71-723: Swedenborgian Church may refer to: Denominations [ edit ] The New Church (Swedenborgian) , general term for Swedenborgian denominations Swedenborgian Church of North America , also known as the General Convention of the New Jerusalem General Church of the New Jerusalem , also known as the General Church Lord's New Church Which Is Nova Hierosolyma , also known as
142-495: A "New Church" that would be based on the theology he presented, he never tried to establish such an organization. Swedenborg published some of his theological works anonymously; his writings promoted one universal church based on love and charity, rather than multiple churches named after their founders and based on belief or doctrine. In 1768, a heresy trial began in Sweden against Swedenborg's writings and two men who promoted them;
213-413: A means of regeneration through his teachings and fight hell directly; Jesus experienced temptation, conquered it, descended into hell, and defeated the forces of evil. The New Church differs from older Christian churches on the notion that Christ's death was redemption itself; "The belief that the passion of the cross was redemption itself is a fundamental error of the church; and that error, together with
284-561: A peak in the 1890s, by which a new church had been built in Hanson Street. In 1971, a new church at Warradale , in a style that could be converted to a house in the future. As of 2000 , the most recent membership figures for the four church organisations were: Membership in the New Church has always been small, and the organisations have been deeply involved in publishing. The New Church has two essential doctrines. The first
355-501: A perceived descent of mankind into ignorance and sin. Swedenborg held that a spiritual second coming of Christ had begun, marking the start of the New Church and offering a renewed path to regeneration. The New Church presents a theology built upon these beliefs, and while presenting many ideas and themes expressed by various early and contemporary Christian thinkers and theologies, the tradition diverges from standard Christianity not only in its eschatology but primarily in its rejection of
426-522: A person during their life. Although direct communication between spirits and humans does not generally occur, it was more widespread in ancient times. Angels and spirits retain their memories from earthly and heavenly life (their earthly mental faculties of memory replaced with corresponding spiritual ones) and, in a mental state where communication is open, a person may experience a spirit's memory as if it were their own. This mental state (which may be achieved under hypnosis) resembles past life regression and
497-611: A person must learn and live by the truth; in the union between humanity and the Lord facilitated by man's acceptance of divine truth, faith becomes living and spiritual. All the precepts of how one should live are contained in the Ten Commandments . The first act of faith is repentance: self-examination, acknowledging and identifying one's sins, and turning away from them, along with all evil. The Bible concerns God and his kingdom. The New Church has three pillars: God's divinity,
568-401: A place in heaven. Since, without the aid of divine truth, man remains in a state of Ignorance, the salvation of humanity has always required that a unifying connection between God and the minds of men is maintained through the "Word", or divine revelation of truths required for regeneration. The "Church", as a term, refers to any people, culture, or religion where "the Lord is acknowledged and
639-486: A process of "regeneration" (rather than through faith or acts alone), wherein individuals accept divine truth from the Lord into their "inner self" (or higher faculties), controlling the "outer" (or earthly) self by placing their highest love in goodness and truth rather than in worldly desires and the evils and falsehoods which serve them. It follows that Christianity, in its present condition, as described by Swedenborg, fails to facilitate man's regeneration, contributing to
710-542: A state of absolute freedom from external controls, will be attracted by heavenly light or hellish delight. Ultimately, judgement is an unimpeded choice between heaven and hell; the good, by nature of their goodness, will choose heaven, and the evil, by nature of their evil, will choose hell. When all external restraints are removed in the spirit world, nothing remains to stop evil spirits except punishment. Since evil spirits act in accordance with their nature, they are drawn towards hell: Every evil brings with itself punishment,
781-594: Is a kenosis of the Son of God, a condescension and self-sacrifice for the redemption and salvation of all humanity. Humanity can also participate in God's saving work through theosis ; becoming holy by grace. In Eastern Orthodoxy , kenosis does not concern becoming like God in essence or being, which is pantheism ; instead, it concerns becoming united to God by grace, through his "Energies". Orthodox theology distinguishes between divine Essence and Energies . Kenosis therefore
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#1732773102221852-534: Is a paradox and a mystery since "emptying oneself" in fact fills the person with divine grace and results in union with God. Kenosis in Orthodox theology is the transcending or detaching of oneself from the world or the passions, it is a component of dispassionation. Much of the earliest debates between the Arian and Orthodox Christians were over kenosis . The need for clarification about the human and divine nature of
