{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.2", "endpoint": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/index.json" }, "work": { "slug": "imit-book-2", "name": "Book II — Admonitions Concerning the Inner Life", "stream": "greco-christian", "epoch_reflected": "greco-latin", "epoch_written": "greco-latin", "form": "Christian devotional treatise", "tradition": "Christian mysticism", "author": "Thomas à Kempis", "year_approx": 1418, "note": null, "books_slug": "kempis--the-imitation-of-christ", "books_slugs": null, "has_project_translation": false, "steiner_loci": [] }, "parents": [ { "slug": "imitation-of-christ", "name": "The Imitation of Christ", "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/" } ], "translation": { "title": null, "author": null, "source": null }, "chapters": [ { "num": 1, "slug": "27-chapter-i-of-the-inward-life", "title": "Chapter I. Of The Inward Life", "words": 951, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/27-chapter-i-of-the-inward-life/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/27-chapter-i-of-the-inward-life.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "I. Of the inward life", "blurb": "Opens Book II — the turn from outward to inward life. *Regnum Dei intra vos est* (Luke 17:21) — the Kingdom of God is within you. The inward life as the kingdom; the soul's true habitation; the place where Christ comes to feast with the soul that has cleared a room for him." }, { "num": 2, "slug": "28-chapter-ii-of-lowly-submission", "title": "Chapter II. Of Lowly Submission", "words": 245, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/28-chapter-ii-of-lowly-submission/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/28-chapter-ii-of-lowly-submission.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "II. Of lowly submission", "blurb": "On the disposition that makes the inward life possible: lowly submission to God's order, however it falls. Submission not in despair but in trust; the soul that knows it is in God's hands is free where the soul self-managing is always anxious." }, { "num": 3, "slug": "29-chapter-iii-of-the-good-peaceable-man", "title": "Chapter III. Of The Good, Peaceable Man", "words": 397, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/29-chapter-iii-of-the-good-peaceable-man/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/29-chapter-iii-of-the-good-peaceable-man.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "III. Of the good, peaceable man", "blurb": "*Esto pacificus apud te ipsum, et alios pacificare poteris* — be peaceful in thyself, and then thou shalt be able to pacify others. The famous formula of inward-outward peace. The peaceable person more useful than the learned; charity informed by peace more powerful than knowledge driven by zeal." }, { "num": 4, "slug": "30-chapter-iv-of-a-pure-mind-and-simple-intention", "title": "Chapter IV. Of A Pure Mind And Simple Intention", "words": 286, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/30-chapter-iv-of-a-pure-mind-and-simple-intention/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/30-chapter-iv-of-a-pure-mind-and-simple-intention.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "IV. Of a pure mind and simple intention", "blurb": "*Duabus alis homo sublevatur a terrenis, simplicitate et puritate* — by two wings man is lifted from earthly things, simplicity and purity. Simplicity in the intention; purity in the affection. The doubled disposition that makes flight possible." }, { "num": 5, "slug": "31-chapter-v-of-self-esteem", "title": "Chapter V. Of Self-Esteem", "words": 332, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/31-chapter-v-of-self-esteem/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/31-chapter-v-of-self-esteem.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "V. Of self-esteem", "blurb": "Against self-esteem. Not the modern critique of self-loathing but the medieval recognition that *we cannot trust ourselves much* — we are inconstant in resolutions, weak in temptation, easily deceived in our own self-estimate. The chapter's quiet caution." }, { "num": 6, "slug": "32-chapter-vi-of-the-joy-of-a-good-conscience", "title": "Chapter VI. Of The Joy Of A Good Conscience", "words": 483, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/32-chapter-vi-of-the-joy-of-a-good-conscience/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/32-chapter-vi-of-the-joy-of-a-good-conscience.