Of The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, is a widely read Christian spiritual book. It was first published anonymously, in Latin, ca. 1418; several other authors have been proposed, but Kempis' authorship is now generally accepted. Imitation of Christ is a writing of the mysticist German-Dutch school of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and is widely considered one of the greatest manuals of devotion in Christianity.

Thomas Kempis was a Medieval Catholic monk and author of The Imitation of Christ, considered to be one of the best-known Christian books on devotion. He was apparently (accidentally) buried alive, because splinters were later found embedded under the fingernails of his corpse. He was denied canonization on the grounds that a saint would not fight death. The Imitation of Christ was first written in Latin in 1418. The book was divided into four books and is intended to assist the soul in finding holiness and communion with God. It was first written in verse form. The statements are written for...

The Imitation of Christ is the second most widely read spiritual book after the Bible. A spiritual classic it has had an astonishing impact on the lives of saints, peasants, and popes for centuries. It speaks to the soul of every Christian, reminding them of the fleeting nature of earthly joy and the eternity of happiness with God. Thomas a Kempis was a late Medieval Catholic monk and author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the best known Christian books on devotion. He was a copyist and writer, copied two Bibles. His important works include a series of sermons to the novices of...

Only the Bible has been more influential as a source of Christian devotional reading than The Imitation of Christ. This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. Ignatius Loyola to Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul I. Written by the Augustinian monk Thomas a Kempis between 1420 and 1427, it contains clear instructions for renouncing wordly vanities and locating eternal truths. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal: -My son, to the degree that you can leave yourself behind, to that degree will you be able to enter into Me.-...