Kenosis
|
|
Kenosis is a Greek word for emptiness, which is used as a theological term.
As an ancient Greek word, κένωσις kénōsis means an "emptying", from κενός kenós "empty".
The word is mainly used, however, in a Christian theological context, for example Philippians 2:7, "[Jesus] made himself nothing (ἐκένωσε ekénōse) ..." (NIV) or "...he emptied himself..." (NRSV), using the verb form κενόω kenóō "to empty".
| Contents |
Kenosis in Christology
In Christian theology, kenosis is the concept of the 'self-emptying' of God. It is used both as an explanation of the incarnation, and a indication of the nature of God's activity and condescension.
It is the belief that the pre-existent Son of God 'emptied himself' of all his divine powers and abilities before becoming incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth. It is contended that the signs and miracles Jesus performed, and the supernatural knowledge he exhibited, were not attributes of his divinity. He ministered on earth as a mere man, although empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform supernatural feats. But, those feats would potentially be available to any human being on whom the Spirit rested. Theologians who support this doctrine often appeal to a reading of Philippians 2:5-8. This doctrine is used to defend the claim that Jesus could be both God and man, and to explain why he, despite being God, was at times ignorant of future events, such as in Matthew 24:36.
Kenotic Christology was originally championed in Lutheran debates of the sixteenth century, but was revived in the nineteenth century to reinterpret classical doctrines of the incarnation.
Furthermore, kenosis is seen not just as a mechanism of incarnation, but as a statement about the God's self-giving nature revealed in Christ.
The kenotic ethic
The kenotic ethic is the ethic of Jesus, considered as the ethic of sacrifice. The Phillipians passage urges belivers to imitate Christ's self-emptying.
Kenosis in literary aesthetics
Kenosis is the affect (feeling) experienced by the reader of lyric or poetry forms. It is the experience of the emptying of the ego-personality of the reader into the immediate sensory manipulation of poetics. In this sense, kenosis inflicts an experience of timelessness upon the reader. Compare with catharsis which is the affect created by drama and kairosis which is the affect created by novels.
Eastern Orthodox perspective
'Kenosis is the idea that God is self-emptying. He poured out himself to create the cosmos and the universe, and everything within it. Therefore, it is our duty to pour out ourselves. In so doing, we become deified like God.
External links
- http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2004/06/24_scienceandhope/
- George Ellis interview (http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2004/06/24_scienceandhope/rafiles/20040624_scienceandhope.ram) - from NPR