Thomas A Kempis And The Brothers Of Common Life PDF Download

Excerpt from Thomas A Kempis: And the Brothers of the Common Life It was from an earnest desire to know something more of the author of 'The Imitation of Christ' that this work was at first written, and is now published in a more concise form, that it may be brought within the reach of a large number who know and value the above most excellent publication, which has exercised so large an influence both before and since the time of the Reformation. The life of Thomas a Kempis was peculiarly a hidden life, of which it was only possible to catch occasional glimpses from what the old biographers said of him; while there still remained much that could be learnt respecting him, though indirectly, through his own words; (I) of what he said of others in whom he was interested, and with whom he was associated; and (2) in the instructions on the spiritual life which he gave in various ways, from which we gather much information regarding his interior devotion, and his views on religion. Another object kept in view was to bring out more prominently the nature and results of the religious movement or Society of which he was the most conspicuous ornament and chief exponent, and to give some account of the lives and characters of a few of its early members, men with whom for the most part a Kempis was acquainted, and who were largely instrumental in moulding the devout life of our author. In reproducing these memoirs which a Kempis himself has given, I have kept as much as possible to the simple and pious language which the writer employs. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."