The 600-year Anniversary of ‘The Imitation of Christ’
Publisher John August Media, LLC and www.theimitationofchrist.com today announced the launch of a special crowdfund campaign and initiative to mark the 600-year anniversary of Thomas à Kempis’ classic devotional work, “The Imitation of Christ,” with an exquisitely illuminated, leather-bound limited edition of the book. Part of a bold, 25-year endeavor, the project’s objective is to help bring the book’s message into today’s spiritually hungry culture. (View the crowdfund campaign here: bit.ly/2E12EBr).
With a limited run of just 500 copies, these beautiful books are meticulously handcrafted in the style of the medieval guilds by masters of this rare art. The campaign’s video features the actual process by which these remarkable “books of art” are made.
The classic work by Thomas à Kempis is central to the initiative’s mission, which ventures the audacious question: “What if just 10% of Christians today actually lived the way Jesus asked us to? What would that world look like? Can you imagine it?” Theologian Ron Sider also pondered this question when he wrote, “I have no doubt that if ten percent of the Christians today would really live the way Jesus called us to, we would transform the world in powerful ways in the next twenty-five years.”
What, then, does it mean to “imitate” Christ? Simply stated, living the way Jesus called us to means imitating the “pattern” that He established for us—and illustrating that pattern is the object of this most profound and sublime work of devotional literature.
“For many,” explains publisher John Schroeter, “the idea of the imitation of Christ is unexplored territory, which means that essential spiritual truths still lie undiscovered by the average believer. But this is precisely what promises to make living this narrative life’s most stimulating, challenging, and rewarding adventure—and why we’re inspired to take up the challenge of this 25-year vision. 600 years on, ‘The Imitation’ is remarkably and powerfully relevant.”
Further supporting the initiative is the organization of a network of fellowships—small groups that gather to learn, discuss, and apply the principles of imitation in daily living.
For more information, please visit www.theimitationofchrist.com.
(Source: Christian Newswire)
