DiotimosReading Desk

Felicity and enjoyment

Redemption

redemption; redeem; redeemed; Redeemer — deliverance and restoration through Christ

Redemption carries the language of release at a cost.

From the book

Centuries of Meditations

Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordRedemption carries the language of release at a cost.
  • In TraherneTraherne repeatedly asks the reader to look beyond rescue to its end.
  • In this editionThe commercial language of ransom and debt belongs to the primary argument.
  • A place to beginThe end of redemption is communion with God in his glory.

Meaning

Redemption carries the language of release at a cost. In Christian use it names Christ’s saving work, but its force depends also on the freedom and life into which one is brought.

Use in the book

Traherne repeatedly asks the reader to look beyond rescue to its end. Redemption restores access to the glory for which human beings were made: communion with God in the enjoyment of his gifts. A person who does not understand the lost inheritance cannot adequately estimate the Redeemer’s love. Creation and redemption consequently illuminate one another rather than competing for the reader’s attention.

This expansive account does not make the Cross dispensable. The dignity of the human creature makes its ruin grave, and created righteousness cannot repair it. Christ’s unique person and self-offering answer that need. Traherne’s prayers therefore join intellectual awakening to cleansing, justification, and the conforming of the human will to Christ. Enjoyment names the fulfilled life of the redeemed, not a technique that replaces redemption.

Places to read

  1. I.5The end of redemption is communion with God in his glory.
  2. II.5Knowledge of the lost estate enables the Redeemer’s work to be valued.
  3. II.35Human dignity explains why an angelic redeemer or merely created righteousness would be inadequate.
  4. I.93Prayer connects redemption to illumination, cleansing, and conformity of will.

In this edition

The commercial language of ransom and debt belongs to the primary argument. It should not make every occurrence of treasure or purchase a narrowly financial metaphor.

Source note

Primary text: I.5, II.5, II.35, I.93. No 2026 editorial notes used.