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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Forty-Third Chapter
BEWARE VAIN AND WORLDLY KNOWLEDGE
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, do not let the fine-sounding and subtle words of men deceive you. For
the kingdom of heaven consists not in talk but in virtue. Attend, rather, to My
words which enkindle the heart and enlighten the mind, which excite contrition
and abound in manifold consolations. Never read them for the purpose of
appearing more learned or more wise. Apply yourself to mortifying your vices,
for this will benefit you more than your understanding of many difficult
questions.
Though you shall have read and learned many things, it will always be necessary
for you to return to this one principle: I am He who teaches man knowledge, and
to the little ones I give a clearer understanding than can be taught by man. He
to whom I speak will soon be wise and his soul will profit. But woe to those who
inquire of men about many curious things, and care very little about the way
they serve Me.
The time will come when Christ, the Teacher of teachers, the Lord of angels,
will appear to hear the lessons of all -- that is, to examine the conscience of
everyone. Then He will search Jerusalem with lamps and the hidden things of
darkness will be brought to light and the arguings of men's tongues be silenced.
I am He Who in one moment so enlightens the humble mind that it comprehends more
of eternal truth than could be learned by ten years in the schools. I teach
without noise of words or clash of opinions, without ambition for honor or
confusion of argument.
I am He Who teaches man to despise earthly possessions and to loathe present
things, to ask after the eternal, to hunger for heaven, to fly honors and to
bear with scandals, to place all hope in Me, to desire nothing apart from Me,
and to love Me ardently above all things. For a certain man by loving Me
intimately learned divine truths and spoke wonders. He profited more by leaving
all things than by studying subtle questions.
To some I speak of common things, to others of special matters. To some I appear
with sweetness in signs and figures, and to others I appear in great light and
reveal mysteries. The voice of books is but a single voice, yet it does not
teach all men alike, because I within them am the Teacher and the Truth, the
Examiner of hearts, the Understander of thoughts, the Promoter of acts,
distributing to each as I see fit.
