scholarly journals Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna of the Meadow, ‘Meditational Poesia’, and the Imitatio Christi

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29
Author(s):  
Brian D. Steele
Keyword(s):  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
Imitation Of Christ

Abstract This essay examines Giovanni Bellini’s Madonna of the Meadow as a ‘meditational poesia’, focusing upon formal aspects that differentiate between embracing landscape and figural group and upon Bellini’s approach to this landscape and its contrasting staffage that elicits contemplative reflection. I examine three treatises that may have stimulated the artist and contend that Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation of Christ (translated as Imitatione de Cristo, Venice, 1488) provides thematic structures that most closely align with those characterizing Bellini’s painting and intimate its role in articulating a meditational approach by which a viewer can effectively appraise the Madonna of the Meadow.

Some Principles for Reconstructing a Doctrine of the Imitation of Christ

1972 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Tinsley
Keyword(s):  
Christian Life ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
Justification By Faith ◽  
Catholic Tradition ◽  
The Ideal

Generally speaking the Christian catholic tradition has been more uniformly well disposed than protestantism towards the idea of the imitatio Christi. In protestantism there is a perceptible nervousness about using the term at all. This has been particularly the case since the time of Luther. His final antipathy to the ideal became the orthodox protestant tradition on the matter. Luther was critical of the ideal of the imitatio Christi, partly because he was repelled by the excesses of some of the sects where it was being interpreted in a crudely liberal way (e.g. among the Anabaptists) and partly because he became convinced that the ‘imitation’ of Christ conflicted with the essence of the Christian gospel as he had come to interpret it. He found himself unable to reconcile the presuppositions of the practice of the imitation of Christ with his doctrine of justification by faith. The imitation of Christ he believed must inevitably involve a denial of grace and conceal an incipient doctrine of works.Luther did, however, leave a more positive legacy to Christian thinking about the imitatio Christi. This was his distinction between imitatio and conformitas. Imitatio he disliked because he thought it suggested some human moral endeavour to emulate Christ undertaken apart from the work of the Spirit in grace. He preferred to speak of conformitas to Christ: the Christian life as a process of conformation to Christ through the work of the Creator Spirit.

Elite and Popular Perceptions of Imitatio Christi in Twelfth-Century Crusade Spirituality

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 54-64
Author(s):  
William J. Purkis
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
First Crusade ◽  
The People ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
The World

From the time of the proclamation of the First Crusade in 1095 to at least the first decade of the twelfth century, there was an apparently universal understanding amongst the people of Christendom that those who joined the pilgrimage-in-arms that set out to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land should be regarded as imitators of Christ. This was remarkable, for the imitation of Christ was understood by contemporaries to be the paramount ideal of spiritual perfection and, before 1095, only attainable by a total withdrawal from the world and a commitment to a monastic way of life. Yet with Pope Urban II’s Clermont sermon, the spirituality that was previously the preserve of those milites Christi who fought spiritual battles in the cloister was now also available to those who fought for Christ in the world. As the biographer of one prominent first crusader famously put it, before the proclamation of the crusade, his subject was ‘uncertain whether to follow in the footsteps of the Gospel or the world. But after the call to arms in the service of Christ, the twofold reason for fighting inflamed him beyond belief.’

scholarly journals The Christology of the Martyrdom of Polycarp: Martyrdom as Both Imitation of Christ and Election by Christ

Perichoresis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-152
Author(s):  
Paul Hartog
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
High Priest ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
Imitation Of Christ

AbstractThe Martyrdom of Polycarp narrates a martyrdom ‘according to the Gospel’. Numerous facets of the text echo the passion materials of the Gospels, and Polycarp is directly said to imitate Christ. Various scholars have discussed the imitatio Christi theme within the work. Such an approach focuses upon Christ as an exemplar of suffering to be imitated, through specific events of similar suffering. But the Christology of the Martyrdom of Polycarp is far richer than this focus alone. Jesus Christ is also the Son, Savior, eternal high priest, teacher, elector, king, and alternative to Caesar. As the sovereign , he actively coordinates events and chooses martyrs from among his servants.

Jungian psychology and the spirit of Protestantism

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murray Stein
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Jungian Psychology ◽  
Analytical Psychology ◽  
Solitary Individual ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
Individuation Process ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Initial Exploration

While there has been much discussion of Freud's Jewish background and its subtle influences on his manner of thinking and his psychological theory, less has been written about the equally profound and indelible influence of Jung's Protestant Christian background on his psychological opus. This factor stands out especially in his various descriptions, personal and theoretical, of the individuation process. In many instances, they bear a remarkable resemblance to the Christian notion of ‘the imitation of Christ’ (imitatio Christi), with a strong Protestant accent on the solitary individual. As Jung interpreted this well known Christian notion of discipleship and introduced it into his psychological theory of development, he personalized it for himself and at the same time universalized it by interpreting it as an archetypal process. This essay is an initial exploration of the Protestant Christian background underlying several key concepts and attitudes in analytical psychology.

