Thomas à Kempis

Qu'est-ce que l'Absolu ? Dieu existe-t-il ?

God is the Lord who speaks to the soul and consoles it

Un Dieu personnelIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis does no speculative theology; he distrusts it. In The Imitation of Christ, God is someone one speaks with: book III is built as a dialogue between the disciple and Christ, who teaches inwardly, consoles, corrects and asks for the surrender of one's own will. Book I warns that it profits little to dispute loftily about the Trinity if one lacks humility and thus displeases the Trinity. Kempis's God is that of the Catholic faith and the Modern Devotion: provident Father, Christ present in the sacrament of the altar (book IV), truth that speaks within without the noise of words. The Absolute is a personal Thou, close and demanding.

Qui suis-je ? Existe-t-il un vrai soi ?

Humble self-knowledge is the surest way to God

Une âme créée et immortelleCela se déduit de sa doctrine

Thomas à Kempis does not speculate about the nature of the soul; he takes for granted the Christian doctrine of an immortal soul and concerns himself with practical knowledge of it. The Imitation of Christ teaches that humble self-knowledge is a surer road to God than a deep search for learning, and recommends loving to be unknown and accounted as nothing. The self to be overcome is self-will and self-love, from which restlessness and vainglory arise; book III insists on denying oneself in order to follow Christ. The true self is the soul which, stripped of itself, finds itself small and loved.

Pourquoi souffrons-nous ?

The cross carried willingly ends up carrying you

La séparation d'avec DieuIl le dit expressément

For Thomas à Kempis, suffering is inevitable in this life and the question is how it is borne. The chapter on the royal road of the holy cross, in book II of The Imitation of Christ, holds that in the cross lie health and life, and that if one carries the cross willingly, it will carry its bearer to the desired end; if dragged by force, it weighs more. Tribulation is useful because it returns the human being to his heart, reminds him that he is in exile and keeps him from placing his hope in the world. Suffering arises from being far from one's homeland and, accepted, unites with Christ.

Que se passe-t-il après la mort ?

Live each day as if it were your last

Vie éternelle et résurrectionIl le dit expressément

The Imitation of Christ devotes an entire chapter to meditation on death. Thomas à Kempis urges living in such a way that death does not find one unprepared: blessed is the one who keeps the hour of his death daily before his eyes and makes ready to die each day. He recalls that the glory of the world passes quickly, that a man is here today and gone tomorrow, and that one should make friends of the saints while there is time. After death await judgement and eternal life, which book III describes as the homeland where the soul will rest in God without fear of losing him. Death is the door to the true homeland.

Comment atteint-on la libération ou le salut ?

Imitate Christ's life and love him above all things

Par la dévotion et l'abandonIl le dit expressément

The Imitation of Christ is the most widely read fruit of the devotio moderna, the movement of the Brethren of the Common Life to which Thomas à Kempis belonged. Its first line marks the path: whoever follows Christ does not walk in darkness, and therefore one must imitate his life and ways. Salvation is received in grace, which book III carefully distinguishes from nature, but it is lived as personal love for Jesus: book II asks that one love him above all things and keep a familiar friendship with him. Humility, renunciation of self-will, daily examination and frequent communion (book IV) are the concrete forms of that surrender.

Faut-il un maître ?

Truth speaks within, without the noise of words

Le maître est à l'intérieurIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis lived in obedience to his superiors at the monastery of Mount Saint Agnes, and The Imitation of Christ recommends living under a superior rather than being one's own master. But his most characteristic teaching places the teacher within. Book III, built as a dialogue between the soul and Christ, opens with the request to hear what the Lord says inwardly, and states that truth speaks within without the noise of words. Later on, Christ declares that it is he who teaches man knowledge and gives the little ones a clearer understanding than any man can teach. Human masters speak; he alone teaches.

Le monde est-il réel ?

With an upright heart, every creature is a mirror of life

Une création bonne et réelleIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis does not dispute the reality of the world, but its value. The Imitation of Christ begins with contempt for the world: vanity of vanities, all is vanity except to love God and serve him alone; the glory of the world passes quickly. But that contempt is not dualist: it is detachment from what passes. Book II offers the other side: if the heart were upright, every creature would be a mirror of life and a book of holy doctrine, for there is no creature so small and lowly that it does not show forth God's goodness. The world is good creation, but deceives whoever stops at it; purity of heart makes it transparent.

Qu'est-ce que l'amour ?

Love is born of God and rests only in God

Le désir ardent et l'unionIl le dit expressément

The chapter of The Imitation of Christ on the wonderful effects of divine love is one of the most widely read texts of Western piety. Thomas à Kempis praises love as a great good that makes light all that is heavy, bears the burden without burden and makes the bitter sweet; nothing is sweeter, stronger, higher or wider. The reason he gives is its origin: love is born of God and can rest only in God, above all created things. It is therefore a movement of return, a longing that rises. Book II makes it concrete as love of Jesus above all things and familiar friendship with him.

Sommes-nous libres ou tout est-il déterminé ?

Man proposes and God disposes, yet each answers for himself

Le destin et la responsabilitéIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis develops no theory of freedom, but his work holds two certainties at once. The first is providence: man proposes and God disposes, and a man's way is not in his own hands, says The Imitation of Christ, taking up a formula with biblical roots. The second is responsibility: daily resolutions, examination of conscience, the struggle against the passions and the judgement awaiting each person presuppose that one answers for one's acts. Between the two there is no contradiction, but trust: one must do all that lies in one's power and leave the outcome in God's hands. Book III insists on handing him one's own will.

Pourquoi méditer ou prier ?

Familiar friendship with Jesus, in inner conversation

L'amitié avec DieuIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis understands prayer as personal converse with Christ. Book II of The Imitation of Christ describes the inner life as Christ's frequent visiting of the inner man, with sweet conversation, consolation, peace and an astonishing familiarity, and devotes a chapter to familiar friendship with Jesus. Book III is itself written as a dialogue between the disciple and the Lord, and book IV prepares for Eucharistic communion as the meeting of beloved and lover. Kempis's meditation is affective, not speculative: he would rather feel compunction than know how to define it, and he recommends retreat, silence and the reading of Scripture in order to hear that voice.

La raison peut-elle connaître l'ultime ?

I would rather feel compunction than know how to define it

L'ultime est au-delà du mentalIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis distrusts speculative learning. The Imitation of Christ begins by asking what use it is to dispute loftily about the Trinity if one lacks humility, and states that he would rather feel compunction than know how to define it. Book I advises against wanting to know too much, for there is distraction and deceit in it, and places humble self-knowledge above learning. In book III, Christ declares that he teaches without the noise of words and that in a moment he raises the humble mind to grasp more of the reasons of eternal truth than ten years of study in the schools. He does not condemn learning, which is good in itself, but learning cut off from life.

Se retirer du monde ou le transformer ?

As often as I was among men, I came back less a man

Se retirer pour trouverIl le dit expressément

Thomas à Kempis spent more than seventy years at the monastery of canons regular of Mount Saint Agnes, near Zwolle, copying manuscripts, writing and training novices. The Imitation of Christ devotes a chapter to the love of solitude and silence, where it quotes Seneca without naming him: as often as he was among men, he came back less a man. It recommends avoiding idle conversation, remaining in the cell, which grows sweet the more it is kept, and seeking the right time to attend to oneself. The world and its glory pass; whoever would reach what is inward and spiritual must withdraw with Jesus from the crowd.