WELCOME TO THE BEGINNING OF OUR LENTEN READING!
I am undecided on how much commentary I will be providing during our reading of Book 1 from the Imitation of Christ. I think the best way is for each person to read and reflect on the writings themselves. If there is a particular thought or idea that someone wants explained, then they can ask a question.
But, I also realize that Imitation of Christ is not an easy thing to read. Many devotional works are difficult to read. They challenge us to change how we see the world and that is not easy. Also, IofC is written in a style that is not familiar to many of us. Also, the translation I am using is an older public domain translation and the language is a bit more difficult.
Before we begin, I would like to run through the rules of Lectio Divina. This is a reading method that has been with Christianity since the beginning. It was originally developed by the Jews and is well suited to biblical and religious reading. The traditional parts are:
- Reading
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Contemplation
- Action
I will not go into depth on these points, but will provide a brief explanation for each step.
Reading
Read the text slowly and aloud. The reading does not need to be actually load. Just make sure you form each word the your mouth as if you were speaking. This will increase your ability to hear the grammatical structure of the text. You may need to read the text more than once.
I would recommend looking up the bible verses noted below each chapter after reading the complete text and thinking about it. The verses given point to a concept and not the individual verse. So read the verses around the text and try to see how it relates. If you have a bible with cross references, look at them to see if they provide additional information on what is being said.
The text does not have all the verses noted. I have added additional footnotes to this chapter and will try to add additional ones to the other chapters.
Mediation
This can (should) involve at least three parts. The first is reflection, reflect back on what you read and remember he word or phrase that struck you the most during your reading. Next, reminisce. This word may trigger memories of events in your life or other biblical passages. This will help you make connections to the text. Then Recreate. This means to use your imagination to recreate what you have thought about and interact with your thoughts. St. Ignatius of Loyola said to “consider the person”, so feel free to dialogue with your imagination to help you understand.
Prayer
Share your thoughts and feelings about what you read with God. Ask for direction and guidance and how you should act on what you have read.
Contemplation
Just be present in Silence and listen. Be open to what you receive.
Action
Take what you have learned and try to apply it to your life.
On we go. Here is Chapter 1. I will provide some commentary at the end. This commentary is to give you some clues to understanding Thomas Kempis.
Good Luck! And, God Bless!
CHAPTER I
Of the imitation of Christ, and of contempt of the world and all its vanities
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,(1) saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they teach us how far we must imitate His life and character, if we seek true illumination, and deliverance from all blindness of heart. Let it be our most earnest study, therefore, to dwell upon the life of Jesus Christ.
2. His teaching surpasseth all teaching of holy men, and such as have His Spirit find therein the hidden manna.(2) But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel, yet feel but little longing after it, because they have not the mind of Christ (3). He, therefore, that will fully and with true wisdom understand the words of Christ, let him strive to conform his whole life to that mind of Christ.
3. What doth it profit thee to enter into deep discussion concerning the Holy Trinity, if thou lack humility, and be thus displeasing to the Trinity? For verily it is not deep words that make a man holy and upright; it is a good life which maketh a man dear to God. I had rather feel contrition than be skilful in the definition thereof. If thou knewest the whole Bible, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what should all this profit thee without the love and grace of God? (4) Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve (5). That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom.
4. It is vanity then to seek after, and to trust in, the riches that shall perish. It is vanity, too, to covet honours, and to lift up ourselves on high. It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh and be led by them, for this shall bring misery at the last. It is vanity to desire a long life, and to have little care for a good life. It is vanity to take thought only for the life which now is, and not to look forward to the things which shall be hereafter. It is vanity to love that which quickly passeth away, and not to hasten where eternal joy abideth.
5. Be ofttimes mindful of the saying, The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing (6). Strive, therefore, to turn away thy heart from the love of the things that are seen, and to set it upon the things that are not seen. For they who follow after their own fleshly lusts, defile the conscience, and destroy the grace of God.