923-653: Is a universal principle of faith that God is one in essence and in person, in whom is a Divine trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. It is a universal principle of faith that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. It is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to remove hell from man, and that He did remove it by means of contests with it and victories over it, and thereby He subdued it and reduced it to order and made it obedient to Himself. It
994-499: Is a universal principle of faith that He came into the world to glorify His Human which He took on in the world, that is, to unite it with the Divine from which [are all things], and thereby He eternally holds hell in order and under obedience to Himself. As this could be accomplished only by means of temptations admitted into His Human, even to the last of them, which was the passion of the cross, He endured even that. From this doctrine,
1065-399: Is above every name... Philippians 2 is sometimes used to explain the human side of Jesus's existence. In early Christianity , some groups propounded beliefs of a fully human Jesus who was especially honored and raised up by God ( adoptionism ), while other groups argued for a fully divine Jesus that was more like a spiritual apparition ( docetism ). The Chalcedonian doctrine that prevailed
1136-709: Is an opinion for which a rashly and falsely understood sentence of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (ii, 7), supplies a basis and a shape. This is called the kenotic doctrine, and according to it, they imagine that the divinity was taken away from the Word in Christ. It is a wicked invention, equally to be condemned with the Docetism opposed to it. It reduces the whole mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption to empty
1207-464: Is born not into total depravity , but rather, into a state of ignorance of anything beyond his "outer self"; his five senses and desire for worldly pleasures. In this state, man, by birth, places his principal love in worldly things such as wealth and ego over God and neighbor, because he has no knowledge of the spiritual truths that would lead him to love these. In this state, man’s 'inner self' (his higher faculties of rationality, will, conscience, etc.)
1278-425: Is born with free will, and his ability to choose between good and evil originates from his spiritual equilibrium between heaven and hell. Hell influences humans to do evil, and heaven influences them to do good. This freedom from inherent control from one side or the other frees humans to think rationally which can lead to spiritual reform by acknowledging evil in oneself, ceasing to do evil and avoiding it. This choice
1349-421: Is given a new mind and body, or "a human form that is visible in the spiritual world [... where] Our spirit enjoys the abilities to see, hear, speak, and have sensations just as it did in this world, and is endowed every faculty of thinking, willing, and doing...". New Church adherents believe that the soul is the recipient of life from God, and the body is its clothing. The beginning of life (the soul) comes from
1420-487: Is made a servant to the outer self Salvation is possible through Regeneration, a process in which man accepts divine truth from the Lord, and with this knowledge is able to make love of God and Neighbor his highest love in place of worldly things, reforming his inner and outer being, and being born anew into a state of enlightenment, where "Our inner self is in heaven, and an angel among the angels we are going to live with after we die". New Church adherents believe that man
1491-436: Is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity; in this way, faith and charity are intertwined. Faith and charity become one in acts of good works or repentance. The union of faith and charity is a central tenet of the New Church; all substantial things are related to divine love and divine wisdom, and the will and understanding of each person is a receptacle of God's love and wisdom. According to New Church adherents,
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#17327731022211562-462: Is spiritual because every thought and action influences the soul and mind. Man's salvation is heavily affected by spiritual forces. Truly good works join a person with angels, and evil joins them with evil spirits. When divine truth is accepted and one has an evil desire, temptation (conflict) results. Although one must resist temptation, it is really a combat between God and the devil (or hell). Thus, "He who thinks that he fights from himself against
1633-470: Is that there is one God, Jehovah , who incarnated as Jesus so that he may redeem mankind. The second is the obligation to live according to his commandments. "There are two essentials which constitute the church, and hence two principal things of doctrine – one, that the Lord's Human is Divine; the other, that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor constitute the church, and not faith separate from love and charity." These "two things,
