Does the incarnate God have two wills?

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Pensees
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Does the incarnate God have two wills?

Post by Pensees »

In Christian theology, Kenosis is the concept of the 'self-emptying' of one's own will and becoming entirely receptive to God and his perfect will. It is used both as an explanation of the incarnation, and an indication of the nature of God's activity and condescension.

An apparent dilemma arises when Christian theology posits a God outside of time and space, who enters into time and space to become human (incarnate). The doctrine of Kenosis attempts to explain what the Son of God chose to give up in terms of his divine attributes, or divinity, in order to assume human nature. Since the incarnate Jesus is simultaneously fully human and fully divine, Kenosis holds that these changes were temporarily assumed by God in his incarnation, and that when Jesus ascended back into heaven following the resurrection, he fully reassumed all of his original attributes and divinity.

Specifically it refers to attributes of God that are thought to be incompatible with becoming fully human. For example, God's omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience as well as his aseity, eternity, infinity, impassibility and immutability. Theologians who support this doctrine often appeal to a reading of Philippians 2:5-8. Critics of Kenosis theology argue that the context of Philippians 2:5-8 is referring to Jesus voluntarily taking the form of a servant to conceal his divine glory (revealed temporarily in the Transfiguration), or to forsaking his place and position in heaven to dwell among men, as opposed to forsaking his divine attributes or nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenosis

How is the doctrine of Kenosis compatible with the belief that, in His earthly life, the divine Son had two wills? If Christ emptied Himself to become incarnate, wouldn't only His human will be exercised before the transfiguration of His being in the resurrection?

Peace.

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Post by Pensees »

In His incarnation, Christ did not give up His divinity, but freely chose to cooperate with the limitations of humanity and voluntarily did not exercise His divine attributes. He remained divine but was living and willing completely as a man. Otherwise, how could Jesus say that He didn't know the day nor the hour of His return?

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Post by 尼古拉前执事 »

Pensees wrote:

In His incarnation, Christ did not give up His divinity, but freely chose to cooperate with the limitations of humanity and voluntarily did not exercise His divine attributes. He remained divine but was living and willing completely as a man. Otherwise, how could Jesus say that He didn't know the day nor the hour of His return?

The answer to that question, as answered by the Church Fathers, may be found at http://EuphrosynosCafe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6690

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Post by Pensees »

If Christ is one person, how can it be said that He exercises two wills?

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An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith

Post by 尼古拉前执事 »

Dear Matthew,

Remember He was both God AND Man.

You might want to read the bollowing online books which are too big to copy & paste here:

An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith by Saint John Damascene
http://www.orthodox.net/fathers/exactidx.html

I especially reccomend that you read the following chapters based on all your monphysite and nestorian based questions lately:

BOOK III CHAPTER II
Concerning the manner in which the Word was conceived, and concerning His divine incarnation.

BOOK III CHAPTER III
Concerning Christ's two natures, in apposition to those who hold that He has only one.

BOOK III CHAPTER V
Concerning the number of the Natures.

BOOK III CHAPTER VI
That in one of its subsistences the divine nature is united in its entirety to the human nature, in its entirety and not only part to part.

BOOK III CHAPTER VII
Concerning the one compound subsistence of God the Word.

BOOK III CHAPTER VIII
In reply to those who ask whether the natures of the Lord are brought under a continuous or a discontinuous quantity.

BOOK III CHAPTER XII
That the holy Virgin is the Mother of God: an argument directed against the Nestorians.

BOOK III CHAPTER XIII
Concerning the properties of the two Natures.

BOOK III CHAPTER XIV
Concerning the volitions and free-will of our Lord Jesus Christ.

BOOK III CHAPTER XV
Concerning the energies in our Lord Jesus Christ.

BOOK IV CHAPTER III
In reply to those who say "If Christ has two natures, either ye do service to the creature in worshipping created nature, or ye say that there is one nature to be worshipped, and another not to be worshipped.

BOOK IV CHAPTER VII
In answer to those who enquire whether the holy Mother of God bore two natures, and whether two natures hung upon the Cross.

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Post by Pensees »

I have not denied that Christ is fully divine and fully human, both God and man. But how do you know that in His incarnation, Christ chose to exercise His divine will? I do not mean that His divine will ceased to exist, but that He freely lived within the limitations of His humanity.

For example, when Christ performed miracles, He did so not by His own power, but through the Holy Spirit. This is why when the Jews accused Him of exercising demons by the power of Beelzebub, He retorted that they had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps this better explains what I am saying:

http://www.apostolic.net/biblicalstudies/willofchrist.htm wrote:

Jesus seemed to only be intuitively aware of one will—that of His own humanity. He prayed in the garden that He would not have to go to the cross, and then summed it up saying, "not my will but yours be done." I believe this phenomena is due to the kenosis, i.e. the willing limitation placed on the fullness of divine attributes and prerogatives in Christ because of the assumption of humanity (Phil 2:5-11). Although the divine will was in Christ, it was not exercised. Jesus prayed to the Father and the Father revealed His will to Jesus. The Scripture does not portray this knowledge as coming from within Jesus, but externally from the Father. It seems that as far as Jesus was aware of, the will of God was something known by revelation, not intuition. I do not mean by this to say that the will of God was hard to find for Jesus, or that it was sporadic, but that it did not come from within. He was aware of the will of God and always obeyed the will of God, but the knowledge of this will was by a continual revelation to Jesus from the Father...
To sum this up then, ontologically (in His essential being) Jesus possesses the will of God and the will of man. Epistemologically and functionally, however, Jesus did not just submit to the will of God within Him, but sought and found the will of God from without (the Father). This willing limitation of the innate knowledge of the divine will is due to the incarnation where God willingly placed limitations on the exercise of His divine attributes and prerogatives so that He could live within the limits of every human being.

Peace.

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