The Imitation of Christ (Latin: De Imitatione Christi, 1418–1427)  by Thomas a Kempis is a Christian devotional book. It is a handbook for spiritual life arising from the Devotio Moderna movement, of which Kempis was a member.

For five hundred years, this gentle book, filled with the spirit of the love of God, has brought understanding and comfort to millions of readers and provided them with a source of heart-felt personal prayer. These meditations on the life and teachings of Jesus, written in times even more troubled and dangerous than our own, have become second only to the Bible as a guide and inspiration.

Thomas Hammerken (or Hammerlein -- both mean "little hammer") / Thomas de Kempis  is known almost entirely for composing or compiling a manual of spiritual advice known as The Imitation of Christ, in which he urges the reader to seek to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to be conformed in all things to His will.