The Following of Christ is now believed to be the original masterpiece of which Thomas k Kempis Imitation of Christ is a later and edited version with additions The Imitation of Christ has been loved and esteemed for centuries and rightly so but many believe that Gerard Groote s original work is even better In any event The Following of Christ is a great great masterpiece in its own right This present work is called Groote s spiritual diary and indeed it follows the course of his life from conversion from wealth and worldliness at age 30 to the heights of spirituality Gerard Groote was to become a renowned preacher and to found the Brethren of the Common Life