Catholic And Protestant Translations Of The Imitatio Christi 1425 1650

The Imitatio Christi is considered one of the classic texts of Western spirituality. There were 800 manuscript copies and more than 740 different printed editions of the Imitatio between its composition in the fifteenth century and 1650. During the Reformation period, the book retained its popularity with both Protestants and Catholics; with the exception of the Bible it was the most frequently printed book of the sixteenth century. In this pioneering study, the remarkable longevity of the Imitatio across geographical, chronological, linguistic and confessional boundaries is explored. Rather than attributing this enduring popularity to any particular quality of universality, this study suggests that its key virtue was its appropriation by different interest groups. That such an apparently Catholic and monastic work could be adopted and adapted by both Protestant reformers and Catholic activists (including the Jesuits) poses intriguing questions about our understanding of Reformation and Counter Reformation theology and confessional politics. This study focuses on the editions of the Imitatio printed in English, French, German and Latin between the 1470s and 1650. It offers an ambitious and comprehensive survey of the process of translation and its impact and contribution to religious culture. In so doing it offers a fresh analysis of spirituality and devotion within their proper late medieval and early modern contexts. It also demonstrates that spirituality was not a peripheral dimension of religion, but remains at the very heart of both Catholic and Protestant self-perception and identity.

The Imitatio Christi is considered one of the classic texts of Western spirituality. There were 800 manuscript copies and more than 740 different printed editions of the Imitatio between its composition in the fifteenth century and 1650. During the Reformation period, the book retained its popularity with both Protestants and Catholics; with the exception of the Bible it was the most frequently printed book of the sixteenth century. In this pioneering study, the remarkable longevity of the Imitatio across geographical, chronological, linguistic and confessional boundaries is explored. Rather than attributing this enduring popularity to any particular quality of universality, this study suggests that its key virtue was its appropriation by different interest groups. That such an apparently Catholic and monastic work could be adopted and adapted by both Protestant reformers and Catholic activists (including the Jesuits) poses intriguing questions about our understanding of Reformation and Counter Reformation theology and confessional politics. This study focuses on the editions of the Imitatio printed in English, French, German and Latin between the 1470s and 1650. It offers an ambitious and comprehensive survey of the process of translation and its impact and contribution to religious culture. In so doing it offers a fresh analysis of spirituality and devotion within their proper late medieval and early modern contexts. It also demonstrates that spirituality was not a peripheral dimension of religion, but remains at the very heart of both Catholic and Protestant self-perception and identity.

Between 1500 and 1700, eight very different English translations of Kempis's Imitatio were published in about 70 editions, crossing boundaries of language, confessional affiliation, and literary genre. This study explores the ways in which biblicism and inwardness, so typical of the Latin original work, are subject to creative transformations by the English translators. Thus, the translations reflect and even influence more general tendencies in the wider corpus of early modern English literature, for example in the works of George Herbert, John Bunyan, and early English Bible translations. Florian Kubsch worked as a researcher at the Department of English at the Eberhard Karls Universitaet Tuebingen, Germany.

Given that Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ is one of the most frequently translated and read late medieval books of devotion, it is surprising that there are few studies of the work in English. This book fills the void by offering an explication of Thomas' spiritual theology in the Imitation, while situating him in his late medieval monastic context and as someone familiar with and influenced by the Modern Devotion and the Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life. Thomas' emphasis on grace and his dependence on Augustine of Hippo show, to some extent, that he anticipated theological developments of the Protestant Reformation. At the same time, Thomas' eucharistic spirituality, so central to his overall spiritual theology, is quintessentially medieval. Thomas' vision of the spiritual life was expansive and all-inclusive, rich and accessible for both the monk and the devout follower and imitator of Jesus Christ who lived in the world. Thomas' spirituality is for everyone, a synthesis of Christian thought that steers away from the late medieval Scholastic theologies of the university towards a monastic theology and spirituality for anyone who desires to follow Jesus Christ devoutly. His vision remains relevant for all twenty-first-century Christian believers.

One of the most influential and well-loved books of Christianity, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis appears here in Penguin Classics in a new translation by Robert Jeffery, with an introduction by Max Von Habsburg, notes, a chronology and further reading. The Imitation of Christ is a passionate celebration of God's love, mercy and holiness, which has stimulated religious devotion for over five hundred years. With great personal conviction and deep humanity, Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471) demonstrates the individual's reliance on God and on the words of Christ, and the futility of a life without faith, as well as exploring the ideas such as humility, compassion, patience and tolerance. Thomas spent some seventy years of his life in the reclusive environment of monasteries, yet in this astonishing work he demonstrates an encompassing understanding of human nature, while his writing speaks to readers of every age and every nation. Thomas à Kempis was born at Kempen near Dusseldorf in 1380. He received the priesthood in 1413. Thomas wrote many other devotional works besides The Imitation of Christ, his masterpiece, as well as biographies of Gerald Groote and Florentius Radewyn. He died in 1471. The Very Revd Robert Jeffery was born in 1935 and ordained in 1959. He has written on matters of Church history, spirituality, mission and ecumenism. In 1978, he became Archdeacon of Salop, and was Dean of Worcester from 1987-96 and subsequently Canon and Sub-Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. He retired in 2002 and is an Hon Doctor of Divinity of Birmingham University. Max von Habsburg is the author of Catholic and Protestant Translations of the Imitatio Christi 1425-1650 (2011).

There is currently no shared language of vocation among Catholics in the developed, post-modern world of Europe and North America. The decline in practice of the faith and a weakened understanding of Church teaching has led to reduced numbers of people entering into marriage, religious life and priesthood. Uniquely, this book traces the development of vocation from scriptural, patristic roots through Thomism and the Reformation to engage with the modern vocational crisis. How are these two approaches compatible? The universal call to holiness is expressed in Lumen Gentium has been read by some as meaning that any vocational choice has the same value as any other such choice; is some sense of a higher calling part of the Catholic theology of vocation or not? Some claim that the single life is a vocation on a par with marriage and religious life; what kind of a theology of vocation leads to that conclusion? And is the secular use of the word 'vocation' to describe certain profession helpful or misleading in the context of Catholic theology?

Publishing Subversive Texts in Elizabeth England and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth provides original and thorough comparative analyses of the effects of national censorship in early modern England and Poland-Lithuania on the intellectual and information exchange in both countries.