Creation and Kenosis

Abstract

The article examines the doctrine of Creation. It begins with a view according to which God simply starts a process off which then develops of its own accord. It then moves on to the idea of Creation being a continuous activity of God. Augustine’s notion of a tune sung by God provides a beautiful illustration of the concept of continuous creation. God is singing us. Augustine’s image suggests something else. It confronts us with the notion of creation ‘out of nothing,’ a world spun from within like a song. It makes the point that God’s work of continuous creation does not take place ‘outside’ Her, for there is nowhere that is ‘outside’ God. These reflections strengthen the idea of God’s self-giving love which is at the heart of a kenotic theology. God does not make something and then leave it to fend for itself. She remains not only passionately committed to its welfare but is constantly in the process of making and sustaining it. A further point is that space and time are themselves part of Creation rather than being some kind of backdrop for God’s creative activity. We are forced away from thinking of space and time as a pre-existent framework within which divine beings buzz up and down between heaven and earth. This may help us when we try to approach the specific question of a kenotic Christology. We must always begin our Christology with Jesus’ development on earth, not with a presumed backstory about his life in Heaven.