After the Bible, the Imitation of Christ is the most widely read book in the world a classic Christian devotional and has taught and inspired generations.
Written five centuries ago by a humble monk between 1420 and 1427, this timeless message of faith in Christ's teachings remains a vital source of spiritual strength for people seeking to follow in the footsteps of the Lord. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal
IN PREPARING this edition of The Imitation of Christ, the aim was to achieve a simple, readable text which would ring true to those who are already lovers of this incomparable book and would attract others to it. For this reason we have attempted to render the text into English as it is spoken today rather than the cloudy, archaic terminology that encumbers so many translations of Christian classics.
There is but one major change. The treatise on Holy Communion, which á Kempis places as Book Three, is here titled Book Four. The move makes the order of the whole more logical and agrees with the thought of most editors.
The Translators, Aloysius Croft, Harold Bolton
Book 1
Imitating Christ and Despising
All Vanities on Earth
HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness," says the Lord. John 8:12.
By these words of Christ we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart.
Book2
THE INTERIOR LIFE
THE kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord. (Luke 17:21)
Turn, then, to God with all your heart. Forsake this wretched world and your soul shall find rest.
Book 3
INTERNAL CONSOLATION
I WILL hear what the Lord God will speak in me." (Ps 84:9)
Blessed is the soul who hears the Lord speaking within her, who receives the word of consolation from His lips. Blessed are the ears that catch the accents of divine whispering, and pay no heed to the murmurings of this world.
Book 4
AN INVITATION TO HOLY COMMUNION
COME to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. (Mat 11:28) The bread which I will give is My Flesh, for the life of the world. (John 6:52) Take you and eat: this is My Body, which shall be delivered for you.
(1Co 11:24)
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