Christian ethics challenges us to embody divine virtues, fulfilling the command to “be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” and to “love one another as I have loved you.” But how can flawed humanity reflect the incomparable Wisdom, Righteousness, and Goodness that are the essence of the Divine? How can the creatures align with their Creator?

In this insightful and enriching second volume of his Christian Ethics, Thomas Traherne delves deep into these divine paradoxes. He probes the realms of wisdom, righteousness, goodness, holiness, justice, mercy, faith, and hope, delineating how, through divine grace, we can be re-molded into the image of our Creator, imitating Christ and so finding true happiness.

This modernization by Colin Chan Redemer invites contemporary readers to rediscover this underappreciated masterpiece, navigating it without the barriers of archaic language. The edition is enriched by an illuminating introductory essay, “The Spiritual Technology of Christian Poetics.” This essay exposes the connections between philosophy, poetry, technology, and the God of Jesus Christ, providing readers with a profound understanding of Traherne’s harmonious blend of theology and anthropology, and of virtue ethics and Christian practice as a form of spiritual devotion.

Traherne’s eloquent prose and thoughtful integration of diverse strands of thought make him an indispensable voice in Christian literature, a hidden treasure awaiting rediscovery.