Dr. Bill Creasy's superb translation of The Imitation of Christ "is not merely a good translation of The Imitation , but a great one." Rev. Dennis J. Billy, Robert F. Leavitt Distinguished Service Professor of Theology, St. Mary's Seminary and University Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ has been published in more languages and more editions than any other book except the Bible. It has been universally praised as a major devotional work for over half a millennium: St. Thomas More praised The Imitation of Christ as one of three books every Christian should read Sanuel Johnson remarked to Boswell that The Imjitation "must be a good book, as the world has opened its arms to receive it" Thomas Carlyle wrote "no book, I believe, except the Bible, has been so universally read and loved by Christians of all tongues and sects George Eliot wrote that The Imitation's "piety has its foundations in the depth of the divine-human soul" Thomas De Quincey praised The Imitation's "slender rivulets of truth silently stealing away into light" Matthew Arnold called it "the most exquisite document, after the New Testament, of all the documents the Christian spirit has ever inspired Dr. Creasy translated Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ from the 1441 Latin manuscript in Thomas's own handwriting. It is in the Bibliotheque Royale in Brussels, MS 5855-61. Dr. Creasy's award-winning translation has become the standard translation of this spiritual classic, now in its third edition. With all the new Christian books available, why should believers bother with reading, or (gasp!) re-reading old ones? C.S. Lewis offered great advice for readers choosing between new or old books: "The more 'up to date' the book is, the sooner it will be dated." "The sure mark of an unliterary man is that he considers 'I've read it already' to be a conclusive argument against reading a work. . . . Those who read great works, on the other hand, will read the same work ten, twenty or thirty times during the course of their life." "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." Thomas a' Kempis's Imitation of Christ is an old book that deserves a new reading, and William C. Creasy's A New Reading of the 1441 Latin Autograph Manuscript provides both scholarly and practical readers an introduction to or a reacquaintance with one of Christianity's classics. Some critics suggest Thomas' On the Imitation of Christ is second only to the Bible in its popularity among Christian readers. After rereading this book, which charged my sophomore year of college with spiritual significance, I can again appreciate the Imitation 's classic status. Rereading the Imitation proved the wisdom of Lewis's advice on reading old books, and reminded me that classic books both demand and deserve more than one reading. Dr. Stanley J. Ward Crosswalk.com Dr. Bill Creasy served on the UCLA English Department faculty for nearly 30 years. In 1995 he founded Logos Bible Study, and over the years more than 100,000 people have attended his live classes, seminars, retreats, and teaching tours to the Middle East. William C. Creasy teaches in the department of English (writing programs) at the University of California, Los Angelos. Used Book in Good Condition
