The self-emptying God - Peter J. Colyer

+Christ emptied himself,+ we read in Paul+s letter to the Philippians ++ words that are probably part of an early Christian liturgy. In this book, Peter Colyer examines in detail the concept of the self-emptying (kenosis) of Christ and of the ways in which this understanding of the historic figure of Jesus Christ has been extended to the whole being of God. - - The sections of the book deal with: the need for compatibility between theological and scientific views of the natural world; the increasing inadequacy of some descriptions of God in the light of scientific knowledge; a detailed examination of the biblical material, not only the key text in Philippians but also relevant material from several other parts of the Bible; the history of kenotic theology in Christian teaching with a particular focus on Continental and British theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the value of divine self-emptying for a reconciliation between Christian faith and scientific approaches. - - The book demonstrates that the self-emptying of God has been a remarkably persistent theme throughout Christian history. - - An extensive bibliography is included. - -