[a] Of these five times, Philippians 2:7 is generally considered the most significant for the Christian idea of kenosis: (1) Thomasius of Erlangen, one of the first and leading proponents, ". Fewer examples Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. This view had not been previously promulgated in the history of the church, and we must remember the era in which this theory came into being. Acts 20:28 If He was any less than God, then His blood sacrifice was not infinitely powerful and able to redeem all who believe in every age. A Less Than Divine Jesus: The Kenosis Heresy. What is it? (2) Beyond its effect on the immutability of the Son, it would destroy the integrity of the Triune God if He ceased to be fully and totally the Absolute God during His Incarnation, . The vital doctrine of Immutability is completely destroyed by Kenotic teaching. Kenosis therefore is a paradox and a mystery since "emptying oneself" in fact fills the person with divine grace and results in union with God. Historically, most in the ancient church taught that the Son laid aside only His . . Berkhof shines more light on the philosophical antecedents of Kenosis when he writes: "The theory is based on the pantheistic conception that God and man are not so absolutely different but that the one can be transformed into the other. He Knows the Father perfectly YET He increases in wisdom, k. In His own name, he gives a new and more perfect law and proclaims Himself Lord of the Sabbath and greater than the temple, YET He is born under the law and is subject to the law, l. He is the Prince of Peace YET His souls is troubled, m. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, YET He goes to death at the order of a Roman governor. C. If the God-Man who died on the cross was not both fully God and fully Man, then the integrity of the atonement is destroyed. 16 A. W. Pink, The Attributes of God (Baker Book House, 1975) pg 29. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. B. After laying out His perfections, [(1) "The Word was God"--Deity; (2) "He was in the beginning with God," Eternity; (3) "All things were made through Him" Creator; (4) "In Him was life" Self Existence;] John says "and the Word became flesh." And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.. (1) Paul says that in Christ ". Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? In this case, the misconception is a heresy and gives rise to further deceptions that cloud the minds of those who are investigating Christianity and those who are weak in the faith (Romans 1:29-32; 15:1, 2 Timothy 2:16, 23; 3:1-9). Indeed, much of the weird theology that surrounds the so-called "faith" movement is based on a Kenotic understanding of the incarnation, combined with a new-age-like leap of logic that says that since Jesus left His powers and attributes behind and lived as a mere man, we born-again believers are ". (5) Therefore, what we see as Christ's humiliation was done as our goel, our redeemer, our substitute. The tombs also were opened. For Mark 13:32 a variety of explanations were offered. In addition to writing for the Salem Web Network, Lisa serves as a Word Weavers mentor and is part of a critique group. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 10 Prayers to Pray When You Just Dont Know What to Say. (10:16) Indeed, if one reads the awesome passages like Is 40, Job 38:1-42:6, Ps 90, Rom 11:33-36, etc., as well as the countless other verses and passages that extol and marvel at the greatness of the Almighty Jehovah, there can be no other conclusion but that God is Absolute. And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He asked them why they feared and why they had so little faith. The name "kenotic" comes from the Greek word keno, used by Paul in Philippians 2:7 to describe the action by which Christ "emptied" himself, taking the form of a servant, when he came incarnate. The theological issue is profoundly difficult, for it takes one into the nature of the Trinity, and when divine powers are allowed in the man Christ Jesus, what, if anything, has happened to the person of God Himself? (3) The Redeemer must be able to redeem (Ruth 4:4-6; Jer. He no longer acted as sovereign but as servant. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. The explanations that assume that Christ knew the day but had no commission to reveal it are most unsatisfactory, for they place insincere words in His mouth; "It is not for you to know the day" would have been inevitable form of the saying (Acts 1:7). Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. Kenosis' slogans - among them "Speed matters. 'the act of emptying'') is the "self-emptying" of Jesus. Howmany wonderedcould Jesus Christ be fully God andfully man? BEST VALUE in digital Bible study. Problems of interpretation are further aggravated by the fact that the other uses of the word ekenosen (Rom 4:14, 1 Cor 1:17, 9:15, 2 Cor 9:3) are uniformly fig. The first problem was in how to deal with those texts of scripture (as used by the cults) which seem to indicate that Christ was less than fully God, yet do justice to the obvious Biblical teaching that He was "Very God of Very God." (keh noh' ssihss) The act of Christ in emptying Himself of the form of God, taking on the form of a servant, and suffering death on a cross. The writer of this paper has encountered this teaching in other theological circles, and in at least one other prominent tele-evangelist who is not from the "faith message" camp. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. And the solution seems to lie in an ambiguous use of the word "knowledge," as applied to Christ as God and as man. Most decisions are reversible." - are as ludicrous as Olivia's claim that nature itself suffers in comparison to her corporate campus . Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. A Critical Refutation, from Scripture and from Evangelical Scholars,of the things implied and taught by the Kenosis Doctrine. Lisa Loraine Baker is the multiple award-winning author of Someplace to be Somebody. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. Why believe in Jesus? The word keno means: "to empty." So, kenosis is the . Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. New Testament usage The New Testament does not use the noun form knsis, but the verb form ken occurs five times (Romans 4:14; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 9:15; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Philippians 2:7) and the future form kensei once. In His act of atonement, did He give up His own essential Holiness? He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 22 Loraine Boettner, Studies in Theology, (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973) pp 195-203. Much of the earliest debates between the Arian and Orthodox Christians were over kenosis. The title Son of Manhas a strong meaningheavenly Judgeand He spoke about His authority and position on many occasions during His ministry with the disciples, the crowds that followed Him, and with the Jewish leaders. M And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. Berean Bible Church: Suffering: The Kenosis - Philippians 2:5-8 Berean Bible Church is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is an independent Bible church with reference to denominational affiliation, and are led through a serious, often verse-by-verse sstudy of the Scriptures by Pastor David B. Curtis. There are some things which must be just believed, because there is no way to understand them. There are lies that immediately sound like lies and then there are those that closely resemble the truth. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Two major criticisms of this theory must be noted. 1 Walter Martin's last published writing was a refutation of apotheosis in the book The Agony of Deceit , (Moody Press, 1990). Col. 1:17--"In Him all things consist [hold together]" The universe is upheld by His word of power--He holds it together--that is an essential part of who He is. Because the Bible is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), when Jesus speaks in the Bible, its God speaking to us. However, he saw it in the light of historic Christology, as discussed in section IV, that while all of that was true, Christ was not confined to that form of a servant, and was not limited by it, except that He willingly gave up the exercise of His Glory, and sometimes chose not to use His other powers, though He retained them fully. But there are some of you who do not believe. (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.). We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. 10:5, 15). Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. The verb which gives the name to the doctrine is in Philippians 2:7, , tr. And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? The term kenosis refers to the doctrine of Christ's "self-emptying" in His incarnation. One must decide if the language used here is literal or figurative. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. We believe that only He is the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). For instance, when His human body was beaten, tortured, and died, He suffered as a whole person, so that though God cannot be killed, it can be said that God Died for Our Sins.23, (2) Because of the Truth of the two natures, we can Biblically say:24, a. Christ is infinite OR Christ is finite. Somewhat different are the references to the nearness of the Parousia (especially Matthew 10:23; 24:29). When used of Christ, the noun signifies the union of His two natures, the divine and the human, in His person. Kenotic teaching has become prominent in charismatic circles, and is the basis for much of what they promulgate. Kenosis is not only a Christological issue in Orthodox theology, but also relates to Pneumatology, matters of the Holy Spirit. While God is omniscient (that is, all-knowing), Jesus' knowledge was limited. You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. (Cf. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. Why Is It So Important for Us to Be Able to Defend Our Faith? The Bible consistently emphasizes this all-important truth. Liv, 763. And he said to me, You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.. She also is a member of BRRC. In the context of Philippians 2, Paul spoke of humility (verses 3-4). Now in the older discussions of the subject, this intellectual knowledge was tacitly assumed (mystical theology apart) to be the only knowledge worthy of the name, and so it was at the same time also assumed that God's knowledge is intellectual also--"God geometrizes." If we were to make an illustration of Jesus as if He were a policeman going under cover in a bad neighborhood, the Kenosis doctrine has the policeman leaving his weapons at home, along with his badge and other symbols of authority. Amen. Certainly, to say with the upholders of the kenosis in its "classical" form that the Son, by an exercise of His will, determined to be ignorant as man, is not helpful, as the abandonment by God of one of His own essential attributes would be the preposterous corollary. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The first, and most obvious reference is His personal conversation with the Father in John 17--He asks (in a "man to man, equal to equal" way) for the return of His Glory. 