IMITATION OF CHRIST

TAN BOOKS AND PUBLISHERS, INC. | 1418 | Thomas à Kempis, Translated by Rev. Richard Challoner, D.D. from the Original Latin

[naira]

Chapter 1

Of the Imitation of Christ, and the Contempt of All the Vanities of the World

"HE that followeth me, walketh not in darkness," saith Our Lord. (John 8:12).These are the words of Christ, by which we are admonished, that we must imitate His life and manners, if we would be truly enlightened, and delivered from all blindness of heart.

Let it then be our chief study to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.

(John 8:12 Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world. He that followeth me walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.)

[naira]

3. What doth it avail thee to discourse profoundly of the Trinity if thou be void of humility, and consequently, displeasing to the Trinity?

In truth, sublime words make not a man holy and just: but a virtuous life maketh him dear to God.

I would rather feel compunction, than know its definition.

If thou didst know the whole Bible by heart, and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it all profit thee without the love of God and His grace?

"Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2), besides loving God and serving Him alone.

This is the highest wisdom, by despising the world to tend to heavenly kingdoms.

(Ecclesiates 1:2 Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.)

[GirlShortstop]

Was it not the renowned Benedict of Nursia... who, when writing of the manners in which visitors and strangers were to be welcomed into the community...

Oh, the manners! Would you care for some breakfast?

[Desdemona]

Question: why are you continuing to beat a horse that was killed a long time ago?

Sorry. That's just the way it is.

p.s. Please, leave me alone.

[drstevej]

Desdemona, I thought the reply was informed, thoughtful and polite.

[Desdemona]

You can think whatever you want, but we've all seen the same arguments over and over. They were debunked centuries ago.

Now, if you will excuse me, my dog is pestering me for something.

[Romulus]

How do you know my motives?

God knows your motives better than you know them yourself.

Don't flirt with Catholicism unless you're willing to be captured by a terrible, transforming grace.

[BlackElk]

Michael:

You are very tiresome and not at all likely to convert even one adequately catechized Roman Catholic. I am not going to repeat the counterarguments. You ought not waste bandspace posting the arguments: same old, same old. Inadequate in 1517. Inadequate today.

Appreciate what good you may recognize in Roman Catholics. If you are conservative, you won't win without us and we are NOT going to become what you are out in a wilderness without apostolic succession, without most sacraments, without Peter, without the keys, etc., etc. You can pick off poorly catechized stragglers or people who cannot bring themselves to obey the rules concerning indissoluable marriage. Their places are taken by dreadnoughts like Sam Brownback and Robert Bork and Dr. Bernard Nathanson and the late Frank Meyer and by the vast number of those who have found their way back home to the Roman Church which was established for them by our Savior and yours.

This was a Catholic thread about a very Catholic book until the usual suspects moved in to offer their unsolicited imaginings.

[naira]

The Imitation of Christ can be found at TAN books and publishers

Imitation Of Christ
By: Thomas a'Kempis

After the Bible, The Imitation is the all-time favorite book of Catholics for over 500 years. And this translation of Bishop Challoner, who revised the Douay-Rheims Bible in the 1740's, is the most beautiful and edifying we know of. Speaks to the soul of every Christian, reminding him of the shortness of time, the length of eternity and the brevity of earthly joy vs. the eternity of happiness with God. Belongs in every Catholic's library.

[naira]

4. It is vanity, therefore, to seek after riches which must perish, and to trust in them.

It is vanity also to be ambitious of honors, and to raise one's self to a high station.

It is vanity to follow the lusts of the flesh, and to desire that for which thou must afterward be grievously punished. It is vanity to wish for a long life, and to take little care of leading a good life.

It is vanity also to mind this present life, and not to look forward unto those things which are to come.

It is vanity to love that which passeth with all speed, and not to hasten thither where everlasting joy remaineth.

[naira]

I think is great that you are visiting this site. I hope you keep coming back. There are so many misconceptions that you have about what the Catholic church teaches, I just wish you knew what you are missing out on. By this, I mean a personal relationship with Jesus. TRULY. Not only spiritual but physical. It is ongoing process... Please pray for me and I'll also pray for you and everybody reading the Imitation of Christ.

If one goes to daily mass for 3 consecutive years, than one has heard the entire Bible.

What came first, the Bible or the Church that Christ founded to whom its members Jesus Himself taught?

Matthew 16:18-19
And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.

Matthew 28:19-20
Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

1Timothy 3:15
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

2 Thessalonians 2:15
Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.

The Church Jesus Christ founded was already an active and organized community "before" its members wrote the New Testament.

John Paul II is Pope Number 264…the 263rd Successor of Peter

Also, with what authority does someone interpret what the first members of the church wanted to convey when they wrote the New Testament?

Until recently there were 33,830 Christian denominations “inspired by the Holy Spirit”.

2 Peter 1:20
Understanding this first: That no prophecy of scripture is made by private interpretation.

[BlackElk]

If and when any Catholic needs instruction from anyone who has wilfully separated himself from the Mass, the seven sacraments, the Teaching Magisterium, and the true faith of the only Church founded by Jesus Christ upon Peter as the Rock, the only Church with apostolic succession, the only Church guaranteed by Jesus Christ, we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, keep your impertinence and your errors and YOPIOS to yourself. None of them is invited by anyadequately catechized Catholic.

Only the Eastern Orthodox Church shares the fullness of Christ's Church in these respects. My Savior and yours did not do all that He did so that a runaway monk could found His Church 1500 years later.

I have no doubt that you are trying to share with us that which is most precious to you. You fail to understand that any Catholic recognizes the products of the "reformation" as lacking much that was intended for Christians. Whatever you have that is valuable, we already have and gave to you. We also have all of the rest of what Jesus Christ intended and we are not abandoning any of it to accept the remarkable naivete that every Tom, Dick and Harriet are qualified to be his or her own (often self-serving) Scriptural Authority or contortionist.

Ultimately your path leads to little but self-worship. Where giants like Jonathan Edwards once stood, there are now Cobngregationalists and Unitarians and worse. Where Peter once stood there is John Paul II and between them more than three hundred others holding, preserving and protecting the True Faith of Jesus Christ.

Understand that charity does not require dishonesty or the weak gruel of "one man's opinion is as good as anynother man's opinion." There is Truth and non-Truth and that is all there ever was, is or ever will be.

God bless you and yours and may He lead you back home.

[naira]

5. Often remember that proverb: "The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing." (Ecclesiastes 1:8).

Study, therefore, to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things, and to turn thyself to things invisible. for they that follow their sensuality, defile their conscience, and lose the grace of God.

(Ecclesiastes 1:8) All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing.

[naira]

Practical Reflections

If we would really honor Jesus Christ, we must apply ourselves to know Him, to love Him, and to follow Him in the practice of every Christian virtue. This is absolutely necessary for salvation, as we cannot become true Christians, but by knowing, loving, and following Christ. To pretend to please our Blessed Saviour by a profound knowledge of His divinity, without endeavoring to follow His example, without living as He lived, would be most dangerously to delude ourselves.

[naira]

First Letter of John 3,22-24.4,1-6.
and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us. Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God, and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world. You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them. We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.