From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordDeordination is a rare theological word for departure from right order or a state of disorder.
- In TraherneTraherne praises the soul that maintains order and charity amid surrounding vice.
- In this editionKeep the interpretation tentative: the obscure phrase does not straightforwardly attribute moral disorder to God.
- A place to beginThe rare word closes the praise of charity surviving amid hostile conditions.
Meaning
Deordination is a rare theological word for departure from right order or a state of disorder. Its difficulty here lies as much in the sentence as in the vocabulary.
Use in the book
Traherne praises the soul that maintains order and charity amid surrounding vice. Resistance makes its goodness more conspicuous, as darkness sets off a star. God, who originally designed the world’s happiness, cares especially for such a soul. The closing reference to likeness to God in deordination is compressed. The supplied note tentatively understands it as likeness maintained amid the world’s disorder, rather than likeness in a shared moral defect. Nearby meditations support that reading: charity counteracts social devastation, and divine wisdom teaches the extraction of good from evil.
Places to read
In this edition
Keep the interpretation tentative: the obscure phrase does not straightforwardly attribute moral disorder to God.
Source note
Primary text: IV.21, IV.24, IV.25. Supplied 2026 editorial note 283 at IV.25 provides the rare-word gloss and explicitly tentative interpretation.