Thomas a Kempiions, The Imitation of Christ(Book2) - Essay Example

The book had been written at much more troubled time than our own and makes a soulful reading. Book 2 touches meditation, humility in life, the need of goodness and peace in man to live life on this earth, necessity of purity of mind and heard and unity of purpose etc. It mainly focuses on self of the reader and the resultant happiness by having a good conscience. It reminds the necessity of loving Jesus, friendship with Jesus, and not desiring to have a share in comfort. It teaches how to appreciate God's grace and his blessings.

It preaches the need to love the cross as the symbol of sacrifice and suffering and choose the path on the 'Royal Road' of the Holy Cross. The main point of the book is "God is within you" and the necessity of despising external things. "He who follows me, walks not in darkness" The Treatise says that by devoting self and making the inner kingdom ready for Christ, an individual can invite God to himself2. The first chapter calls for the renouncement of all external worldly belongings to devote time and energy for the spiritual devotion and heavenly thoughts3.

The second chapter is about its humility and its uses4 and how much God loves a humble individual. It says that the humble man keeps his conscience clear, suffers in silence, and finds the protection of the God5. The third chapter mainly talks about the goodness and peace in man. . It says how important it is to be good even to bad people, because it is easy to be nice to the good and difficult to tolerate the bad. Unless one has inner peace, it is impossible to achieve peace for others. It needs great mental strength to treat both kinds of people with the same understanding7.

The fourth chapter is about the purity of mind and unity of purpose and it brings forth the importance of simplicity and purity and the need to be free from ill-ordered affection. If the heart is pure any deed could be achieved and anything could be perceived with great clarity8. With pure heart, it is possible to achieve all the joy in the world. Fear of toil, welcoming external comfort, and growing lax will make the individual more sluggish. Instead, he should welcome suffering to attain inner light9.

Chapter 5 is about self and the about the need to put our inner house in order, hold tongues about others10, and avoid relying too much on self. It is it is necessary to free self from all temporal cares and treat everything on equal footing11 and regard only God as the superlative of all. The sixth chapter is about the joy of a good conscience12, which is the glory of a good man. Sinners can never rejoice and there is no peace for the wicked and this shows how important it is to maintain a clear, non-reproaching conscience13.

It is necessary for the man to think inwardly with good motives, without caring for praise or blame, to do good and think little about it14. The seventh chapter is mainly about loving the God, who is the ultimate true friend, and it is necessary to cling to him till the final breath because Jesus needs your pure heart15. All other outward appearances in which we trust will show one day that they are deceitful and untrustworthy. Chapter 8 once