Die besondere Kontur von Bonhoeffers Mystik. Thomas von Kempen als spiritueller Impulsgeber Dietrich Bonhoeffers

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-18
Author(s):  
Peter Zimmerling
Keyword(s):  
Short Review ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
History Of Research ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
History Of

Abstract This essay aims at corroborating the thesis that Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s spirituality contains a mystical dimension owing its characteristics to Thomas à Kempis’ Imitatio Christi. First the role of the Imitation of Christ in Bonhoeffer’s life and work is explained. A second part shows concrete substantial parallels between Bonhoeffer and Thomas à Kempis, primarily based on citations from Bonhoeffer’s oeuvre. Finally the essay tries to sketch the specific mystical pro­file of Bonhoeffer’s spirituality. A short review of the history of research precedes each part.

scholarly journals Semantics and Function of the Aphorism “Win Yourself and You Will Conquer the World” in the Works of Fedor Dostoevsky

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 113-128
Author(s):  
Antonella Cavazza
Keyword(s):  
Saint Augustine ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
The Brothers Karamazov ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Brothers Karamazov ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Village ◽  
Linguistic Means

<p>The repeated usage of the aphorism &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; in the works of F.&nbsp;M.&nbsp;Dostoevsky emphasized his words. Using different linguistic means the Russian writer compiled the message of a moral character striving for conveying it to his contemporaries, now with irony by putting it into mouth of Foma Fomich and Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky (the characters of the novels <em>The Village of Stepanchikovo and its inhabitants </em>and <em>Demons </em>respectively), now as an admonition by including it directly and indirectly into &ldquo;The Life of a Great Sinner&rdquo; and the novels <em>Demons</em>, <em>The Brothers Karamazov </em>and <em>The Raw Youth</em>. The dictum &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; echoes also on some pages of <em>A Writer&rsquo;s Diary</em>, where an ethical and philosophical feature of Dostoevsky<em>&rsquo;</em>s journalistic style manifests itself to the maximum. Modern researcher B. N. Tikhomirov has put forward a hypothesis that the saying &ldquo;Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo; is based on quotations from the New Testament. The writer distilled this sententia from the writings of Saint Tikhon. The author of this article wondering who this aphorism belongs to and where it derives from, supposed and proved that it comes from the 57th sermon of St. Augustine or from the treatise &ldquo;On the imitation of Christ&rdquo; (&ldquo;Imitatio Christi&rdquo;) attributed to the Augustinian monk Thomas of Kemp. A copy of this treatise was kept in the library of Dostoevsky. After analyzing the hypothesis of B.&nbsp;N.&nbsp;Tikhomirov and her own assumption, the researcher has made both a philological analysis and the content one. As a result, she came to the conclusion that both these assumptions are possible and do not contradict each other. Given the fact that Saint Tikhon was well familiar with the writings of Saint Augustine, both these sources complement each other in the study of the aphorism? Win yourself and you will conquer the world&rdquo;.</p>

scholarly journals From the IJssel Valley to Paris and Rome via Montserrat

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-60
Author(s):  
Robert A. Maryks
Keyword(s):  
Direct Relationship ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Spiritual Exercises ◽  
Imitatio Christi ◽  
Imitation Of Christ ◽  
Five Senses ◽  
Ignatius Of Loyola ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract This essay aims to analyze the hitherto neglected (or deliberately avoided?) link between De spiritualibus ascentionibus (On spiritual ascents) by Zerbolt of Zutphen (1367–1398) and the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola (c. 1491–1556). Indeed, there is a more direct relationship between these two texts than between Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises and the Exercitatorio spiritual by Abbot García Jiménez de Cisneros (1455–1510) and the Imitatio Christi (Imitation of Christ) by Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1441), which has received much more attention in the existing literature. A careful synoptic reading of these works reveals not only an intriguing congruence between Zerbolt and Loyola in terms of the scope and definition of their works; the general structure and vocabulary; humanistic soteriology and optimistic anthropology of human will; the role of introspection in reforming inordinate affections and affective devotion; the role of examen of conscience (both daily and general); frequent sacramental confession and Communion; the role of spiritual guide; the use of the five senses and composition of place as meditative techniques and importance of methodical mental prayer; and the centrality of imitation of Christ’s humanity, but also direct textual reciprocity. Zerbolt’s Spiritual Ascents appears to be a blueprint for Loyola’s Exercises.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document