1704-519: Is the "self-emptying" of Jesus . The word ἐκένωσεν ( ekénōsen ) is used in the Epistle to the Philippians : "[ Jesus ] made himself nothing" ( NIV ), or "[he] emptied himself" ( NRSV ) (Philippians 2:7), using the verb form κενόω ( kenóō ), meaning "to empty". The exact meaning varies among theologians. The less controversial meaning is that Jesus emptied his own desires, becoming entirely receptive to God's divine will, obedient to
1775-528: Is their removal after repentance. Swedenborgianism detests the notions of total depravity , and the traditional understandings of salvation through acts, and salvation through faith alone, through grace alone. New Church theology holds that man can desire good and must identify his sinful tendencies, push them aside in place of goodwill, and move from a state of overall ignorance and evil to overall enlightenment and goodness. Man should not simply accept his sinful state and expect faith or acts alone to guarantee him
1846-418: Is to say, became “naturalistic” and devoid of spiritual truth, serving the fears and worldly desires of man rather than providing regeneration. Because of this, the equilibrium between heaven and hell became more and more unbalanced towards the powers of hell prior to the coming of Christ, threatening the entire human race. It is for this reason that God took human form. By doing so, he could provide man with
1917-609: Is used both as an explanation of the Incarnation , and an indication of the nature of God's activity and will. Mystical theologian John of the Cross ' work " Dark Night of the Soul " is a particularly lucid explanation of God's process of transforming the believer into the icon or "likeness of Christ". Since some forms of Unitarianism do not accept the personal pre-existence of Christ , their interpretations of Philippians 2:7, and
1988-516: Is where the soul is realized. "All who die and become angels put off those two things proper to nature, which […] are space and time; for they enter then into spiritual light, in which the objects of thought are truths, and the objects of sight are similar to the objects in the natural world, but correspondent to their thoughts." States of being replace time, love replaces space or distance, and perception of truth replaces material substance These correspondences to time, space, and substance fill
2059-525: The New Testament , Jesus sometimes prayed to the Father and declared himself one with the Father at other times. New Church adherents believe that this was because Jesus progressed towards God during his life by gradually making his human body one with the divine . New Church adherents believe that "Regeneration" brings salvation. Regeneration is the process by which man is re-born, transitioning from
2130-550: The "emptying" of Christ was a continual process which started in the earliest references to Christ's character, Luke 2:40,52, and continued through the temptations of Christ and his ministry . The equivalent to kenosis in Gnostic literature is Christ's withdrawal of his own luminosity into himself, so as to cease dazzling his own disciples. In the Pistis Sophia , at the request of his disciples, "Jesus drew to himself
2201-524: The 'sense-oriented' sinful life he was born into, to a 'spiritual life', where man makes goodness and truth his highest love rather than worldly pleasures, and proceeds to live a life of usefulness and love. God incarnated as Christ to provide man with a path to regeneration, therefore true faith in Jesus Christ leads to salvation. Faith in Jesus is faith in a visible God. Jesus is the image and form of
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2272-736: The British Conference – Michael Church in London and Colchester New Church – joined the General Church. The Adelaide Society of the New Church, in Adelaide , in the Colony of South Australia . was founded by Jacob Pitman , William Holden , and Smith Owen Smith and their families in 1844. On 11 July 1852, a Swedenborgian church opened on Carrington Street , with Pitman serving as minister until 1859. The congregation grew to
2343-464: The Christ (see the hypostatic union ) were fought over the meaning and example that Christ set, as an example of kenosis or ekkenosis . Pope Pius XII , in his 1951 Sempiternus Rex Christus , condemned a particular interpretation of Philippians in regards to the kenosis : There is another enemy of the faith of Chalcedon , widely diffused outside the fold of the Catholic religion. This
2414-499: The Father is the inner divinity which became outwardly manifest in human form known as the Son . Since adherents believe that the Lord is one with the Father, the Lord's Prayer is directed to the Lord only. In the opening "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name", "name" is everything by which God is worshiped (particularly the Son, through whom he is approached). According to
2485-473: The Lord ( Jehovah ) is worshiped. Worship of, and faith in, Jesus is not worshiping a created being: although he was born with a human body, the New Church holds that his soul was eternally divine. When he rose from the dead , he discarded the human body he inherited from Mary and put on a human body from the divinity within him (known in the New Church as the Divine Human). According to Swedenborg, God
2556-408: The Lord's New Church Structures [ edit ] Swedenborgian Church (San Francisco, California) , listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Swedenborgian Church . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
