From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordRighteousness is moral rightness, including giving what is due.
- In TraherneTo esteem things according to their value is already a matter of justice.
- In this editionThe repeated “right wise” in II.25 is Traherne’s explanatory wordplay.
- A place to beginRight esteem is made a duty of righteousness.
Meaning
Righteousness is moral rightness, including giving what is due. Traherne also exploits “right wise” to join just conduct to wisdom about the object of love.
Use in the book
To esteem things according to their value is already a matter of justice. The reader has an office toward gifts and giver, and misvaluation is more than an intellectual slip. Divine righteousness is likewise explained through love’s fitting action: it cherishes the beloved, protects its welfare, and opposes injury.
This account does not remove the saving role of Christ’s righteousness. Traherne insists that fallen humanity requires more than created merit, and prays to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness. The devotional and ethical registers cooperate: righteousness received through redemption should issue in a will conformed to Christ and in right regard for all his gifts. It is neither bare correctness of belief nor a self-generated substitute for grace.
Places to read
In this edition
The repeated “right wise” in II.25 is Traherne’s explanatory wordplay. Present it as his way of joining wisdom and rightness, not as an independently established etymological derivation.
Source note
Primary text: I.12, II.25, II.27, II.35, I.93. No 2026 editorial notes used.