From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordOmnipotence is unlimited divine power.
- In TraherneTraherne measures the gift against the giver’s power.
- In this editionInclude omnipotency with omnipotence.
- A place to beginThe excellence of natures and gifts is tested against what omnipotence could bestow.
Meaning
Omnipotence is unlimited divine power. Omnipotency is a variant form, not a different attribute.
Use in the book
Traherne measures the gift against the giver’s power. The question is whether the natures created and the treasures supplied are as excellent as omnipotence could make them. This inquiry directs attention toward the actual goodness of things rather than toward power considered in isolation.
IV.87 joins omnipotency to a more surprising excellence: God can give being where there is nothing and love those who are evil. Power appears through a generosity that does not wait to find its object worthy. The comparison then instructs human love, which can answer hostility with benefit. Omnipotence is therefore not merely the overwhelming force before which a person trembles; its fullest significance emerges through creation, redemption, and communicated goodness.
Places to read
In this edition
Include omnipotency with omnipotence. The book usually develops the same attribute under the fuller phrase almighty power.