Thomas à Kempis (1380 – 1471) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the most popular and best known Christian devotional books. His name means "Thomas of Kempen", Kempen being his home town.

He was a member of the Modern Devotion, a spiritual movement during the late medieval period, and a follower of Geert Groote and Florens Radewyns, the founders of the Brethren of the Common Life.



The Imitation of Christ is not just one book; it is a collection of resources now compiled into one book. The Imitation includes four books that vary in both length (book two has only 12 chapters, and book three has 59) and themes. Book one contains “useful reminders for the spiritual life.” Book two contains “suggestions drawing one toward the inner life.” Book three includes advice “of inner comfort.” And book four is “the book on the sacrament.”

Books one and two are full of practical and straightforward advice for spiritual growth. For example, Thomas has no patience with the vanities of this world (including things as simple as self-praise), and asserts that spiritual progress is possible here on earth. Thomas admonishes, “by working a little now, you will find great rest later” (p. 30). Such work includes patiently enduring suffering, which is crucial to spiritual progress. That patience includes putting up with others’ faults — a practice equally appropriate in a medieval monastery or a modern business office.

Books three and four take a new tone. Instead of practical advice, these books offer an exchange of intimate words between Jesus and an unnamed disciple. Sometimes these exchanges read like a worshipful prayer and response, and other times the content reads like a simple dialogue. It is believed that the unnamed disciple in this dialogue is Kempis himself and that this dialogue is his own conversation with God. Sometimes called the Devotio Moderno, the adepts of the movement stressed the inner life of the individual, an emphasis which the Church has not always encouraged.

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