Abstract:
The research focussed on the embodiment of God and approached this theme through a
discussion on the deep incarnation of God in Christ. This article provides an overview of the
existing literature on incarnation. Jesus Christ made God human and understandable.
Theology is placed in the sphere of humanity by the humanness of Jesus. This positioning of
theology in the sphere of humanity attended to the humanness of Jesus as a biological and
social being, on par with human nature, in direct contact with other human beings. Jesus’
bodily existence makes his life and living inevitably fragile and vulnerable, but also one in
solidarity with the ongoing misery of humans. Special attention was given to the Gospel of
John and John 1:14 as an influential expression of the incarnation, and also to the concept of
logos. The research attended to the implications of the embodiment of God and the way in
which humans participate in the mystery of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. This mutual
participation implies that the relationship with God and the call to reflect God is done as
embodied beings and not apart from human bodies. The discussion of deep incarnation and
God’s radical presence in flesh motivated the conclusion that God is part and parcel of nature’s
vulnerability, pain and suffering. Jesus’ powerlessness accentuated the dignity of all bodies,
and that there are actually no marginal cases of being ‘human’. The radical embodiment of
God, the body of the earthly Jesus, reminds followers of Jesus of the significance of leading
creative lives, resulting in authentic Christian spirituality that is embodied and vulnerable.
Description:
This article represents re-worked aspects of the PhD-thesis of Pieter van Niekerk, completed under the supervision of Prof Nelus
Niemandt, Department of Science and Religion and Missiology, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria. (http://hdl.handle.net/2263/70888)
