Lost in Communication? Beyond the Aporia of Kenosis

Abstract

Contemporary kenoticist Christologies reach an impasse when they conflate metaphorical and analogical predication. Interpreting divine “self‐emptying” in analogical terms—as divine self‐divestment—generates ethical concerns as well as philosophical, exegetical, and doctrinal difficulties. Drawing on historical‐critical scholarship on Philippians 2:6‐11, this study revisits the semantic field of the Pauline language of kenosis and challenges key methodological presuppositions of kenoticism. Rather than articulating a metaphysical theory of the Incarnation, the hymn's language is better understood as poetic and metaphorical—though in a way that remains open to later metaphysical development. Building on Bernard Lonergan's account of theological method, the article proposes that the metaphor of kenosis functions heuristically within Christian theology, generating distinct questions across biblical exegesis, doctrinal theology, and systematics. Interpreted in this way, the kenosis hymn offers a hermeneutical lens for Christology capable of moving beyond the kenoticist impasse while also suggesting its implications for Christian discipleship.