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "VI. The joy of a good conscience", "blurb": "*Gloria boni viri testimonium est bonae conscientiae* — the glory of a good man is the testimony of a good conscience. The deep joy unavailable to the bad conscience however prosperous; the deep peace unavailable to the externally-praised soul that knows it does not deserve the praise." }, { "num": 7, "slug": "33-chapter-vii-of-loving-jesus-above-all-things", "title": "Chapter VII. Of Loving Jesus Above All Things", "words": 342, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/33-chapter-vii-of-loving-jesus-above-all-things/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/33-chapter-vii-of-loving-jesus-above-all-things.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "VII. Of loving Jesus above all things", "blurb": "On the necessity of loving Jesus above every creature. The creatures shall fail in the hour of need; only Jesus does not fail. *Cum Iesu* — with Jesus — every loss is bearable, every life sweet; without Jesus the highest joy is bitter and the deepest sleep restless." }, { "num": 8, "slug": "34-chapter-viii-of-the-intimate-love-of-jesus", "title": "Chapter VIII. Of The Intimate Love Of Jesus", "words": 639, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/34-chapter-viii-of-the-intimate-love-of-jesus/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/34-chapter-viii-of-the-intimate-love-of-jesus.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "VIII. Of the intimate love of Jesus", "blurb": "*Cum bene fueris cum Jesu, omnia haec parum aestimabis* — when thou art well with Jesus, all these things thou shalt esteem as nothing. The mystical chapter of Book II; the love of Jesus as the substance behind every secondary love." }, { "num": 9, "slug": "35-chapter-ix-of-the-lack-of-all-comfort", "title": "Chapter IX. Of The Lack Of All Comfort", "words": 947, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/35-chapter-ix-of-the-lack-of-all-comfort/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/35-chapter-ix-of-the-lack-of-all-comfort.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "IX. Of the lack of all comfort", "blurb": "The classic chapter on the dark night of consolation. When all sweetness is withdrawn — from creatures and from God Himself in his sensible presence — the soul learns to love God for himself, not for the consolations he gives. *Maximum est sancte donare seipsum totaliter Deo.*" }, { "num": 10, "slug": "36-chapter-x-of-gratitude-for-the-grace-of-god", "title": "Chapter X. Of Gratitude For The Grace Of God", "words": 677, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/36-chapter-x-of-gratitude-for-the-grace-of-god/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/36-chapter-x-of-gratitude-for-the-grace-of-god.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "X. Of gratitude for the grace of God", "blurb": "On the disposition that secures grace: gratitude. The ungrateful soul cannot receive even the gift it now has; the grateful soul receives more, because gratitude opens the heart to ever-fresh grace. The chapter's underlying logic of gift-economy." }, { "num": 11, "slug": "37-chapter-xi-of-the-fewness-of-those-who-love-the-cross-of", "title": "Chapter XI. Of The Fewness Of Those Who Love The Cross Of Jesus", "words": 545, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/37-chapter-xi-of-the-fewness-of-those-who-love-the-cross-of/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/37-chapter-xi-of-the-fewness-of-those-who-love-the-cross-of.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "XI. The fewness of those who love the cross of Jesus", "blurb": "Many love Jesus' kingdom but few love his cross. Many follow him to the multiplication of the loaves; few follow him to the chalice of the passion. The classic distinction between the multitudes drawn by consolation and the few drawn by the cross itself." }, { "num": 12, "slug": "38-chapter-xii-of-the-royal-way-of-the-holy-cross", "title": "Chapter XII. Of The Royal Way Of The Holy Cross", "words": 1741, "url": "/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/38-chapter-xii-of-the-royal-way-of-the-holy-cross/", "api": "/api/sources/imitation-of-christ/imit-book-2/38-chapter-xii-of-the-royal-way-of-the-holy-cross.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "XII. The royal way of the Holy Cross", "blurb": "The crowning chapter of Book II. *Via sancta crucis* — the holy way of the cross — as the royal road. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace but the way of the cross and of daily mortification. The chapter that bridges Book II to the inward dialogues of Book III." } ] }