2627-489: The Lord's words: 'There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known: whatsoever ye have said in the darkness, shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be preached on the housetops' (Luke 12:2–3). And in another place: 'I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment' (Matthew 12:36)." These intentions and affections determine whether one, in
2698-462: The New Church from other Christian churches, most of which define the Trinity as three eternal persons. The New Church sees Trinitarianism as illogical: "In the ideas of thought a Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before the world was created, is a Trinity of Gods; and these ideas cannot be effaced by a lip-confession of one God." Monotheism is defined as one God who is one person; only
2769-591: The Trinity is defined as "the three essentials of one God, and they make one as soul, body, and operation make one in man. Before the world was created this Trinity was not; but after creation, when God became incarnate, it was provided and brought about; and then in the Lord God the Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ." As a trinity of body, soul, and spirit exists in every man, this became the Holy Trinity in Jesus. The doctrine of one God as one person distinguishes
2840-494: The Word exists". The term does not simply refer to Christendom. Christianity’s predecessor, Judaism, as well as all other faiths of the world, though imperfect, are or were, at one point, expressions of the Word. Anyone who believes in God and loves goodness and truth is part of the Church and may be regenerated. Swedenborg divides history into a series of churches, or stages of the Church, that were born and eventually “died”, that
2911-472: The acknowledgment of the Lord, and a life according to the precepts of the Decalogue […] are the two essentials of the New Church." Adherents believe that these two doctrines bring about salvation and union with Jesus. "All things of the doctrine of the New Church have reference to these two, because they are its universals, on which all the particulars depend, and are its essentials, from which all
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2982-838: The authority of Swedenborg's writings caused a faction to split off and form the Academy of the New Church. It later became known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem – sometimes called the General Church – with its headquarters in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia ). Other congregations felt doctrinally compelled to join the General Church at its inception. Two Convention congregations in Canada (one in Toronto and another in Kitchener) and two congregations from
3053-464: The bloodless imaginations. 'With the entire and perfect nature of man'—thus grandly St. Leo the Great —'He Who was true God was born, complete in his own nature, complete in ours' (Ep. xxviii, 3. PL. Liv, 763. Cf. Serm. xxiii, 2. PL. lvi, 201). In John of the Cross 's thinking, kenosis is the concept of the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God and the divine will. It
3124-414: The capacity of the simple and also of children." The Bible cannot be properly understood without doctrine, and church doctrine should be confirmed with it. Doctrine can only be known by those who are enlightened by God, and those who are not can fall into heresy . The Bible contains divine truth ; according to New Church adherents, a person joins God and his angels when reading it. To Swedenborg, man
3195-494: The concept of kenosis —Christ "emptying" himself—take as a starting point that his "emptying" occurred in life, and not before birth. However, as Thomas Belsham put it, there are varying views on when in life this emptying occurred. Belsham took this to be at the crucifixion , whereas Joseph Priestley took this to be in the Garden of Gethsemane when Christ did not resist arrest. The Christadelphian Tom Barling considered that
3266-706: The conditions there. In structure, it was related to Dante's Divine Comedy . The U.S. church was organised in 1817 with the founding of the General Convention of the New Church (sometimes shortened to the Convention), now also known as the Swedenborgian Church of North America . The movement in the United States strengthened until the late 19th century, and there was a New-Church Theology School in Cambridge . Controversies about doctrine and
3337-454: The devil is enormously deceived." Both Salvation and Condemnation are results of moral choices, based on intentions. Good acts are only considered good when evil is removed, that is to say they are done out of love for God (not for profit or honour, or any other earthly thing), otherwise they are only externally good and internally evil. Goodness comes only from God, who can conquer temptation (a continuous, lifelong process). Remission of sins
3408-431: The error concerning three Divine persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church, so that nothing spiritual is left in it." The crucifixion was the last temptation endured by Jesus. New Church adherents believe that there was no space and time before the universe was created, and the realm beyond space, time and material creation is the spiritual world. The spiritual world, which is divided between heaven and hell,
