Ancient Anglican

One of the great themes in The Imitation is that of simplicity.  Within Chapter 5, á Kempis writes of needing to have simplicity in interpreting Scripture – “for we should look for profit in the writings rather than subtle expressions.” 

Within these chapters, á Kempis emphasizes our humility, not as an end unto itself, but as the means of emptying ourselves so that we can, as Peter writes, become partakes of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). 

In our readings through the Imitation of Christ, our questions will not be what was á Kempis’s purpose or intention in regard to a particular passage; rather we want to look at how that particular passage speaks to you personally and ultimately transforms you.

Salvation is not about a change in location, but a change in being.  It is about restoring the image of God into a fallen humanity. The first step in restoring this image is purgation which is Book 1.

Merely reducing the work to the bullet points of its content impairs its overall message and power.  Therefore, approach the book with a contemplative heart and not an analytical mind.

As Jesus teaches us, for a grain of wheat to have life, it must first die. But upon its death, it is transformed into a stalk which produces fruit abundantly.  So with Jesus, and so also with us, that death is the prerequisite to an abundant, transformative life. 

The purpose of the Cross isn’t simply to overcome and redefine wisdom, evil, power, identity, suffering, ambition, and failure. Rather, the Cross does these things for the purpose of reconciling humanity both within itself and to God so that we may obtain the mystery of life eternal.

Through the Cross, our ambition is redirected from ourselves towards others and it is through the Cross that our failures, like Peters, are set aside and overcome.

Thomas á Kempis’ “The Imitation of Christ” does not seek to give us abstract knowledge about God but to guide us into a deep spiritual experiential personal knowledge of the Divine. 

The Cross, however, calls us not to an individualistic love of selfish ambition, but an ambitious love for others.

One of the points that Tomlin brings out in this chapter is that any discussion of Christ’s suffering on the cross must end with the Resurrection. There simply is no salvation in a Christ who only suffered and died for that would mean that death had ultimately triumphed.

At the Cross, we see a God who suffers as we suffer and a God who feels as abandoned as we do.  We have a God who has assumed our human condition. In looking at the Cross, we know that God is with us because he has become one of us.