Following Christ

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The Imitation of Christ ( De imitatione Christi ) by Thomas a Kempis is a widespread and often read spiritual book, originally written in Latin. It first appeared anonymously around 1418.

Authorship and Dissemination

The authorship has long been controversial, but it is now generally accepted that Thomas von Kempen was the author of the work. Author, however, in the sense that Thomas only summarized thoughts of a certain mystical school of thought. The clearest and earliest parallels can be seen in the writings and sermons of Meister Eckhart , which were rediscovered and compiled over the last 200 years , in particular the speeches of instruction and the book of divine consolation , which were written around 1300. Heinrich Seuse , Johannes Tauler , Nikolaus von Landau, Johannes von Dambach , the Franciscan Marquard von Lindau as well as other authors of the 14th century were strongly inspired by Eckhart and often quoted him without mentioning his name because his writings had been condemned by a papal bull . Under the protection of anonymity, Eckhart's mystical spirit was able to find widespread dissemination by following Christ in a form that was more acceptable to the Church.

The imitation of Christ belongs to the mystical German-Dutch school of the 14th and 15th centuries (cf. Devotio moderna ). It has long been regarded as the most important guide to Christian succession and was widespread among Catholics and Protestants. The Jesuits gave her a place in their retreat. John Wesley and John Newton attributed her to an influence on her conversion . General Gordon himself carried them on the battlefield.

There are more than 3,000 different editions, 1,000 of which are in the British Library alone . There are said to be 545 Latin and about 900 French editions alone. It is probably the most widely circulated book of Christianity after the Bible.

Originally the book was written in Latin. There is an autograph from 1441 and a French translation from 1447. The first prints appeared in 1488 in Toulouse . A handwritten translation into German from 1434 is kept in Cologne . A first German-language print appeared in Augsburg in 1486 . In 1489 Hans van Ghetelen published a Middle Low German version as Dat boek van der navolghinge Ihesu Christi . An English print followed in 1502, an Italian in 1488, a Spanish in 1536, an Arabic in 1663, an Armenian in 1674 and a Hebrew in 1837. Pierre Corneille created a poetic paraphrase in 1651 . Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Dag Hammarskjöld have praised the following of Christ .

content

The Imitation of Christ has its title from the title of the first of her four books. The original text is written in meter and rhymes . The four books do not appear in all editions, and the order also varies. In terms of text, it is a compilation or anthology of individual thoughts that are arranged according to certain points of view, but not a continuous line of thought.

The work is divided into four books. Book I guides beginners to the Christian life. Book II is about humility, peacefulness, simplicity and willingness to suffer. Book IV gives eucharistic meditations and prayers. Book III, the largest, examines the comfort that Christians receive in dealing with Christ. (The order of the autograph is I-II-IV-III, in print mostly I-II-III-IV.)

The work aims to be a handbook on Christian discipleship that helps the Christian soul on the path to sanctification and communion with God. The individual sentences are statements, not arguments, that flow from Christian experience. It is intended for monks, nuns, ascetics, etc. The main idea behind all reflections is the advice of self-abandonment.

The life of Jesus Christ is presented as the highest possible study for Christians, since his teaching far exceeds the teaching of all saints. The book gives advice on reading the Bible , submission to spiritual superiors, warnings about temptation and how to resist it, reflections on death and the Last Judgment , meditations on devotion to Christ, and encouragement to escape the vanities of the world. Christ is more than all wisdom.

For classification

The book is one of the most widespread and well-known Christian devotional works of all. However, it was written by an Augustinian canon and is therefore mainly geared towards the spiritual life in the monastery . It places particular emphasis on detachment from the "transitory world" and gives hardly any instructions for active behavior in the world. The book is attractive to most Christians because it puts a lot of emphasis on Jesus Christ and the direct connection with God .

Although the reformers fought against individual theological positions that the work received - such as the merit of good works, transubstantiation , the veneration of saints and purgatory - it nevertheless had a profound effect on Protestantism (e.g. on Gerhard Tersteegen ).

See also

expenditure

  • Imitation of Christ , by Thomas von Kempen, ed. v. Walter Kröber, translated by Johann Michael Sailer , Ditzingen: Reclam, 4th edition 1986, 239 pp., ISBN 3-15-007663-3 (= Reclams Universal Library 7883) (study edition), online at Projekt Gutenberg under Imitation of Christ and at Zeno.org under The Book of Following Christ
  • De imitatione Christi libri quatuor , ed. v. Tiburzio Lupo, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1982, XXVII and 369 pp. ISBN 88-209-1365-8 (= Storia e attualità 6) (Urtext)
  • Heinrich Brewer : Viri, Vitae sanctimonia, & doctrinae fama eximii, Theologiae Asceticae Doctoris primarii, Canonicor. Regular. Ord. S. Augustini, Congregationis Windesheimensis, Religiosissimi Presbyteri, Thomae a Kempis, Viographia, Proque Ipsius Libris IV. De Imitatione Christi Apologia , Cologne, Kinckius, 1683
  • Thomas von Kempen: Imitatio Christi . [Anton Koberger], [Nuremberg] 1492 (Daran: Gerson, Johannes: De meditatione cordis ) Digitized

literature

  • Ulrich Köpf : Art. Thomas von Kempen. In: TRE Vol. 33 (2002), pp. 480-483.
  • Bernhard Lang: Religion and Literature in Three Millennia. Hundert Bücher , Paderborn: Schöningh 2019, pp. 251-257.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ digitized version