3479-691: The evils which they do in the other life, inasmuch as every one after death returns into his own life, and thus into similar evils, his nature remaining the same as it had been in the life of the body. That they are punished, is because the fear of punishment is the only means of subduing evils in this state. Exhortation is no longer of any avail, neither instruction, nor the fear of the law and loss of reputation, since every one now acts from his nature, which cannot be restrained nor broken except by punishments. Kenosis In Christian theology , kenosis ( Ancient Greek : κένωσις , romanized : kénōsis , lit. 'the act of emptying')
3550-636: The example of Christ. Kenosis is only possible through humility and presupposes that one seeks union with God. The Poustinia tradition of the Russian Orthodox Church is one major expression of this search. Kenosis is not only a Christological issue in Orthodox theology, but also relates to Pneumatology , matters of the Holy Spirit. Kenosis , relative to the human nature, denotes the continual epiklesis and self-denial of one's own human will and desire. With regard to Christ, there
3621-550: The first General Conference of the New Church was held in Great Eastcheap, London. New Church ideas were brought to the United States by missionaries, one of whom was John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed). Early missionaries also travelled to parts of Africa . Swedenborg believed that the "African race" was "in greater enlightenment than others on this earth, since they are such that they think more 'interiorly', and so receive truths and acknowledge them." African enlightenment
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#17327731022213692-484: The following definition simplified for the noun: The New Testament does not use the noun form kénōsis , but the verb form kenóō occurs five times (Romans 4:14; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 9:15; 2 Corinthians 9:3; Philippians 2:7) and the future form kenōsei once. Of these five times, Philippians 2:7 is generally considered the most significant for the Christian idea of kenosis: Let the same mind be in you that
3763-516: The formalities proceed" If a person is unaware of the doctrines but has believed in one God and lived a life of love for goodness and truth, according to Swedenborg, they will learn them after death. The New Church's universal principle of faith is that the "Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to subjugate the hells and to glorify His Human; and without this no mortal could have been saved; and those are saved who believe in Him": It
3834-580: The holiness of the Bible, and a life of good works. The Bible is divinely inspired; according to adherents, its spiritual sense has been revealed in the New Church through symbolic correspondence. Its literal meaning, similar to a parable, hides the inner, spiritual sense: "The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are in part not naked truths, but are appearances of truth, and like similitudes and comparisons are taken from such things as are in nature; and thus are such as have been accommodated and adapted to
3905-597: The influence of the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). The Swedenborgian tradition is considered to be a part of Restorationist Christianity . Swedenborg's writings focus on a narrative of Christianity's historical decline due to the loss of the "inner sense" of Scripture into a purely exoteric understanding of faith. In this state, faith and good acts become external displays motivated by fear of hell, desires for material blessings, personal recognition, and otherworldly things, devoid of true spiritual essence. Swedenborg also wrote extensively about Salvation through
3976-499: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swedenborgian_Church&oldid=1184256724 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The New Church (Swedenborgian) The New Church (or Swedenborgianism ) can refer to any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed under
4047-433: The invisible God, on whom the human mind can focus. According to the New Church, God is man himself. If a person is good and follows the truth, God lives in that person (who becomes an image and likeness of him). The New Church is said to be the "crown of all churches which preceded it", since the invisible God is worshiped in human form. Faith is not defined as belief alone; the New Church holds that faith without charity
4118-634: The nearest consistory granted permission. Swedenborg begged the king for grace and protection in a letter from Amsterdam; a new investigation of him stalled, and was dropped in 1778. At the time of Swedenborg's death, few efforts had been made to establish an organised church. On 7 May 1787, however (15 years after his death), the New Church movement was founded in England – where Swedenborg had often visited, and where he had died. A number of churches had sprung up around England by 1789, and in April of that year
4189-424: The notion of a trinity of persons from eternity as Polytheistic , instead holding that Christ was born with a “divine mind” or “soul” and human body, absolving his distinct personhood and glorifying his human form through kenosis . The New Church has influenced several other spiritual and philosophical movements, including New Thought and American Transcendentalism . Although Swedenborg spoke in his works about
4260-401: The point of death—even death on a cross, and that it encourages Christians to be similarly willing to submit to divine will, even if it comes at great personal cost. The phrase is interpreted by some to explain the human side of Jesus : that Jesus, to truly live as a mortal, had to have voluntarily bound use of his divine powers in some way, emptying himself, and that it says that "though [Jesus]
