What is your interpretation, then, of the Christ hymn? Not trying to stir things up; I'm just interested.
What do you mean by "the Christ hymn"? Are you talking about the kenosis hymn quoted by Paul?
Yes, and I should have just called it Phil. 2:5-11. My bad.
OK. For the convenience of everyone I will go ahead and post it here (from the NET). Note that the hymn proper is doesn't include verse 5, but rather consists of 6-11.
2:6 who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
2:7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
2:8 He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
– even death on a cross!
2:9 As a result God exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
2:10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow
– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –
2:11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
First of all, about the text as we have it: I agree with you that it is a hymn, as do many other scholars, but this is not a universal opinion among scholars: not all see this passage as having the necessary qualities of a hymn. But I do. Furthermore, I think the hymn predates Paul. I think this is one of the older pieces of writing in Christian history, and Paul uses it as an example. I do not think this hymn is original with Paul.
The hymn can easily be broken down into two sections of three verses each: The Condescension (or Self-Humbling) of Christ (verses 6-8) and the Exaltation of Christ (verses 9-11). The term
kenosis comes from verse 7 ("he emptied himself"), and is the key of the theology of the hymn.
Speaking of the theology of the hymn, it seems to be that, rather than clinging to his Godness, Christ humbled himself to become human and suffer death on the cross. Therefore, God responded to this act of humility and obedience by exalting Christ above all other creation.
Clearly, the author of the hymn believed that Jesus was equivalent with God well before the events of his life on earth. But that doesn't mean that Paul necessarily agreed (although he certainly may have), because that isn't the point Paul is making here. His point is that Jesus humbled himself for the sake of others, and he is giving this example as a means of exhorting the Phillipians to do the same thing (see 2:1-4). Rather than seeking their own good, Christians should work for the good of others. The
kenosis hymn isn't the only example of this that Paul uses in this letter; he claims that he himself is willing to be sacrificed for them (2:17), that Timothy seeks the interests of others rather than himself (2:19-24), and that the Phillipians' own Epaphroditus had risked everything for the sake of others (2:25-31). Paul intends for the Phillipians to follow these worthy examples, living together in self-sacrificing love.
Do I agree with Paul's point here? Yes, I most certainly do. I think self-sacrificing love is the heart of Jesus's teachings. But do I agree with the divine origins of Christ as testified in the kenosis hymn? No, I don't. I think that a divine origin is something that was attributed to Jesus fairly early after his death and resurrection. I also don't think that Paul's inclusion of the hymn necessarily means that he believes in any such thing (although again, he certainly could have). I think he is using it in its complete form because as such, it would be something that his Phillipian audience would already knew and used in their own worship. I realize that is only one possible explanation, but is the one that seems most likely to me.
But assuming that Paul DID believe in such divine origins for Jesus, I still don't agree. Mostly because there is no record in the Synoptic Gospels of Jesus ever telling anyone any such thing while he was on this earth. I believe that all such divine statuses for Jesus are post-crucifixion attributions by his fervent followers, nothing more.
But hey, that's just my $0.02.
EDIT: @GP: especially God's Final Message To His Creation.
EDIT 2: BrotherH, I would suggest
The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright.
Topic: My problem with Christianity (Read 23159 times)
