The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (Summary+Review)
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- čas přidán 12. 03. 2022
- #imitationofchrist #famouscatholicbook #catholicbookreview
The Imitation of Christ is probably the most popular devotional book after the Bible. It is used eg. during the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, for the preparation for the consecration to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort and of course also read in general by all Catholics.
You can buy the book here: tanbooks.com/products/books/s...
Or on Amazon: amzn.to/3Z0fsOI
By using the link above you support my channel as I get paid a small percentage of your purchase. For you the price doesn't change 😊
Read the book online for free:
English: d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net...
German: www.kleine-spirituelle-seite....
Listen to the book online for free:
English: • The Imitation of Chris...
Rating system:
10/10 breathtaking, must read
9/10 really good
8/10 good
7/10 good (maybe not for everyone)
6/10 and less: I try to read good books lol so that rating should not occur
You can contact me here: thebiblicalbookworm@gmail.com
Image source: www.amazon.com/Imitation-Chri...
I have a very battered and water-damaged copy that my father carried in his rucksack, for 5 years, whilst fighting during WWII which is why I've never gotten rid of it. How amazing, that now, at the age of 70 I am finally going to read it. I feel sad that I never discussed it with my father. He died at over 90 which I've just realised was the same age as T. Kempis.
Thank you for sharing this touching story. 😊🌷
Hallelujah !
Imitation of Christ is wonderful book, I rate it as 10/10, I simply recommend it to everyone who want to grow spiritually, (to holiness).
According to me Imitation of Christ should be read not as academic book,I mean one is expert on it when he/she practices it and not intellectually knowing it.
it is book for daily reading, meditation and practice. it is a accompany for believers to holiness.
I think if it used for meditation it will be more useful, it will challenge me and anyone,to see if we are growing in God's love or we have some issues to amend.
for holiness is contained in practice of virtues and prayer as St Francis de Sales says.
Anyone who reads this book, meditate on it, and practice it. will surely move to heights of holiness.
Wish all the best to all who come across this book .
God bless...
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! God bless you too!
You’re a sister after my own heart! I’m a new-ish Christian and am considering Catholicism, and I love these classic devotional texts! I’m excited to watch more of your videos 😊
I will keep you in my prayers 💕✝️
Honestly just go for catholic
just go for Jesus /Yeshua the messiah, my spiritual life has been so much richer after laying aside all distractions and traditions of men.
"in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. "
Others may disagree but that's been my experience after 40 + years. To understand the word of God look for Jesus,
He is in the old testament concealed, in the new testament revealed.🙏
And if you have time to study the original languages, actual grammar and syntax, not just word studies, hebrew and greek, it will be a blessing too.
Also read Meditation on Death, Preparing for Eternity, and Humility, Elevation of the Mind to God! I'm currently studying Humility after having read the other two! 🙏 I made a brief movie entrance of the Meditation on Death, which you can see upon my channel. I actually do believe that reading the Imitation of Christ is an entry point to have people become aware of the Kingdom of Heaven is within you and that God is to be found only be you with His help, if He wills it so, and just your will alone, though if you do mean to have that Holy Grace and become God's Instrument then pray fervently about that, as a poet does in his/her composing a poem, and/or a composure when he/she write a powerful composition, Beethoven for example!
Thank you for this!!! 🤗
You're welcome!
I love this channel. Thanks so much for these book summaries.
Thank you, I really appreciate it 😊
Thank you again for helping me realize my death and being prepared is most important!
When a man stops looking for consolations through creatures that’s when we’re on the road towards Christian perfection. What a statement for me to reflect on this Lent! General advise! Great opinion!
The book is perfect for lent 👌✝️
Not Catholic but love this book. The part about denying the sell and the way of the cross is the best I’ve seen. I am memorizing it so I can meditate on it everyday.
Thanks Elisabeth. I always love that I learn new and interesting and faithful things from your videos. What a blessing! Happy reading :)
Happy reading :)
If all that you wish for is to do good, then shall you know God.
Great summary
I'm happy you liked it Mr. Ramirez!
Thank you for presenting these wonderful treasures of the Christian heritage. ... of course the book is tough to some extent as it is written by an ascetic monk, but I remember that there were some passages very very deep and inspiring especially regarding the holy Eucharist 💖
Different people have different spiritual needs. I'm happy to hear that the book was insightful for you. I'm convinced that some people will like The Imitation of Christ more than The Introduction to the
Devout life! 😊🌸
@@BiblicalBookworm right😊, and actually both are very good, but anyway thanks for your efforts🙏🏻🙏🏻🌷🌷
Always happy to find Christians discovering the real treasures of Christian spirituality and holiness (such as Tomas Kempis) Then they will be our brothers and sisters in the community of the faithful. May God guide and facilitate!