4331-436: The seed of the father, and the external body comes from the mother. Since most Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit, his soul was God itself and he always preexisted as Jehovah. Since souls originate from the seed of the father, New Church adherents do not believe in reincarnation . Spirits and angels, through whom one approaches heaven or hell (depending on one's actions), are associated with
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#17327731022214402-466: The spiritual world with correspondences to things of the material world. In heaven there are landscapes and cities appearing like those of earth, and in hell the landscape appears cavernous and filthy. The presence of the lord appears like a sun above in heaven, its light and heat are truth and goodness, while hell is dark and cold. There are heavenly delights and acts of service to the neighbor, and hellish delights which bring about only suffering. The soul
4473-428: The trial questioned whether Swedenborg's theological writings were consistent with Christian doctrine. A royal ordinance in 1770 declared that his writings were "clearly mistaken" and should not be taught, but his theology was never examined. Swedenborg's clerical supporters were ordered to stop using his teachings, and customs officials were directed to impound his books and stop their circulation in any district unless
4544-426: The two making one; whoever therefore is in evil, is also in the punishment of evil. But still no one in the other world suffers punishment on account of the evils which he had done in this world, but on account of the evils which he then does. Yet it amounts to the same, and is the same thing, whether it be said that men suffer punishment on account of their evils in the world, or that they suffer punishment on account of
4615-617: The usual human problems. Thus, Jesus needed to sleep and eat; was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness; could become frustrated at fig trees not being in season ; stated that no one knows the day or hour of the end of the world; and so on. Gottfried Thomasius is the first theologian to discuss and expound upon kenotic Christology by name. Other theologians associated with kenotic Christology include P. T. Forsyth , H. R. Mackintosh , Charles Gore , Fisher Humphreys, Donald G. Dawe, and Roger E. Olson . Orthodox theology emphasises following
4686-809: Was associated. New Church adherents do not believe in purgatory ; punishment occurs only in hell. Immediately after death, one enters the spirit world (in this case, meaning an intermediary state between heaven and hell) and awaits judgment of whether they will enter heaven or hell. Since the evil try to appear good and the good retain false ideas, one remains in this intermediate state until they are examined. Those who are profoundly good and know truth go immediately to heaven, and those who are profoundly evil flee from heaven's perceived blinding light and burning heat, and go to hell. Otherwise, one gradually withdraws from exterior appearances and fallacies into one's interior intentions and affections "Thus hidden things are laid open and secret things are uncovered, according to
4757-654: Was considered a liberal concept at the time, and Swedenborgians accepted freed African converts in their homes as early as 1790. Several Swedenborgians were also abolitionists . Occultism became increasingly popular during the 19th century (particularly in the United States , France , and England ), and some followers blended Swedenborg's writings with theosophy , cabala , alchemy , and divination . Swedenborg's mystical side fascinated them; they concentrated on Heaven and Hell , which describes Swedenborg's visits to Heaven and Hell to experience (and report on)
4828-400: Was how some ancients came to believe in the preexistence of souls and reincarnation. However, the New Church does not consider this to be true, instead believing that one lives only once, and how one lives this life determines one's eternal destiny. At death, the soul sheds the physical body, is born into a spiritual mind and body, and becomes aware of the spiritual society with which one's soul
4899-465: Was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself ( ekenōsen heauton ), taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that
4970-506: Was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited," suggesting that Jesus was not "abusing" his divine status to avoid the implications of a mortal life. This interpretation is contested by others, who consider this to overly downplay the divine power of Jesus, for example. The term kenosis comes from the Greek κενόω ( kenóō ), meaning "to empty out". The Liddell–Scott Greek–English Lexicon gives
5041-427: Was that Jesus had a dual nature, and was both fully human and fully God. Kenotic Christology essentially states that in order to truly live a human experience, Jesus, despite being a preexisting divine being, voluntarily humbled himself. He could still perform miracles, heal the sick, and dispense reliable moral doctrine, but was not using divine might to resolve all of his problems as a mortal, and struggled through all
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