Kénose

The Kénose is a concept of Christian theology expressed by a Greek word coming from the epistle of Saint Paul to Philippiens (pH 2,7).

Philippiens 2,6 Him, of divine condition, jealously did not retain the row which equalized it with God. But it vanishes itself, fascinating condition of slave, and becoming similar to the men. Being comprised like a man, he humiliated himself more still, obeying until death, and with died on a cross!

The kénose indicates the movement of lowering by which Jesus Christ “emptied” its divine attributes to join our humanity until living the obedience of the naked faith and death on the cross.

This theological word does not have a frequent use because one usually does not observe, in the human behavior, a superior who would drop in front of an inferior in this manner:

Jean 13,4-16 it rises of table, deposits its clothing, and taking a linen, it was girded some. Then it puts water in a basin and it started to wash the feet of the disciples and to wipe them with the linen of which it was girds. It thus comes to Simon-Pierre, who says to him: " Lord, you, to wash me feet? " Jesus answered him: " What I do, you do not know it now; thereafter you comprendras." Pierre says to him: " Not, you will wash me the feet, never! " Jesus answered him: " If I do not wash myself, you do not have a share with moi." Simon-Pierre says to him: " Lord, not only feet, but also hands and the head! "

When it had washed the feet to them, that it had taken again its clothing and had gone back to table, it says to them: " Do you include/understand what I did to you? You call me Maître and Lord, and you known as well, because I am it. If thus I washed you the feet, me the Lord and the Master, you also you must wash the feet the ones with the others. Because it is an example which I gave you, so that you make, you also, as me I made for you.

The question which opposes catholic or orthodoxe theologists is currently the following one:

Jesus, obviously, saw in his humanity a kénose in front of his disciples and all the men with the cross.

Does that relate to only its only humanity? Or that reveals it a property of its divinity who, in her relations intra-trinitaire, would live a " kénose" mutual insurance company and eternal, in the love?

The opinion of the catholic Arnaud Dumouch: " Who saw me saw the père" , (Jean 14,9) known as Jesus and it is nothing in its human behavior which does not aim at revealing its divine manners. In other words, the Father, being only relation remaining with the Son, would be (and reciprocally) in an eternal relation of kénose not implying superiority of the one with the other, since they are in a similar movement. According to this theologist, it is this property immanente of the life trinitaire which would explain why, in addition to the love of charity, null spiritual creature cannot see God face to face without dying in oneself (kénose). This mystery would explain the character redeemer of the unexplainable suffering in the human life.

Objection:

But how to allot to the eternal Trinity, in its infinite perfection, a property immanente implying a " petitesse" , namely a kénose intratrinitaire?

Random links: