Idea Of Incarnation Research Articles

Introduction: Margin Release

Introduction: Margin Release

The Artistic Representation of Jesus in Hermann Cohen's Aesthetics

Cohen deals with the question of the possibility for art to represent God or the divine in some of his works, throughout all his philosophical production, but obviously above all in his main aesthetic work, sthetik des reinen Gefhls (1912). We can state that in Cohen's works this problem is posed with reference to three different religious fields: Greek polytheism, Jewish monotheism and Christianity. The topic of this essay will be Cohen's thought about the artistic representation of the divine in Christianity or in Christian art through the representation of Jesus. This topic will be examined with reference both to Kants Begrndung der sthetik (1889) and to sthetik des reinen Gefhls ; whereas in Kants Begrndung der sthetik Cohen devotes to the representation of Jesus just a short consideration in the historical introduction of the book, in sthetik des reinen Gefhls the representation of Jesus is object of far more attention. Here, Cohen's answer to the question of the possibility to represent the divine through the representation of Jesus is that Jesus' divinity, in the artistic representation of his figure, can only have a metaphorical value, the real meaning of which is that Jesus' story is the ideal story of the human being; in Kants Begrndung der sthetik and in other writings of the 80s, on the contrary, the idea of incarnation and of the divinity of Jesus is object of a different appreciation by Cohen. The comparison between these different stances can be a contribution to the comprehension of the changes in Cohen's view of Christianity through the years.

Body and image


 
 
 In aesthetics, as a philosophy of art, the body of the viewer is juxtaposed with the image of the painting, before which it stands still; both body and image are considered to be independent, which is a condition of a full aesthetic experience. In the present article I demonstrate how, through phenomenology, pragmatism and the idea of incarnation, post‐Kantian aesthetic is broadened. I limit myself to three theoretical perspectives; in each of them the duality of body and image is neutralised according to different rules. Phenomenology develops the relations between consciousness and body, while in pragmatism the encounter of body and image takes place in the process of the performative creation of image. The idea of incarnation, on the other hand, develops both of these currents in two divergent approaches: a theological and an anthropological one. Bringing together perspectives, which are so different methodologically reveals the existence of a profound tie between body and image.
 
 

Creaturely Glory: Transimmanence and the Politics of Incarnation

ABSTRACT The question of transcendence and its relation to immanence is not new in the history of philosophy, theology, and political theory. Two positions seem to demarcate post-metaphysical political thought on this issue. On the one hand, there is the radical view of transcendence, a hyper-transcendence that is ever more beyond, unalloyed by any mundane thematization. On the other hand, there is the radical view of immanence emphasizing that we should put transcendence behind us and be content with a profaned immanent world. This paper explores how the Christian idea of incarnation, if approached as a transimmanent hypostatic modality that reveals how the radicalism of transcendence is realized in immanence, may offer insights into the syntagma “creaturely life”. Such a perspective is set against Agamben’s alternative elaboration of creaturely life as form-of-life.

The Zion Christian Church and Global Christianity: negotiating a tightrope between localisation and globalisation

South Africa's Zion Christian Church (ZCC) is a primary example of African Indigenous Christianity. This article discusses some of the ways in which a church such as the ZCC might be simultaneously understood as a localised indigenous group, a ‘constructed indigeneity’, as well as inherently belonging to a wider historical tradition of Global Christianity. The discussion proceeds alongside a critical engagement of the sociologist Robert Wuthnow's deconstruction of the ‘Global Christianity Paradigm’, as well as an appropriation of the phenomenologist of religion, James Cox's depiction of ‘indigenous religions’ as an empirically viable theoretical concept, which is demonstrated here as also useful for the purpose of elucidating the type of religiosity encountered in the ZCC. The article makes a plea for a wider acknowledgment of the value of normative approaches to the study of African Christianity and refers to the cultural impact of the theological idea of Incarnation to explain why.

'Bring me that Kiss': Incarnation and Truth in William Morris's The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems

William Morris's first volume of poetry, The Defence of Guenevere, and Other Poems (1858), performs acts of poetic incarnation and resurrection, giving fleshly life to characters long dead and speaking into being his own fictional creations, based on history or myth. These poetic and dramatic personae, in turn, speak flesh onto dead bones, re-embody their past selves, or conjure the image of the incarnate Christ. They kiss, try to kiss, or imagine being kissed by lovers, antagonists, or spiritual beings, reaching for the transcendent through the material. In this reading of Morris's poems, I argue that they evoke the violent medieval world and its myths to challenge the concept of God as ordering presence or absolute truth and de-spiritualize the idea of incarnation. They affirm embodiment and contingency, celebrating the corporeal, however flawed, as a means of understanding and re-organizing reality.

The Idea of Incarnation in First John

When we refer to the Johannine doctrine of incarnation we should have in mind, as the primary circle of meaning, the experienced actuality of the indwelling of Christ in the believer and the church, the reception from God of the Spirit, the anointing, and the forgiveness of sins, by which a community in conflict with the devil is given the victory, by which it knows the truth, loves the brethren, and makes its witness to what it has seen and heard.

Incarnation and Process Philosophy

The purpose of this article is to develop a Christian doctrine of the Incarnation in the light of a process philosophy of the type expounded by A. N. Whitehead and E. S. Brightman. Rather than offer at this time a detailed defence either of the idea of incarnation or of process philosophy, I wish to show that the two can be coherently related in such a way that each receives a greater degree of completion and clarity. Of course risks are unavoidable in any attempt to make Athens and Jerusalem respond to one another. But the risks and losses would be even greater if the way of isolation and of mutually ignoring one another were accepted.