page_title: Imitation of Christ
section_title: Early period
hierarchical_section_title: Imitation of Christ / Early period
caption_attribution_description: English: Augustine of Hippo: ConfessionsAugustine. Confessiones. BPH Ms 83. Manuscript on vellum. Germany, first half 13th century. Augustine opposed the Manichaean view that there were two creations: a Realm of Light and a Realm of Darkness. In the 7th book of his Confessions he quotes his good friend Nebridius, who said the following about dualism: That said nation of darkness, which the Manichees are wont to set as an opposing mass over against Thee, what could it have done unto Thee, hadst Thou refused to fight with it?' For, if they answered, it would have done Thee some hurt, then shouldest Thou be subject to injury and corruption: but if it could do Thee no hurt, then was no reason brought for Thy fighting with it; and fighting in such wise, as that a certain portion or member of Thee, or offspring of Thy very Substance, should he mingled with opposed powers, and natures not created by Thee, and be by them so far corrupted and changed to the worse, as to be turned from happiness into misery, and need assistance, whereby it might be extricated and purified.' Confessiones VII, 2, 3, E.B. Pusey
context_page_description: In Christian theology, the Imitation of Christ is the practice of following the example of Jesus. In Eastern Christianity, the term Life in Christ is sometimes used for the same concept.
  The ideal of the Imitation of Christ has been an important element of both Christian ethics and spirituality. References to this concept and its practice are found in the earliest Christian documents, e.g. the Pauline Epistles.
  Saint Augustine viewed the imitation of Christ as the fundamental purpose of Christian life, and as a remedy for the imitation of the sins of Adam. Saint Francis of Assisi believed in the physical as well as the spiritual imitation of Christ, and advocated a path of poverty and preaching like Jesus who was poor at birth in the manger and died naked on the cross. Thomas à Kempis, on the other hand, presented a path to The Imitation of Christ based on a focus on the interior life and withdrawal from the world.
  The theme of imitation of Christ existed in all phases of Byzantine theology, and in the 14th-century book Life in Christ Nicholas Cabasilas viewed "living one's own personal life" in Christ as the fundamental Christian virtue.
context_section_description: Why art thou proud, O man? God for thee became low. Thou wouldst perhaps be ashamed to imitate a lowly man ; then at least imitate the lowly God.
  — Saint Augustine, In Iohannis evangelium, tractatus 25, 16
  The word "imitate" does not appear in the Canonical Gospels, but the word "follow" is often applied to those who believed in Jesus, and Jesus is quoted as requiring imitation in some form (Matthew 10:38; 16:24; Luke 14:27). But in 1 Thessalonians 1:6 Apostle Paul refers to the imitation of Christ, as well as himself, and states: "And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit". Similarly, in 1 Peter 2:21, Apostle Peter explains the duty of Christians to "follow his [Christ's] steps".
  For Paul the imitation of Christ involves readiness to be shaped by the Holy Spirit as in Romans 8:4 and Romans 8:11, and a self-giving service of love to others as in 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5:13. The imitation of Christ, as in Ephesians 5:1 is then viewed by Paul as a path to the imitation of God: "Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you".
  The early Church had little interest in the "historical Jesus" and this prevented an immediate development of the concept of literal imitation. Instead the earliest concepts of imitation focused on the works of the Holy Spirit, self-sacrifice and martyrdom. In time, this focus changed, and by the time of Saint Francis of Assisi attempts at literal imitation of Christ were well established.
  By the 4th century, the ideal of the imitation of Christ was well accepted and for Saint Augustine, it was the ultimate goal of conversion, and the fundamental purpose of Christian life.
  Book 7 of the Confessions of St. Augustine includes a well known passage on "at least imitate the lowly God" that confirms the strong Christian tradition of the imitation of Christ around the year 400. Augustine viewed human beings as creatures who approach the Holy Trinity through likeness, i.e. by imitating the Son, who is bound to the Father through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus for Augustine, the imitation of Christ is enabled by the Spirit who confers God's grace. Augustine viewed Christ as both a sign of grace and an example to be followed, and in his later writings stated that the imitation of Christ leads to a mystical union with him.
caption: 13th-century copy of Confessions of Augustine, Book 7
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