From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordPlutarch is the Greek moralist whom Traherne names as an authority on superstition.
- In TraherneTraherne’s test of religious knowledge is whether divine power and wisdom are understood as serving goodness and love.
- In this editionThe 2026 note to I.17 identifies On Superstition and attributes the clause about lacking joy in goodness to Traherne.
- A place to beginThe named definition of superstition supports the movement from fear toward divine goodness.
Meaning
Plutarch is the Greek moralist whom Traherne names as an authority on superstition. The direct citation concerns fearful misconception of divinity rather than the historical biographies for which he is also known.
Use in the book
Traherne’s test of religious knowledge is whether divine power and wisdom are understood as serving goodness and love. Plutarch’s account of superstition provides a negative counterpart: dread without delighted recognition of goodness is a distorted apprehension of God. The borrowed authority is thus fitted to the meditation’s central claim that knowing God is knowing the loveliness of the giver. The text presents this as a definition Plutarch rightly offers, but the supplied edition distinguishes Traherne’s added emphasis. Elsewhere the edition identifies Plutarch behind anecdotes of Pyrrhus and Alexander; those source identifications should not be confused with explicit naming by Traherne in those passages.
Places to read
In this edition
The 2026 note to I.17 identifies On Superstition and attributes the clause about lacking joy in goodness to Traherne. It is not a verbatim translation of Plutarch’s complete definition.
Source note
Primary text: I.17, I.22; source and attribution distinctions: 2026 edition notes to I.17 and I.22.