Kenosis, Divine Love and the Triune God - a Theological Contribution to Christian Spirituality.

This week I'm at Swanwick where I've been asked to offer the keynote theological address to a gathering of ministers at their refresher course. I've worked on this now for sometime and those of you who read here regularly will know of my current research on kenosis. While kenotic understandings of Christology have had a fairly negative press over the past century, there is something of a revival of interest in kenosis recently. My own interest is in the usefulness of self-emtpying and self-giving as a way of undserstanding what we mean when we talk of the Divine love, or how we interpret the defining statement God is love,in the light of the events of incarnation,cross and resurrection.

If, and I realise it is a rather significant if, but if the love that is the mutual exchange of the three persons of the Trinity is reflected in the obedience and self-giving of Jesus, in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, then Kenosis far from being a marginal or unwelcome Christological oddity, may provide a crucial standpoint from which to consider the eternal disposition of the Triune God. The impetus to creation is divine love - creation itself is an act of kenosis, of divine relinquishment of that self-contained existence in which there is nothing other, beyond the life of the Triune God. The Created order, as that to which the love of the Triune God outflows in creative and redemptive gift, further indicates the nature of Divine love as that which enables and allows to exist, that which is other than God. And then not only allows that Creation to persist despite its tragic and marred history, but enters that created history in human form to redeem, reconcile, renew and thus recreate.

Such kenotic love of the Triune God, revealed in history once and for all in the history ofJesus on the cross, but eternally true of God, indicates the intended disposition of those who are in Christ, called to Christlikeness, and called to love one another as God in Christ has loved us. Kenosis is not a Christological novelty, but a clue to the love of the Triune God, and thus a genuine grace and call in Christian spirituality. The call is only possible by grace, is grace enabled, and is a call to graced giving to those others with whom we live and whom we encounter on the journey

That in fairly dense form, is what I hope to explore more fully and practically at the conference. No doubt the feedback will require me to think again - which would be good.

Comments

[Jonathan]

Perhaps after the conference you could post the address. Otherwise, maybe you could email it to me please.

[Catriona]

Hope you are enjoying a little evening kenosis of glasses in the bar/lounge at Swanwick with those lovely Sassenach ministers. The labyrinth there is worth a visit (though I prefered it before they did it up!) and a stroll round the lake before breakfast is pleasant.

[ang almond]

Hoping my other half who is AT Swanwickwith you took some notes - as he left me to lead the Alpha group in his absence and some of these issues actually came up in tonight's discussion [I shall let him sort them out next week!]
Blessings x

[Julie Aylward]

Your paper was awesome, mind stretching, thought provoking and has inspired me to get back to serious theological reading and thinking. It was a privilege, finally, to meet and talk with you - thank for your presence at the conference. I look forward to reading the paper at some point!