Made Like the Maker: Christian Ethics Vol. 2

by Thomas Traherne, Colin Chan Redemer (editor)

Genres: Theology

140 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2023

About the author

Thomas Traherne, MA (1636 or 1637 – ca. 27 September 1674) was an English poet, clergyman, theologian, and religious writer. Little information is known about his life. The intense, scholarly spirituality in his writings led to his being commemorated by the Anglican Church on 10 October (the anniversary of his death in 1674).

The work for which he is best known today is the Centuries of Meditations, a collection of short paragraphs in which he reflects on Christian life and ministry, philosophy, happiness, desire and childhood. This was first published in 1908 after having been rediscovered in manuscript ten years earlier. His poetry likewise was first published in 1903 and 1910 (The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, B.D. and Poems of Felicity). His prose works include Roman Forgeries (1673), Christian Ethics (1675), and A Serious and Patheticall Contemplation of the Mercies of God (1699).

Traherne's poetry is often associated with the metaphysical poets, even though his poetry was unknown for two centuries after his death. His manuscripts were kept among the private papers of the Skipps family of Ledbury, Herefordshire, until 1888. Then, in the winter of 1896–1897, two manuscript volumes containing his poems and meditations were discovered by chance for sale in a street bookstall. The poems were initially thought to be the work of Traherne's contemporary Henry Vaughan (1621–1695). Only through research was his identity uncovered and his work prepared for publication under his name. As a result, much of his work was not published until the first decade of the 20th century.

Traherne's writings frequently explore the glory of creation and what he perceived as his intimate relationship with God. His writing conveys an ardent, almost childlike love of God, and is compared to similar themes in the works of later poets William Blake, Walt Whitman, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His love for the natural world is frequently expressed in his works by a treatment of nature that evokes Romanticism—two centuries before the Romantic movement.

Reviews

[Noah Senthil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating exploration of a the Christian virtues. It's a type of "poetic theology." It's not always the easiest to ascertain Traherne's meaning, but it's a joyful, bold account of humanity's end in God.

[Richard Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound. Perhaps the best description of Faith and Hope I’ve encountered.

I’ll need to read it again to say more.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theological ethics at its finest. The soul's highest good is to be like God, so Traherne beautifully maps out divine virtues, so we may be like Him, and so find our Happiness in Him.

"All the misery that is lodged in infinite despair has comfort and refreshment answerable to it in infinite hope. It is the present food and support of our lives; it is the anchor of our souls in the midst of all the storms and tempests in the world. It is the foretaste of bliss and celestial glory; a glimpse and appearance of the beatific vision, without which to live is to die, and to die is to perish forevermore." (87)

[Jack W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review forthcoming.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoying these volumes

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read!

Traherne's writing is clear and edifying!