| Kenosis is an important theme in this developing theology. The word kenosis comes from the Greek verb kenoo, used in Philippians 2:6 to describe Jesus Christ. In the incarnation, in becoming human, Jesus Christ emptied himself. That is kenosis. It doesn't imply that Jesus wasn't still God fully and completely, nor that he became powerless. Yet, Jesus emptied himself of the glory of divinity in becoming human. God in Christ became a servant. The infinite took on the finite, as God took on flesh. This concept of kenosis is a relatively controversial one, especially when it is expanded beyond Christology, and is utilized with regard to creation, providence or eschatology. It has been a (rightly) criticized idea in theology for many reasons, as it often is used to emphasize the humanity of Christ, and the corresponding hiddenness or emptying of God at the expense of the Lordship and divinity of Christ and the corresponding transcendence and sovereignty of God. Yet, I believe that kenosis can provide an exciting paradigm for looking at these other areas of theology, although I concede that this must be done very carefully. This care is worth the effort, though, because the idea of kenosis can help illuminate the paradoxes that stand at the core of our faith, taking a cue from the humanity and divinity of Christ, and extending this understanding to freedom and election in salvation, presence and hiddenness in creation, and other areas as well. The Christology which stands at the foundation of this construction seeks to be fully in line with the ecumenical creeds, and with passages such as John 1, in addition to Philippians 2 (which is in no way held to be the only, or even normative, text on Jesus Christ). But why use kenosis at all? I believe that even despite its troubled history as a theological movement, it has the potential, when carefully and rightly used in accordance within the orthodox tradition, to proclaim the glory of God and begin to illumine the profound depths of the Christian faith. Kenosis helps us to see the amazing love and holiness of God, as well as the divinity and humanity of Christ. In proposing kenosis, I certainly don't claim to have in any way solved some of these deep and beautiful mysteries of faith, but instead have sought to uplift and uphold them by fully acknowledging them throughout the theological endeavor. This kenotic theology asserts that in creating, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, chose to create in a kenotic manner. In creating, God "emptied" or "limited" Himself in some way, so that God would not be all that existed, even though he remains always near. God created something other than Himself. This kenosis extends to our understanding of providence, salvation, pneumatology, and eschatology, to name a few areas impacted. In short, thinking of God's relations to the world in a kenotic manner provides an interesting thought experiment in theology. This is what I have undertaken here. |
| This page provides a foundation for our discussion of kenosis with a look at what kenosis means, and how it relates to Jesus Christ. Thus, it is fundamentally Christology which lays the groundwork for our further investigations. |
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| Kenosis, the self-limitation of God by which God in Christ became a man, fully human and fully divine, is an idea that can extend to our understanding of God's activity of creation. Here we look at how kenosis illuminates Creation, and God's relationship to that creation. |
| Salvation stands at the core of the Christian faith. The Gospel, as is necessary, must always be front and center in our reflections, and here, we look at kenosis and the gospel, and assert that a kenotic paradigm for understanding God's relationship to the world illuminates some of the difficult aspects of our understanding of grace and salvation, while preserving what must be held firm. In short, kenosis allows us to hold together God's sovereignty and human responsibility, and connects this understanding with other understandings throughout our theological investigations. |
| Here we take a look at the "broad sweep" of kenosis, and get a feel for the entirety of the vision that is being presented in this kenotic theology. |
| Having looked at the broad sweep of kenosis, and at how kenosis can be understood to relate to creation, here we look at the Creation texts of Genesis 1-2, and see if this theological paradigm will hold up to the test of scripture. This takes the shape of an in-depth study of kenosis and the text through the work of two theologians, Terence Fretheim and Michael Welker. |
| One of the contributing factors to our developing understanding of kenotic theology has come out of the field of science and theology. Here, we discuss the role of kenosis in this science and theology dialogue. This gives insight into why and how we have used this kenotic paradigm, and how what we are developing relates to work being done by others. It also serves as a caution to those who have preconceived notions of what kenotic theology is, by noting the variety of ideas surrounding various understandings of kenotic theology, and asserting the distinctiveness of the current project. |
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| Here we take a look at where this kenotic paradigm comes from, by looking at some of the sources that have informed it. This takes the form of a sort of theological biography, as we look at others who have worked with the idea of kenosis. |
| Providence, if and how God acts in the world, is an important theme which gets at the heart of a number of issues concerning the nature of God and God's relationship to the world. Here we look at an understanding of God's actions in the world. |
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| Kenotic Theology |
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| The presence of dual agency throughout scripture is one of the elements which informs our kenotic theology, and helps us to build a more complete understanding of God's activity in the world. Dual agency is present when an action or activity is attributed both to God and to a human or creaturely actor simultaneously. Here we look at several instances of this in scripture, and seek to understand what this means for our developing picture of God and God's relationship to the world. |
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| One of the classical discussions with regard to the nature of God concerns God's mutability or immutability (God's unchangeableness or ability to change). Here we revisit this classic philosophical and theological discussion by considering Hendrikus Berkhof's notion of the changeable faithfulness of God. |
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| Kenotic Theology is completed through a discusison of eschatology. Here we lay the foundations for a more complete theology of the consumation of God's creation in New Creation, a fulfillment of God's self-emptying with God's self-filling. Much discussion as gone into understanding the end times, and here we look at some central issues surrounding Revelation and the second coming. |
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