Thomas a Kempis
His Works and Their Reception
Edited by A. Poirters Edited by P. Nissen
Topics addressed in this volume include the mystical parallels and perspectives of Book III of the Imitatio, Thomas’s development as a mystagogue and his methods as a hagiographer, the manuscripts that survive of his works at various libraries in Saint Petersburg, the story his relics, the influential German translation of the Imitatio by Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832), and the way in which the inclusion, from the seventeenth century onwards, of increasing numbers of liturgical paratexts in Catholic editions of the Imitatio gradually turned these into books for church. The volume ends with an exploration of the views of St. Titus Brandsma (1882-1942) on the Modern Devotion, which provide a useful basis for a more nuanced understanding of the Imitatio’s seeming anti-intellectualism.
In 2021, the Titus Brandsma Institute and Radboud University in Nijmegen organized an international conference to mark the 550th anniversary of the death, on 25 July 1471, of Thomas a Kempis (b. 1379/80), the author of De imitatione Christi. This volume gathers the fruits of that meeting. Its aim is to contribute to the study, both of Thomas’s works and the context in which he wrote them, and of their reception and appropriation throughout the centuries. Topics addressed include the mystical parallels and perspectives of Book III of the Imitatio, Thomas’s development as a mystagogue and his methods as a hagiographer, the manuscripts that survive of his works at various libraries in Saint Petersburg, the story his relics, the influential German translation of the Imitatio by Johann Michael Sailer (1751-1832), and the way in which the inclusion, from the seventeenth century onwards, of increasing numbers of liturgical paratexts in Catholic editions of the Imitatio gradually turned these into books for church. The volume ends with an exploration of the views of St Titus Brandsma (1882-1942) on the Modern Devotion, which provide a useful basis for a more nuanced understanding of the Imitatio’s seeming anti-intellectualism.
- Edited by A. Poirters
- Edited by P. Nissen
Other Titles in this Series
Spiritual Awakening
The Hidden Key to Peace and Security, Just and Sustainable Economics, A Responsible European Union
Volume 16
Seeing the Seeker. Explorations in the Discipline of Spirituality
A Festschrift for Kees Waaijman on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday
Volume 19
Modernity, Melancholy and Predestination
Cultural Historical, Philosophical and Psychoanalytical Perspectives on the Modern Religious Subject
Volume 33
Dialogical Transformation
Exploring Avenues of Interreligious Dialogue as a Practice Promoting Spiritual Growth
Volume 25
The Spiritual Tradition in Eastern Christianity
Ascetic Psychology, Mystical Experience, and Physical Practices
Volume 26
Seeing Marguerite in the Mirror
A Linguistic Analysis of Porete's «Mirror of Simple Souls»
Volume 21
Being Seen in God
(Human Hiddenness and) Kierkegaard’s Call to Gaze in the Mirror of the Word
Volume 29
Jacob Frank’s ‘Book of the Words of the Lord’
Mystical Automythography, Religious Nihilism and the Messianic Vision of Freedom as a Realizationof Myth and Metaphor
Volume 31
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