From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordIncarnation names the Son’s assumption of human life.
- In TraherneTraherne insists that its value becomes clear when the reader understands what redemption restores.
- In this editionThe two explicit occurrences emphasize valuation and communion.
- A place to beginKnowledge of the lost happiness makes Christ’s incarnation and saving history rightly precious.
Meaning
Incarnation names the Son’s assumption of human life. It belongs to the sequence of Christ’s saving acts rather than to an abstract theory of embodiment.
Use in the book
Traherne insists that its value becomes clear when the reader understands what redemption restores. Remembering innocence and the world’s original blessedness supplies the end by which the means can be prized. Incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension then appear in a newly glorious light.
The third Century gathers the same event into the soul’s comprehensive communion with God. The incarnation is among the acts to be made inwardly near and enjoyed as riches, alongside creation and providence. It therefore participates in two structures at once: the historical work of salvation and the present enlargement of the contemplative life. Neither structure makes it merely a useful symbol.
Places to read
In this edition
The two explicit occurrences emphasize valuation and communion. They do not provide a separate technical exposition of Christ’s two natures.