(1) John viii. 12.
(2) Revelations ii. 17.
(3) Romans viii. 9.
(4) I Corinthians xiii. 2.
(5) Ecclesiastes i.2
(6) Ecclesiastes i. 8.
Tips for reading
Someone asked if I was going to provide commentary for the every Chapter. The simple answer is ‘no’. I would love to be able to provide written commentary, but I don’t want people to just read what I have to say. I want them to discover this text for themselves. But, I do realize that Imitation of Christ is not an easy read and people may need some help. In order to give that help, I am going to comment on the first chapter extensively. This is really to help provide you with an example and some clues on how to discover on your own the deeper meaning behind Imitation of Christ.
If there is a Thesis Statement to keep in mind for this work, it would be:
“If thou knewest the whole Bible, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what should all this profit thee without the love and grace of God? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve. That is the highest wisdom, to cast the world behind us, and to reach forward to the heavenly kingdom.”
Thomas is providing a summary for the entire point of the book of Ecclesiastes. In fact the book of Ecclesiastes is very important to the Imitation of Christ. It is a book that is not really talked about enough anymore. But, we are all familiar with it (even if we do not read the Bible).
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KJV)
Imitation of Christ is not a modern book and was not written in English. This poses some problems for the modern, English reader. First, the style of writing is a bit archaic and belongs to a genre of writing called Devotio Moderna. The next problem is translation. I am providing an older translation that is public domain. When translating the translator needs to make choices between word for word and thought for thought. Since each language has its own grammatical structure, word for word sometimes is not able to provide a clear, understandable meaning. So, then thought for thought needs to be used. But, the problem with this is that the translator is now providing his own interpretation of the authors original intent.
Another problem with translation of Imitation of Christ is that sometimes references become obscured. Thomas Kempis would reference biblical passages in middle of a sentence. This reference would be an integral part of his sentence and not a quotation. He was doing this to allude to a biblical concept or idea. Here is an example:
Translated text: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, save to love God, and Him only to serve. “
The original Latin: “Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas praeter amore Deum et illi soli servire”
“Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas” is from Ecclesiastes 1:2 and Eccleciastes 12:8 in the Vulgate Bible. This is the phrase that bookends the Book of Ecclesiastes. But, verse 12:8 is the last sentence before the Epilogue. So, what does “praeter amore Deum et illi soli servire” mean? It means: “except to love God, and to only serve Him.” This is a paraphrase of the Epilogue of Ecclesiastes with an understanding of the New Testament. But, it is also a paraphrase from 1 Cor 13:2 to 13:13. Thomas’ sentence preceding “Vanity of vanities…” is a paraphrase of 1 Cor 13:2.
Why is this important? For two reasons, 1 Corinthians 13 and Ecclesiastes have many similarities. Ecclesiastes was the first book of the Old Testament to begin introducing the idea that our works and our ability to follow the law are not enough to give us meaning. What does he mean by Vanity? Vanity (Heb. heb + _el) means ‘a breath’ or ‘a vapour’, and ‘vanity of vanities’ is the Hebrew way of saying ‘the merest breath’. The NIV translates this as: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” Paul in 1 Cor 13 is talking about how actions are meaningless without love.
Ecclesiastes ends with: “To sum up the whole matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the duty of everyone. For God will call all our deeds to judgment, all that is hidden, be it good or bad.” (NJB) When we then take this together with 1 Cor 13, what is God trying to tell us? What is the point he is trying to make? That we need to love God and want to earnestly follow after him. It is not about knowledge, or strength, or works, or wealth. It is not about our failings, our weaknesses, our poverty. It is about our intent. It is about our desire to love God. Thomas spends the rest of the book talking about how we can separate ourselves from God through our strengths and weaknesses.
This opening Chapter sets the tone of the Imitation of Christ. For me, the point of Thomas’s book is: “For verily it is not deep words that make a man holy and upright; it is a good life which maketh a man dear to God.” That is the question that drives each Chapter. What makes a “good life”. But, it is not knowing what a “good life” is that makes a man “dear to God”, it is the actual pursuit of it.
