Making Christ Real: The Peril and Promise of Kenosis
Ebook
Kenosis, or self-emptying, poses a fundamental question to any theological discussion about Jesus Christ: "In becoming human, did God empty himself of any divine qualities?" Many variations on kenotic Christology have emerged over the past 200 years, most of them claiming to both preserve and highlight the true humanity and ecclesial significance of Jesus Christ. While there is much to commend in these efforts, Samuel Youngs contends that nearly all such kenotic attempts have, against their best intentions, fallen into an echo chamber of abstraction and metaphor, rendering their talk about Jesus Christ and analysis of the Gospels fundamentally "unreal" and lacking in material significance for today's living church. Most fundamentally, many kenotic accounts pay inadequate attention to Christ's lived accomplishment, his current presence, and the modes of praxis that he makes real in the world. In dialogue with the important movement known as Transformation Theology, Youngs unfolds a detailed critique of method and discourse in kenotic christologies. Turning then to the vibrant christological thought of Jurgen Moltmann, a different outlook on kenosis is articulated and defended, one that is relational, concrete, and praxiological.
“This is a vitally important new book which tackles some of the
most life-giving questions that can arise within Christian theology
on transforming and being transformed. Youngs writes with an
impressive balance of critique and explanation. He tracks the
history of kenoticism and addresses some of the key questions that
arise concerning the relation between the sublime freedom of the
risen Christ on the one hand and our own—mysterious—freedom on the
other.”
—Oliver Davies, King’s College London, emeritus
“Youngs has called modernity on the carpet in its inability to face
the kenotic Christ. While giving careful attention to methodology
by way of a sweeping knowledge of the scholarly landscape, this
book makes a contribution beyond what often comprises scholarship.
By decompartmentalizing the tidy boxes that have separated the
discipline of theology from the life of the church, Youngs paints a
holistic, life-giving picture of the person and meaning of Jesus
Christ.”
—Joshua Rice, Richmont Graduate University
“Youngs’s . . . highly creative rearticulation of kenotic
Christology pushes treatments of the topic to a new level of
sophistication, compellingly demonstrating the relevance of kenosis
for contemporary Christology. Far from having run its course,
kenotic Christology in Youngs’s expert hands is shown to have a
heretofore unrealized potential for speaking to the concrete needs
of the church, the academy, and the broader world.”
—Mark McInroy, University of St. Thomas
“Using modern kenotic Christology as a foil, Youngs convincingly
and articulately shows how theology can become unreal when it is
abstracted from the concrete realities of the church’s lived
experience. If you are hungry for robust theology that is tested
against the measures of real human life, look no further. This book
accomplishes what it promises . . . to make Christ
real.”
—Preston Hill, Richmont Graduate University
- Title: Making Christ Real: The Peril and Promise of Kenosis
- Author: Samuel J. Youngs
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2022
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781725295070, 9781725295063, 9781725295056, 1725295075, 1725295067, 1725295059
- Resource ID: LLS:9781725295070
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-11-05T20:38:42Z
Samuel J. Youngs is associate professor of Christian studies at Bryan College (Dayton, Tennessee) and adjunct professor of theology & church history at Richmont Graduate University (Chattanooga, Tennessee). He is the author of The Way of the Kenotic Christ: The Christology of Jürgen Moltmann (2019).