The Founders of the New Devotion: Being the Lives of Gerard Groote, Florentius Radewin, and Their Followers
Overview
The Brethren of the Common Life was a Roman Catholic pietist community dedicated to living simple lives in dedication to Jesus Christ. Shedding material possessions and living together in community houses, they dedicated their waking hours to prayer, reading and preaching sermons, and studying the Scriptures. Thomas à Kempis provides biographies of the Brethren’s founding members and principal followers.
The Logos edition of The Founders of the New Devotion makes Kempis’ work easier to understand and more accessible than ever, allowing you to get straight to the theology and the Scripture you’re studying without fumbling through multiple volumes in their print form. With Logos, the Scripture references link directly to your preferred Bible in your digital library, and the advanced search tools help you navigate material instantly. With the power and speed of your Logos library, The Founders of the New Devotion is accessible like never before for study.
- Brief introduction of the Brethren of the Common Life
- Short overview of “The Rule” of the Brethren
The spirituality portrayed in these biographies is deep, unselfish, and helpful; and the book should be warmly welcomed, not only by the different religious communities, but also by that vast army of devout lay folk who realize that the life of the spirit is the only life that deserves our highest efforts.
—Donahoe’s Magazine
I trust that the book will have a wide circulation, presenting, as it does, one of the brightest pages in the history of an age in which there is much that is somber.
—George Ambrose Burton, Bishop of Clifton, 1902–1931
- Title: The Founders of the New Devotion: Being the Lives of Gerard Groote, Florentius Radewin, and Their Followers
- Author: Thomas à Kempis
- Translator: J. P. Arthur
- Publisher: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
- Publication Date: 1905
- Pages: 266
Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471) was a late-Medieval Catholic monk and the probable author of The Imitation of Christ—a classic in Christian literature and one of the best-known books on Christian devotion. His name means “Thomas of Kempen,” his hometown, and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen. He also is known by various spellings of his family name: Thomas Haemerkken, Thomas Hammerlein, Thomas Hemerken, and Thomas Hämerken.
As he traveled with his brother to attend school in the Netherlands, he was introduced to the Brethren of the Common Life—followers of Gerard Groote's Modern Devotion movement. After finishing school, he joined the Mount St. Agnes monastery, where he spent the rest of his life in devotion and prayer.
Thomas' sermons, meditations, and prayers—compiled in The Works of Thomas à Kempis (7 vols) have influenced many Christian writers.