With apologies to our non-Christian friends, I am posting The Imitation of Christ (or De imitatione Christi), by Thomas à Kempis. It's a widely read Christian spiritual book. It was first published anonymously, in Latin, ca. 1418; several other authors have been proposed, but Kempis's authorship is now generally accepted.

The work is a manual of devotion intended to assist the soul with its pursuit of holiness and communion with God. Its sentences are statements, not arguments, and are pitched in the highest key of Christian experience. It was meant for monastics and ascetics. (info from Wikipedia).

I hope this book doesn't offend anyone. It really helped me through some bad times in the past. I prefer the more modern translation, but this was the only translation that I could find that was public domain.

I didn't paint the cover this time--it's a photograph that I took with intent to paint later. But I thought it was kinda nice as is. Enjoy!

Thanks Travis! Obviously, we don't want any proselytizing at MR, but sharing e-books is great. And this is definitely a famous Christian classic.

It's interesting how there are so many pockets of "special interests" related to e-book fans. We have all sorts of interests, but some of the most common ones seem to be Romance, SF, Fantasy, Christian, etc.

Thanks Bob, I was unsure if we had any guidelines regarding content. I definitely didn't want to be proselytizing or anything, just figured there might be some interest since I remember people discussing the Bible for the Reader...

I'm a big SF/Fantasy fan myself and I plan to be posting more of those as I come across them. :)

Thanks Bob, I was unsure if we had any guidelines regarding content.

Good grief, no. I think we can all use our common sense and choose not to download something that we personally find distasteful, as long as the description makes it clear what that content is.

I've always been somewhat baffled by the viewpoint that, for example, the celebration of Christmas could be "offensive" to non-Christians. Heck, if you're not a Christian, don't celebrate it! Similarly, if you're not a Christian, don't download Christian books; if you're not a Muslim, don't download Islamic books, if you're not a Marxist, don't download Marxist books, etc etc etc.

I think we all have enough common sense to choose not to download stuff that we don't agree with! The last thing we want is censorship, with the obvious exception of things which are flagrantly illegal.

So go ahead and post whatever you want.

Well said Harry! Thanks...

I prefer to see the inverse of your position Harry. Everyone should use their common sense in downloading what they want to read. No one should be offended by other views or opinions and you should certainly not have to apologize or tread on egg shells for posting it. That said, why in heaven's name would once choose to not partake from every aspect of the richness that is the human experience?!? If you are christian, why deny yourself an insight into the spirituality that is Islam? If you are Jewish, why deny yourself an insight into the spirituality that is Christianity? etc.... I have enjoyed Catholic masses and Jewish seders, I have meditated with theravadic Buddhist teachers and I have read the Koran. All of these things have enriched me. What is there to fear? That another tradition might change your heart or your mind? If anything it will likely deepen your understanding of your own tradition.

I have generally found that people will believe what they want to believe and will rarely be swayed by mere words. Enjoy it all and believe what makes the greatest sense to your heart.

Travis, thank you for your contribution.

I prefer to see the inverse of your position Harry. Everyone should use their common sense in downloading what they want to read. No one should be offended by other views or opinions and you should certainly not have to apologize or tread on egg shells for posting it. That said, why in heaven's name would once choose to not partake from every aspect of the richness that is the human experience?!? If you are christian, why deny yourself an insight into the spirituality that is Islam? If you are Jewish, why deny yourself an insight into the spirituality that is Christianity? etc.... I have enjoyed Catholic masses and Jewish seders, I have meditated with theravadic Buddhist teachers and I have read the Koran. All of these things have enriched me. What is there to fear? That another tradition might change your heart or your mind? If anything it will likely deepen your understanding of your own tradition.

I have generally found that people will believe what they want to believe and will rarely be swayed by mere words. Enjoy it all and believe what makes the greatest sense to your heart.


Sorry, Stingo - I didn't express my viewpoint very well; you've said what I meant to say I lot better than I did. What I meant to say is that if you WERE someone who, for example, was offended by Marxist political theory, then you could choose not to download "Das Capital", if somebody were to post it. I completely agree with your viewpoint that one certainly SHOULD read as wide a range of different viewpoints as possible, to expand one's horizons.

Thank you for saying so well what I actually intended to say in the first place :grin:.

Thank you - I'm glad to have this book.

I am afraid that PC is going to destroy our world :(

aren't kempis's words so inspiring? as anon-Christian, i find his writings seem so universally applicable. i ran across some of his writings at http://www.gitananda.org/unity/index.php