1915. And all drank the same spiritual drink. Under this assumption God's knowledge is essentially of the same kind as man's, differing from man's only in its purity and extent. No one is good except God alone. This interpretation of deity has been inspired especially by reflection on the life and crucifixion of Jesus in whom Christians believe the fullness of God resides. The sarcastic charges made by Jehovah against false "gods" usually center in their ignorance, impotence, and immobility (Deut 4:28, Is 45:20, Jer. He reduced Himself, so to speak, to the dimensions of a man."6. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ by Stephen Wellum. When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. The kenosis was a self-renunciation, not an emptying Himself of deity nor an exchange of deity for humanity. The teachers of Kenosis say that what Christ did was to "empty Himself of all power. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. The Chalcedonian doctrine that prevailed was that Jesus had a dual nature, and was both fully human and fully God. Kenosis, relative to the human nature, denotes the continual epiklesis and self-denial of one's own human will and desire. . 2 L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, (Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1940) pg 327. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. The New Testament does not use the noun form knsis, but the verb form ken occurs five times (Romans 4:14; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 9:15; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Philippians 2:7) and the future form kensei once. E. It is from applying the core concepts above that we can construct meaningful and orthodox answers to the questions of those who refuse to believe in the God of the Bible. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Kenosis in Orthodox theology is the transcending or detaching of oneself from the world or the passions, it is a component of dispassionation. Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Login or Sign Up to view the rest of this answer. In comparison to idols, Jeremiah says "He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all thingsthe LORD Almighty is His name." John 3:35. R Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Understanding the biblical doctrine of the two natures of Christ. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-9 that people will oppose the truth, and in 2 Peter 3:3, scoffers will come following their own sinful desires. 1 Timothy 4:1, says the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. We must handle the word rightly, as Paul stated in 2 Timothy 2:15. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. As part of the kenosis, Jesus sometimes operated with the limitations of humanity (John 4:6; 19:28). Thus, if it was Paul's intention to give ethical rather than doctrinal instruction, some would say that to use this passage to speak primarily of doctrinal matters is a misuse of Scripture. . Possibly because of the negative theological background for it, B.B. The Kenosis Hymn in Context. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Later, in John 8:58, when speaking to the Jews who questioned His greatness, Jesus said,Before Abraham was, I am. This declaration is a direct reference to Gods proclamation to Moses of His name (Exodus 3:14), and the Jews understood His implication because they tried to stone Him. Then, he used the Incarnation as an example. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. [11][12], Since some forms of Unitarianism do not accept the personal pre-existence of Christ, their interpretations of Philippians 2:7, and the concept of kenosisChrist "emptying" himselftake as a starting point that his "emptying" occurred in life, and not before birth. Comparison with the view of Kenneth Copeland (as a representative of the "Faith Message" school of thought). Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary (Matt 1:23; Gal 4:4) in fulfillment of Isaiah's prediction (Isa 7:14). The context of Phil. This heresy was basically a leftover of the Origenistic tendencies of Arianism, and grew strongest in the areas that had been strongest for the Arian view. For in Philippians 2:7 the only "emptying" in point is that of the (external) change from the "form of God" to the "form of a servant." "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". It's unchanging, eternal! The origin of Christmas is the "Christ mass" or the yearly church gathering in which the birth of . But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. II. The word, kenosis, is taken from the Greek word, keno, which generally means, "to empty."Found in one passage in ScripturePhilippians 2:6-8kenosis is rendered in the NIV as "Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature [form] of a . OpenBible.info 5 Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology vol. This was a clear embodiment of kenosis, the self-emptying and embracing of servanthood explained in the Christ hymn. General Editor. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. He says plainly, "The Kenosis theory will not stand. This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. For the present form of this world is passing away. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himselfby becoming obedient to deatheven death on a cross! (Pronoun capitalization, italics, and brackets added by this author). Philosophical theologians may find a way to make this add up, but in the words of one of this century's great Bible teachers, ". For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. and was used in Christian theology from about the 1st cent., usually as a synonym for the Incarnation. First, that logic leans to the Gnostic idea of "progression," that the Logos after His exaltation was materially and essentially different (and improved) as a person from what He was during His humiliation.