Kempis, Thomas á (ca. 1380-1471)
“Of two evils the lesser is always to be chosen.” (written ca. 1418)
Thomas á Kempis
Since the age of 13, Thomas Hammerken of Kempen has been associated with the Brethren of the Common Life. This movement, founded by Geert Groote in the fourteenth century, seeks to restore primitive or apostolic Christianity. It is especially strong in the Netherlands and nearby regions. Associates of this “New Devotion” are expected to show zeal for the Lord Jesus, and to support themselves and others by useful work. The copying of manuscripts is one of their useful employments, and Thomas has become a master copyist, author, and compiler, known by Kempen, the place where he was born—Thomas á Kempis.
Among the copies he produces in his neat hand, are at least four complete Bibles. He also writes several books to instruct novices, for he rises to a position of leadership in the Common Life movement, and the brethren are strong proponents of education.
Thomas á Kempis also records the history of the Common Life movement. But his most famous work will become known as the Imitation of Christ, taking its name from the heading of its first book. The Imitation of Christ encourages mystical devotion to Christ and the pursuit of holiness.
In the twelfth chapter, á Kempis admonishes his readers to master their passions here and now, regardless of the suffering this entails. Our goal must not be to escape trials, but to be strong in them. He has Christ say to the soul, “If you say that you cannot suffer much, how will you endure the fire of purgatory? Of two evils, the lesser is always to be chosen. Therefore, in order that you may escape the everlasting punishments to come, try to bear present evils patiently for the sake of God.”
His statement will work its way into English as the popular idiom “the lesser of two evils.”
Little does á Kempis realize the difficulty he is creating for generations of future scholars, not by his words, but by his failure to identify himself. Because he publishes the Imitation anonymously, it will be credited to many other individuals. Eventually, because of his use of unusual words (words that also appear in his other manuscripts), because copies survive with his name on them, and because contemporaries spoke of him as the author, consensus will form that he is indeed the Imitation’s author, or at least its compiler.
Even in his lifetime the Imitation will become a treasure of the church. Its great strengths are its encouragement for souls to go directly to Jesus Christ, and to abandon all for God’s sake. Its weakness is the reclusive and monkish tendency of its devotion, an artificial divide between sacred and secular, which is not practical for those who must be active in the world.
— Dan Graves
Dig a Little Deeper
- Creasy, William C. “Introduction.” The Imitation of Christ; a Timeless Classic for Contemporary Readers, by Thomas a Kempis. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1989.
- De Montmorency, J. E. G. Thomas a Kempis; His Age and His Book. New York: Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1970.
- D’Souza, Dinesh. The Catholic Classics. Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1986.
- “Kempis, Thomas á,” in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1954.
- Kiefer, James. “Thomas a Kempis; priest, monk and writer.” http://elvis.rowan.edu/%7Ekilroy/JEK/home.html.
- Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1958-1960, 1907-1910.
- Scully, Vincent. “Thomas a Kempis.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
- Thomas á Kempis. The Imitation of Christ. The Family Inspirational Library. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, n.d.