The Chapter’s first sentence is a quote of John 8:12. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” What does “Imitation” mean? In german the word is “Nachfolge”, to follow after. That is what Thomas is trying to help us do. To make our lives imitate Christ. Not his knowledge or abilities, but his love and how he showed his love. Ecclesiastes shows us the vanity of life. Christ shows us the purpose of life.
In the second paragraph, Thomas writes:
His teaching surpasseth all teaching of holy men, and such as have His Spirit find therein the hidden manna.But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel, yet feel but little longing after it, because they have not the mind of Christ. He, therefore, that will fully and with true wisdom understand the words of Christ, let him strive to conform his whole life to that mind of Christ.
Here he has put together two ideas. The first is the “hidden manna” reference from Revelations 2:17. What is this “hidden manna”. Jesus provided the answer to us in the Gospel of John
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
(John 6:53-58 KJV)
The “hidden manna” is the body of Christ. It is not the manna from the Old Testament but the true source of life: Christ himself. What is this life that Christ is speaking of? Is he saying that we will physically live for ever? He mentions that the Jews of the Old Testament died, but we shall live forever?
Thomas continues on by saying, “But there are many who, though they frequently hear the Gospel, yet feel but little longing after it, because they have not the mind of Christ.” The footnote points us to Romans 8:9, but this is one of those situations that translation has obscured the clear meaning of what he has written. The NIV says, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” But this does not match what we read above. Thomas wrote in Latin, “Sed contingit quod multi ex frequenti auditu Evangelii parvum desiderium sentiunt, quia spiritum Chrisi non habent.” This is making a direct connection to Rom 8:9 in the Latin Vulgate, “…quis autem Spiritum Christi non habet hic non est eius”
What is the connection between Revelations 2:17 and Romans 8:9? Christ has promised us this “hidden manna”. This is defined for us in John 6:53-58. An explanation of who is given the “hidden manna” is in Romans 8:9 But, there is another connection. Thomas is using a scriptural reference to refer to the entire context of the verse. The verse in context says:
Thus, condemnation will never come to those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit which gives life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. What the Law could not do because of the weakness of human nature, God did, sending his own Son in the same human nature as any sinner to be a sacrifice for sin, and condemning sin in that human nature. This was so that the Law’s requirements might be fully satisfied in us as we direct our lives not by our natural inclinations but by the Spirit. Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things. And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, because the outlook of disordered human nature is opposed to God, since it does not submit to God’s Law, and indeed it cannot, and those who live by their natural inclinations can never be pleasing to God. You, however, live not by your natural inclinations, but by the Spirit, since the Spirit of God has made a home in you. Indeed, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But when Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is alive because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead has made his home in you, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through his Spirit living in you. So then, my brothers, we have no obligation to human nature to be dominated by it. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the habits originating in the body, you will have life.
(Romans 8:1-13 NJB)
Above you will see Rom 8:9 in blue. In red, I have highlighted the meaning of the “Spirit of Christ”. Thomas is pointing to the result of this passage by quoting Romans 8:9. But, we need to see the full passage to understand what he is saying. He has again pointed to the New Testament to show what the “vanity” in Ecclesiastes will lead to. One can either, follow Christ and receive the “hidden manna”, or one can follow vanity and receive death. The choice is ours to make.
We need to know what is truly meaningful in our actions in order to imitate Christ. What is meaningful? What is meaningless? God wants us to know Him, love Him, and serve Him. Whatever distracts us from this is meaningless. Each one of us needs to identify what these things are for ourselves. There is no one answer. The Rule of Saint Augustine speaks about the different needs of people. No two people are the same, but we need to learn what is good for us and what is bad for us. At times we need others to tell us these things. I hope that the writings of Thomas Kempis help you to see the meaningful and meaningless things in your life and help you grow closer to God.
