Thomas à Kempis on Discipleship

Thomas à Kempis (1380 – 1471) was a Dutch religious of the late medieval period and the author of The Imitation of Christ, one of the most popular Christian devotional books of all time. The book was first issued anonymously in 1418 and quickly received wide acclaim. It was copied by different scribes and was attributed to different people. Those claims have subsequently been invalidated by scholars.

Thomas à Kempis wrote many other devotional works. However, The Imitation of Christ remains the best known and the first in order of merit. This work comprises in bulk only about one-tenth of the works of à Kempis.

Thomas à  Kempis:

“Realize that to know Christ you must lead a dying life. The more you die to yourself, the more you will live unto God. You will never enjoy heavenly things unless you are ready to suffer hardship for Christ. Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more helpful to you on this earth. When there is a choice to be made, take the narrow way. This alone will make you more life Christ.”


Related reading: John Stott on Discipleship;  Dwight L. Moody on Discipleship; Charles H. Spurgeon on Discipleship; Billy Graham on Discipleship; Oswald Chambers on Discipleship; Evelyn Underhill on Discipleship; A.W. Tozer on Discipleship; C.S. Lewis on Discipleship; Archbishop Michael Ramsey on Discipleship