From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Miracle
miracle
Miracle names the marvelous event as an object of belief.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordMiracle names the marvelous event as an object of belief.
- In JoubertFollowing a saying attributed to Geoffroy, he observes that people displaced the marvelous from religion to physics.
- In this editionThe English translation distinguishes miracles, marvelous and wonderful.
- A place to beginThe marvelous is said to have shifted from religion to physics.
- English renderings
- miracle; miracles
Meaning
Miracle names the marvelous event as an object of belief. Joubert also moves the reader’s attention from events to ways of living.
Use in the book
Following a saying attributed to Geoffroy, he observes that people displaced the marvelous from religion to physics. The criticism concerns a redistribution of belief, not a named scientific experiment. In another passage he permits disbelief in “their miracles” while urging belief in their manners, described as more wonderful and still observable in several kinds of dwelling. That contrast locates evidentiary force in continuing conduct. The pronoun should be followed through the source entry rather than used to invent a new named group.
Places to read
- II, p. 739, entry 5, ¶1The marvelous is said to have shifted from religion to physics.
- II, p. 883, entry 1, ¶3Observable manners are preferred to miraculous reports as evidence.
Translation in this edition
The English translation distinguishes miracles, marvelous and wonderful. It keeps the conditional allowance “if you wish” and the repeated movement through convent, cottage, palace and deserts. The damaged February day in the Geoffroy witness is not reconstructed.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, II, pp. 739, 883.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Miracle
miracle; miracles; wonderful work
A miracle is an extraordinary work or wonder.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA miracle is an extraordinary work or wonder.
- In TraherneThe most arresting reversal is that the soul exceeds the spectacular miracles by which people commonly expect to recognize divine power.
- In this editionIV.81 enlarges a saying attributed to Hermes; its sweeping comparison is Traherne’s argument within a received tradition, not an independently reported miraculous event.
- A place to beginThe imagined demand for private miraculous assurance is tested against communal and historical revelation.
Meaning
A miracle is an extraordinary work or wonder. Traherne also uses the word to recover the wonder concealed within familiar human existence.
Use in the book
The most arresting reversal is that the soul exceeds the spectacular miracles by which people commonly expect to recognize divine power. Its capacity to contain innumerable objects in knowledge and pour out affection makes a single created soul a greater wonder than extraordinary changes in outward nature. Familiarity, together with devotion to sensible things, conceals this marvel.
This does not simply invalidate signs. The discussion of revelation considers their place within a history shared by many persons and ages. Yet III.45 insists that miracles, like language, cannot replace direct apprehension of the truth to which they point. Wonder should awaken understanding rather than excuse its inactivity.
Places to read
In this edition
IV.81 enlarges a saying attributed to Hermes; its sweeping comparison is Traherne’s argument within a received tradition, not an independently reported miraculous event.