Kenosis

views updated

Kenosis, kenotic theories. In Christian theology, formulas which seek to explain the incarnation in terms of Christ's self-‘emptying’ (Gk., kenōsis). The starting-point is Philippians 2. 5–11. Kenotic christologies first appeared at the Reformation, but became current in the 19th cent. as a way of understanding how Jesus could have shared the limitations of human beings while remaining the omniscient, omnipotent Son of God.

More From encyclopedia.com