Thanks for this effort. I read Imitation of Christ many years ago, while i was still looking which direction to go. The book moved me a lot. In spirit, it is quite like the Bodhicharyavatara by Santideva. These are books that describe how to be more religious/holy, by adopting a level of asceticism, resisting the pull of worldly life. I enjoyed your comments, and even though I'm not a Christian, I have great regard for this book.
Just picked this book up what a great book
Thank you very much for explaining what this book is about. I've just ordered a copy and looking forward to read it.
You're welcome!
Thanks for turning me onto this book. I absolutely love it. Wish I had heard about it long ago.
You're welcome!
This is one of my favorite books
I'm waiting for this one to become available at my library! I'm currently reading the Diary of Saint Faustina, Consoling The Heart of Jesus as well as a few handy little books for Lent called " Listening To Jesus" and "Pausing to Pray". I am also getting into " Rediscover Catholicism" . I LOVE the name of your channel!
Oh thank you! And btw I linked a free version of the book in the description 😊
@@BiblicalBookworm Thanks! There is also a copy of the full audiobook version on the Classic Catholic Audiobooks Channel on here which I considered "reading" but I do like books in my hands and I noticed my library had it. But it is great to find versions of audiobooks that have the subtitles because it's nice to have a good audiobook while walking on the walking machine. Even if the walking machine you have doesn't make as much noise as others it is still going to make noise. Or, having a hard copy of a book but also an audiobook version can help you to have more time to spend with it whether during walking or commuting in a car, bus or train for a job.
Well done 👏🏼
Thank you 😊
Elisabeth, thank you for this summary! It's true that the book is not an easy read. Nevertheless it contains deep truths. Im a big fan of the book. God bless! 😘💐
I agree 💯
I enjoyed the book. I’m a recent convert to Catholicism. I found the short chapters helpful for meditating on!
Short chapters are really help, I agree!
St. Therese's favorite books at the end became The Gospels. She memorized the Imitation when she was young.
😍 I went to this video to learn to pronounce his name. The other guides suck. I trust her.
To be honest I'm not sure of the pronunciation either 🤷🏼♀️
@@BiblicalBookworm oh wow!
Thank you for the review. What is your favorite read? Assuming Introduction to the devout life?
Yes, Introduction to the Devout Life is definetely up there! Also Mere Christianity and Uniformity with God's Will.
One of my favorite books is The Sinners Guide by Venerable Louis of Granada. The title seems harsh but it is such a consoling, easy-to-use, BEAUTIFUL, and informative book. It is very underestimated and undermentioned.
Thank you for the recommendation!
@@BiblicalBookworm You're welcome.
Fav book of St. Bernadette of Lourdes
I recommend book or audio " CONFESSIONS of Francis the Sales" - written in simple understandable way and TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS of course.
Thank you for the recommendation!
Favorite book of St. Charbel also 🙏🏻😄
Didn't know that, thanks for sharing!
3:46 this is a belief, usually Id think ugh we have to be patient but then their sufferring that comes along
Nice work sister!!! No such thing as half a star though they are always whole! Imo😮
😂 I'd say there could even be quarter stars
Cool glasses 😊
Thanks 😎
I'm no expert on St. Therese and I haven't read this book to maybe it's nonsense but I think she was fascinated with the "brutal" stuff, mortifications, wanted to be a missionary etc. but recognized it's not completely for her and found her way.
Tbh I also am not an expert and I'm also not sure if everyone who reads the book perceives it as brutal. Maybe it's just me and others get smth else out of it...
Greetings Elisabeth,
You are an inspiration! I actually own an Amazon bookstore (it has been my career for about 12 years) and I own hundreds, maybe thousands, of Christian books that I pulled to one day read myself from the endless donations that I have received from libraries. The only problem is that I very much struggle to remain focused while reading, and I usually lose my determination to finish the books that I start. I love Jesus with all of my heart, and must regretfully admit I am rather covetous of your gifted ability to read a whole book every week. I am wondering if perhaps you would be willing to send an honest prayer of impartation for me to receive a greater ability to enjoy reading more studiously, as you do? For this I would be exceedingly grateful. To God be all of the glory, and "oremus pro invicem!" -Robert in metro Detroit, Michigan (USA)
I will pray for you Robert! Maybe try listening to audiobooks or choose a book you are really interested in. Also I'll be honest: most books deliver their message in the first 50-70% of the pages and I probably wouldn't finish mine either if I didn't make summaries about them 😅😊
I have listened to Kempis start to finish a hundred times. Mater work! If you please, what is your accent? Kempis is Dutch, I think...
Oops , mater is MASTER...
What does my accent sound like, any guesses? 🙃
I just found your channel. I've read "imitation of Christ" 2 times, taking many notes for each chapter the second time through. Further, I write blog posts based on each chapter and how this book has made me a strong follower of Christ and raised my self expectations on how to act like Christ.
I am considering a video on each chapter I write about. Do you have any thoughts on this? God Bless you!
Hi! Your concept might be too in-depth for CZcams. I wouldn't expect too many people to be interested in that. You can do those videos - just don't expect to get more than 200 views per video.
@@BiblicalBookworm Thank you
Thanks for the video, I have a different opinion to yours, I think it’s a book that needs to be read over and over again. This is because it will naturally aid in shaping the Christian to be more like Christ. I would say the book structure is much like the psalms and proverbs, wisdom literature, that covers a range of things. What did you mean by it being ‘brutal’? - Good video
"Brutal" is not an objective flaw of the book but just a personal preference. I prefer books that "nudge" the reader in the right direction. "The Imitation of Christ" is brutal in the sense that it adresses the reader as a worm (as far as I remember) and simply changes behavior by making the reader feel bad. A counterexample would be "The Introduction to the Devout Life" which I find to be effective while being gentle.
8.5 haha, for me it's a 15 but I'm in my first year of actually putting in the work so to say, thank you for your review , what other books would you suggest to a new catholic?
The Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales. I actually made my very first video on this channel about that book
@@BiblicalBookworm ok I'm going to check it out thanks!
@@changedlife1904 Praying for you on your Catholic Christian journey. I was a well learned protestant for most of my life.. believe me.. you're making the right choice.
@@MarkelBeverley thanks !
Hi Elisabeth, which book(s) will you give a rating of 10? Thank You
I made a playlist with the books that I rated a 10/10 czcams.com/play/PLS0LOE5V8yUamiYtrBq0BlwipdZTi1-fn.html
THANKS A MILLION!
@@pelawren 😊
Great video 🙂👍
Thanks 😊
Thanks for your review. I'm glad somebody has the same opinion of that book that I have. I only read old traditional catholic books. But the one book that I do not like is this one. I think it is brutal also and it is not good for me on a practical level since I have suffered from scrupulosity in the past and I am already Ridgid naturally and this book is too rigid. It robs me of my peace. If it is meant for somebody it might be meant for somebody only in a cloistered life. I love other books especially by Saint Alphonsus Liguori especially the glories of Mary. The glories of Mary and true Devotion to Mary literally pulled me out of a very dangerous spiritual situation which was going on already for 4 years and gave me hope and peace again. I shouldn't be judgmental but the author of this book had his case for canonization stopped because on the day they unearthed his casket it showed that he had tried to claw himself out in a panic. That showed the investigators a lack of resignation that he was buried alive. The only reason that I can think of that Saint Therese like this book was because she liked to do penance. I believe she was into this book earlier on. Because at the end all she read was the Gospels in a few other simple books. That book almost feels like it's on the border of jansenism. I think that's why Protestants used to like it. And will it give certain advice it is not clear as to what objects are subjects always it is that it gives such harsh advice. I think it is stifling and suffocating.
I agree with you that this book might not be the best option for people who are naturally rigid. Nevertheless, I would not condemn it as such. There are many people who have been influenced in a very positive way by this book; not only nuns, monks or priests. I personally feel like some people might need such brutal advice as contained in The Imitation of Christ in order to take their faith seriously.
@@BiblicalBookworm That is true.
I enjoyed your video.Are you German?
Austrian
@@BiblicalBookworm
I am Polish living in England.
I have a big passion to religions,mainly Christianity and Islam.Would be ok to have a chat about Christianity?
India❤🇮🇳🕉️
This book was written for aspiring priests, not laypersons.
Srimad Bhagwat gita❤❤
Please state his name correctly : Thomas A Kempis.
ok
Archbishop VIGANO videos- about CURRENT situation of the Church and more...
Thank you for the recommendation!
i can here you are German😀😀😀
i like ur face. xds
I really love your channel! I’ve watched almost all your videos in just a day. It’s so nice to see other Catholic young women who are interested in Christian literature. You inspire me to read more! Keep doing what your doing! Do you have an Instagram?
Ooh thanks! Please share the videos with your friends that helps a lot 😊 I don't have IG atm
very true!
Hallelujah !