Kenosis

The term comes from the Greek verb (ekenosen) for "emptying" in Phil 2:7, where Paul speaks of Christ who "emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness" (NRS). The Greek verb means "to deprive of power," "to make nothing of the significance of" something within one's power or possession, or "to give up or lay aside what is one's own." But what was it specifically that Christ was supposed to have "emptied himself? The text does not say, and this has become the sources of much debate and many theories (what is sometimes called kenoticism).

Some have taken Paul's words to suggest that kenosis implies "the relinquishment of divine attributes by Jesus Christ in becoming human," an understanding that has become so widespread that this is the definition given it by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The Cambridge Dictionary fares slightly better: kenosis is explained as "(in Christianity) the fact of someone giving up something, especially used to refer to Jesus Christ giving up part of his nature as a god and becoming a human," which it follows with a model sentence: "Kenosis means the giving up of divine glory by the eternal Son of God when he became incarnate." These examples, no doubt, take their cues from theologians who teach that Jesus never possessed equality with God, and "the thrust of this verse is, then, that Jesus neither coveted nor aspired to equality with God." Phil. 2:7, however, has nothing to do with the divine attributes; the gist of the entire passage is Jesus's humility in making "himself nothing" in order to take on humanhood for our sake. Hence Paul's point of departure in v5 to "let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus . . ." Leon Morris rightly reminds us that it "cannot be maintained that Paul was thinking of a Jesus who was no more than human. Phil. ii.5ff. is a passage which demands for its understanding that Jesus was divine in the fullest sense" (The Lord from Heaven). Similarly, Millard Erickson insists that "[w]hile Paul does not specify of what Jesus emptied himself, it is apparent that this was an active step of self-abnegation, not a passive declining to take action. Hence equality with God is something which he antecedently possessed. And one who is equal with God must be God." If Paul himself does not say what it was in particular that Christ emptied himself of, we would be foolish to think we can supply provide any suitable answers that the apostle has not. There are, of course other ways of understanding the text. Robert Wilson, following G. E. Ladd, says,

But really, of what did Christ empty himself? As Ladd points out, the text does not actually say that Christ emptied himself of anything. The self-emptying is qualified by the participle: morphen doulou labon ("by taking the form of a servant"). Thus the text states that he emptied himself by taking something else to himself—namely, the nature or form of a servant or slave. In no way do the Scriptures suggest that he emptied himself of his deity. What took place was a change of the outward expression of his deity. Where his deity had previously been expressed outwardly by his being en morphe theou, he now took on himself morphe doulou. While glorification is the usual way that deity desires to express itself, this passage tells us that deity chose to set its own desires aside. Thus, in the "kenosis" the Lord emptied himself of self. This conclusion agrees well with the context of the entire passage. Paul is teaching humility and self-abnegation for the benefit of others (Phil. 2: 1-4) and holds Christ up as the perfect example of this attitude." ("He Emptied Himself.")

B. E. Foster notes that the "current status of kenoticism is difficult to access." Nonetheless "modern evangelicalism is justifably sceptical of any metaphysical speculation concerning the process of incarnation and sees the use of kenotic language as almost always inviting such speculation" (New Dictionary of Theology, 364). By way of conclusion we may say that Paul's 'take-home' point in Philippians is that, as Christ did not count equality with God something to be grasped at (though he was so equal) so must we not make pride and personal glory something to clamour over but, instead, humility and a willingness to surrender what is precious to us for the sake of others should mark our lives in Him.

(The passage in question will be taken up in detail in a yet-to-be published commentary on Philippians.)

Bibliography:

Leon Morris, The Lord from Heaven: A Study of the New Testament Teaching on the Deity and Humanity of Jesus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1958.

Further Reading & Resources:

Thomas A. Thomas, "The Kenosis Question" Evangelical Quarterly 3 (1970): 142-151.
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Alva J. McClain, "The Doctrine of the Kenosis in Philippians 2:5-8," The Master's Seminary Journal 9.1 (Spring 1998): 85-96.
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Ralph P.Martin, An Early Christian Confession. Philippians II. 5-11 in Recent Interpretation. London: The Tyndale Press, 1960.
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Robert E. Wilson, "'He Emptied Himself' ," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 19.4 (1976): 279-281.
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Denny Burk, "On the Articular Infinitive in Philippians 2:6: A Grammatical Note with Christological Implications," Tyndale Bulletin 55.2 (2004): 253-274.
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