thomas "A Kempis" was born Thomas Haemerken in 1379 or 1380, in the German town of Kempen. His name as commonly passed down is based on the Latin-French version of the name of his birthplace, meaning "Thomas from Kempen."

À Kempis was a mystic, who served a monk and priest in the Netherlands and Germany. This is one of the best-loved classics of Christian literature. Just as in the edition I read, no information was provided in this edition of the book about the author or his times and situations.

The publisher's jacket notes that this book has been translated into more languages than any other book except the Bible. But no information is given in this publication about the translator or the translation. Perhaps this translation is so old that it is in the public domain. Perhaps the translator is also unknown now.

This book provides a unique insight in to the mystical age of the 1400s, when the world was still seen in terms of a dynamic spirit-filled world, and the powers of evil were sensed as a real part of the forces of nature. His writing and devotional approach further express a great concern for personal life holiness, not just a "spiritual" sense of awareness of God.

In addition, A Kempis and others called "mystics" were concerned with the spiritual union of the believer with Christ in a sense of merged identity, an ecstatic dimension often left out in the modern rationalist, empirical era. It seems to me, however, that A Kempis has more of a practical life orientation and service concept of union with Christ than, for instance, John of the Cross, who was concerned with losing himself into the identity of God as an escape form the captivity of this world and the body, with its temporal, material concerns and distractions form what was considered "higher" and more "spiritual."

Every person serious about understanding the variety of Western Christian thought and experience needs to be aware of A Kempis, and perhaps John of the Cross, to have a full appreciation for the variation of approach. Today we see too much radical rejection of all varieties too unlike that preferred by fundamentalist, rationalistic orientation to faith as objective propositional knowledge.

A Kempis, among others, helps us realize that the basic stream of Christian faith has been concerned with truth as the experience of deep relationship of Love and spiritual Union with God. The mind is involved, but the will and attitude seem much more central to the New Testament, the various Theologies of mystical and practical Love, and A Kempis' challenge to implement Love as a Holiness of life that brings God to reality in your daily encounters with the mass of humanity needing a touch of Grace!

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My all time favorite and most inspiring Christian Book

I recommend this book for any Christian looking for a deeper understanding of their faith. This book has an exorbitant amount of spiritual depth. I reread sections of this book over and over and meditate on sections routinely. Excellent, excellent excellent!!!!! One of the greatest and most classic books of the Christian faith! I can't say enough about this book.

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