Question
Did Jesus give up some of his Divine Attributes while on earth?
Answers
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Short answer: No — not in the sense of ceasing to be God or losing divine perfections. Yes — in the sense that, by the incarnation, the Son voluntarily refrained from exercising some divine attributes in and through his human nature (the doctrine called kenosis or “self‑limitation”).
A fuller explanation
- Biblical starting point: Philippians 2:6–8 says Christ “emptied himself” (ekenōsen) by taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men. That verse describes a real self‑humbling and condescension, not the Son’s becoming less than God.
- Classical teaching (Chalcedon, the doctrine of the hypostatic union): Jesus is one person with two natures, fully God and fully man. Ontologically he retains all divine attributes (omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, omnipresence, aseity). He never ceased to be the eternal Son of God.
- How to reconcile the Bible’s portrait of a “limited” Jesus (he hungers, sleeps, prays, grows in wisdom, says “the Father only knows the day and hour”) with his divinity? The standard resolution is that in the incarnation the Son assumed a genuine human nature and voluntarily accepted the limitations proper to that nature. Those limitations belong to his human nature; they do not abolish or destroy his divine nature. At times Jesus acts according to his human nature (e.g., expresses ignorance of the hour), at other times according to his divine nature (e.g., forgiving sins, rising from the dead, exercising authority over nature).
- This is sometimes called the “communication of properties” (communicatio idiomatum): because the two natures are united in one person, we can ascribe the attributes and works of both natures to the one Christ. But we should avoid saying the human nature became divine or that the divine nature became human.
- Kenotic views: Some theologians have argued more radically that the Son gave up certain divine attributes during the incarnation. That view is controversial and generally rejected by historic orthodoxy because it risks implying a change in God’s being (which conflicts with Scripture’s teaching about God’s immutability).
Scriptural touchpoints
- Passages emphasizing self‑emptying and humiliation: Philippians 2:6–8; John 1:14.
- Passages affirming full deity and divine attributes in Christ: John 1:1; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3; Thomas’s confession, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
- Passages showing human limitation in Jesus: Mark 4:38 (sleeping), John 4:6 (tired), Matthew 4 (temptation), Luke 2:52 (growth in wisdom), Mark 13:32 (ignorance of the day and hour).
Conclusion
Jesus did not surrender his divine nature or cease to possess divine attributes, but in becoming man he voluntarily accepted the limitations of a real human nature and sometimes refrained from exercising certain divine prerogatives. That balance — fully God, fully man, one person — is the traditional Christian way to account for the biblical data.
A fuller explanation
- Biblical starting point: Philippians 2:6–8 says Christ “emptied himself” (ekenōsen) by taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men. That verse describes a real self‑humbling and condescension, not the Son’s becoming less than God.
- Classical teaching (Chalcedon, the doctrine of the hypostatic union): Jesus is one person with two natures, fully God and fully man. Ontologically he retains all divine attributes (omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, omnipresence, aseity). He never ceased to be the eternal Son of God.
- How to reconcile the Bible’s portrait of a “limited” Jesus (he hungers, sleeps, prays, grows in wisdom, says “the Father only knows the day and hour”) with his divinity? The standard resolution is that in the incarnation the Son assumed a genuine human nature and voluntarily accepted the limitations proper to that nature. Those limitations belong to his human nature; they do not abolish or destroy his divine nature. At times Jesus acts according to his human nature (e.g., expresses ignorance of the hour), at other times according to his divine nature (e.g., forgiving sins, rising from the dead, exercising authority over nature).
- This is sometimes called the “communication of properties” (communicatio idiomatum): because the two natures are united in one person, we can ascribe the attributes and works of both natures to the one Christ. But we should avoid saying the human nature became divine or that the divine nature became human.
- Kenotic views: Some theologians have argued more radically that the Son gave up certain divine attributes during the incarnation. That view is controversial and generally rejected by historic orthodoxy because it risks implying a change in God’s being (which conflicts with Scripture’s teaching about God’s immutability).
Scriptural touchpoints
- Passages emphasizing self‑emptying and humiliation: Philippians 2:6–8; John 1:14.
- Passages affirming full deity and divine attributes in Christ: John 1:1; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3; Thomas’s confession, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).
- Passages showing human limitation in Jesus: Mark 4:38 (sleeping), John 4:6 (tired), Matthew 4 (temptation), Luke 2:52 (growth in wisdom), Mark 13:32 (ignorance of the day and hour).
Conclusion
Jesus did not surrender his divine nature or cease to possess divine attributes, but in becoming man he voluntarily accepted the limitations of a real human nature and sometimes refrained from exercising certain divine prerogatives. That balance — fully God, fully man, one person — is the traditional Christian way to account for the biblical data.
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