The Self-Emptying God

Christ emptied himself, we read in Paul's letter to the Philippians - words that are probably part of an early Christian liturgy. In this book, Peter Colyer examines in detail the concept of the self-emptying (kenosis) of Christ and of the ways in which this understanding of the historic figure of Jesus Christ has been extended to the whole being of God. The sections of the book deal with: the need for compatibility between theological and scientific views of the natural world; the increasing inadequacy of some descriptions of God in the light of scientific knowledge; a detailed examination of the biblical material, not only the key text in Philippians but also relevant material from several other parts of the Bible; the history of kenotic theology in Christian teaching with a particular focus on Continental and British theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the value of divine self-emptying for a reconciliation between Christian faith and scientific approaches. The book demonstrates that the self-emptying of God has been a remarkably persistent theme throughout Christian history. An extensive bibliography is included.