"Love follows knowledge."
"Beauty above all beauty!"
– St. Catherine of Siena

Friday, November 1, 2019

The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, Post 2


You can find my Post #1 on The Imitation of Christ here.  

Still on Book 1, there were some comments and replies.

Gerri Commented:
Having spent 12 of my working years at a university, I saw people who thought way too much of their own intellectualism. Humility they knew not. And, given the chaos of the times of Imitation, especially the Papal split, I imagine the intellectuals of the era were full of their own viewpoints. Kempis makes more sense to me against such a backdrop. I can even understand how he makes the Gnostic-leaning anti-physicality comments.

My Reply:
Yes, they (it's actually multiple writers) are reacting against the intellectualism of their day. Perhaps this is why I bristle at some of the comments. What's odd is that they are Augustinians, which I thought are supposed to uphold an intellectual rigor. But I have to admit I don't know that much about them. I'll try to explore it when I get some time.

One more thing: I too have had a sense that, 'gosh, I can never live up to this,' while reading the impossible (for me) standards of Kempis. But I can strive to be better. That's the takeaway for me.

Agreed. Even if you exclude the parts specific to monasticism, I could never live up to it either.

Other saints that were married: St. Gianna Molla, St. Rita, St. Monica. We do need more. Marriage certainly makes you holier. Lord knows what I would have gotten myself into if I had not married.


Susan Commented:
This is the point of "hating the world" - meaning I think, 'hating' the pride and rebellion against God that -> the 'world' as we know it - post-Fall; re-directing our mind and heart to God where it belongs...(I don't think he is necessarily saying hate the things of the world, the body, animals etc.)

My Reply:
I don't know if he's saying that or not but the emphasis is so heavily on rejection of the physical world that it certainly feels semi-Gnostic. And that's part of our world view today. Outside an occasional acknowledgement in the "Theology of the Body" the physical world is seen as bad while the spiritual world is seen as good.

That said, I acknowledge the really good spiritual advice that's in the book.

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From Book 2:

Comment 1:
I found Book 2 more to my liking.  Here the authors focus on the interior life, and it’s hard to disagree with anything they say here.  Chapter 4, “Purity of Mind and Unity of Purpose,” is a case in point.  Here are the first two paragraphs:

A man is raised up from the earth by two wings -- simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him.

If your heart is free from ill-ordered affection, no good deed will be difficult for you. If you aim at and seek after nothing but the pleasure of God and the welfare of your neighbor, you will enjoy freedom within.

Perhaps all the advice à Kempis and the other writers offer are in support of shaping the Christian reader to these two virtues: simplicity and purity.  Simplicity and purity are the foundations from which will achieve the sole objective of life for à Kempis.  And what is that?  He tells us it will require two steps.  First in Chapter 11, “Few Love the Cross of Jesus,” he tells us what simplicity and purity conform us to:

If a man give all his wealth, it is nothing; if he do great penance, it is little; if he gain all knowledge, he is still far afield; if he have great virtue and much ardent devotion, he still lacks a great deal, and especially, the one thing that is most necessary to him. What is this one thing? That leaving all, he forsake himself, completely renounce himself, and give up all private affections. Then, when he has done all that he knows ought to be done, let him consider it as nothing, let him make little of what may be considered great; let him in all honesty call himself an unprofitable servant. For truth itself has said: "When you shall have done all these things that are commanded you, say: 'we are unprofitable servants.'

Then he will be truly poor and stripped in spirit, and with the prophet may say: "I am alone and poor."(2) No one, however, is more wealthy than such a man; no one is more powerful, no one freer than he who knows how to leave all things and think of himself as the least of all.

It is to “renounce” oneself completely.  Simplicity and purity require us to be “poor and stripped in spirit.”  It is a deconstruction of oneself to its essence, a squeezing out of the imperfections to become a pure image of Christ..

The second step is elucidated in Chapter 12, “The Royal Road of the Holy Cross.”  à Kempis starts with a quote from Jesus from Matthew: “Deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me” (Matt 16:24).  The entire Imitation of Christ can be summarized in that quote.  The deconstructing of oneself is lodged in the “deny thyself.”  “Take up thy cross and follow me” is the second step.

Why, then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross.

But what does it entail to take up the cross?

Either you will experience bodily pain or you will undergo tribulation of spirit in your soul. At times you will be forsaken by God, at times troubled by those about you and, what is worse, you will often grow weary of yourself. You cannot escape, you cannot be relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear with it as long as God wills. For He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation, to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble through suffering. No one understands the passion of Christ so thoroughly or heartily as the man whose lot it is to suffer the like himself.

In short it means suffering.  That is the ultimate goal, to suffer like Jesus on the cross because such suffering brings salvation.  This is the part of Christ’s life we are to imitate which the title alludes to:

The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes, so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love increases, the pain of his exile also increases.

So when you imitate the suffering Christ, you reach perfection.

When you shall have come to the point where suffering is sweet and acceptable for the sake of Christ, then consider yourself fortunate, for you have found paradise on earth. But as long as suffering irks you and you seek to escape, so long will you be unfortunate, and the tribulation you seek to evade will follow you everywhere. If you put your mind to the things you ought to consider, that is, to suffering and death, you would soon be in a better state and would find peace.

And finally à Kempis punctuates his thesis in his final paragraph of the twelfth chapter:

When, therefore, we have read and searched all that has been written, let this be the final conclusion -- that through much suffering we must enter into the kingdom of God.

So follow the arch of his logic.  Simplicity and purity lead us to deny oneself, and by denying ourselves, we take up the cross and follow Jesus, which must inevitably lead to suffering.  In this we achieve salvation.

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