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5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ
Jesus,6 who,
though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of
a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And
being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 English Standard Version (ESV)
"Kenosis" is derived from
the Greek word "kenoo" which means "to
empty." It is used in Philippians 2:7.
The kenosis theory states that
Jesus gave up some of His divine attributes while He was a man here on
earth. These attributes were omniscience, omnipresence,
and omnipotence.
Christ did this voluntarily so that He could
function as a man in order to fulfill the work of redemption.
This view was first introduced in the late 1800s
in Germany with Gottfried Thomasius (1802-75), a Lutheran theologian.
Philippians 2:5-8 does not teach that Jesus
gave up any of His divine attributes since it says nothing of those attributes.
Instead, it is speaking of His humility that
moved him, according to the will of the Father, to leave His majestic state in
heaven and enter into the humble position of human nature.
There is, however, a problem the orthodox must
deal with that the Kenosis theory seems to more adequately address.
Take Mark 13:32 for example. In it, Jesus
said, "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the
angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."
If Jesus knew all things, as is implied in His
divine nature, then why did He not know the day or hour of His own
return.
The answer is that
Jesus cooperated with the limitations of humanity and voluntarily did not
exercise His attribute of omniscience.
He still was divine
but was moving and living completely as a man.
The Kenosis
theory is a dangerous doctrine because if it were true, then it would mean
that Jesus was not fully divine.
If Jesus was not
fully divine, then His atoning work would not be sufficient to atone for the
sins of the world.
The correct doctrine
is the Hypostatic Union - that
Jesus is both fully God and fully man (Colossians 2:9).
He did not give up
any divine attributes while as a man on earth.
Matt Slick is the President and Founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry.
https://carm.org/kenosis
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