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Why an Incarnation?
Curated by Tony Jones
In the second conversation of our #progGOD series, we invited bloggers to consider: What does the Incarnation tells us about God, human beings, creation, the Cosmos, the End Times, Heaven, Hell, salvation, or anything else…from a Progressive Christian perspective? Read their reflections and then add your own in the Comments Box below. (And stay tuned for future #progGOD conversations!)
Responses
Why An Incarnation?
Tony Jones
I’m most interested in what the Incarnation tells us about God, human beings, creation, the Cosmos, the End Times, Heaven, Hell, salvation, or anything else…
Jesus Wept
Slactivist
When Job learned that his children had died, he wept. But God did not weep. Jesus wept.
Whether Before Why
James McGrath
As someone who is not only a progressive Christian, but also a New Testament scholar, the conversation for me must always begin with whether an incarnation before moving on to why.
The Divine in Us
Caryn Riswold
The incarnation tells us that a woman's body is capable of holding, being, and bearing divinity.
Incarnation Happens
Rob Davis
What if the only relative understanding of divinity that we can have is “enfleshed”?
When Hope Dwelled Among Us
Denika Anderson
I find five main reasons for Jesus’ coming (versus a divine act from on high without physical presence)...
Born To Live: Why The Cross Doesn't Belong at Christmas
David Henson
The point isn't that Jesus died for us. It's that he lived for us.
Incarnation Redeems the Mundane
Chris Baca
God participates with humanity – experiencing pain, suffering, anxiety, and the feeling of meaninglessness.
Give Me Incarnation Before Resurrection
Jenny Warner
The end of my life may be a long way off, but today my life feels like a Bethlehem barn.
Cur Deus Homo?
Scott Paeth
The incarnation is an expression of the divine solidarity with the human condition in all of its dimensions.
Incarnation: A Poem
Suzannah Paul
Within world of sight/salvation springs up, enfleshed: rough hands hewn,/broke bread and washed feet.
How the Incarnation Speak to Us
Michael Bobo
If Jesus is a God/man fusion, then his character and relationships illustrate how beautiful, inclusive, liberating, and empowering God’s salvation of humanity might be.
The Body of Christ Suffering Today
Daniel Eisen
Jesus is black, Jesus is Salvadoran, Jesus is Israeli, Jesus is Palestinian, Jesus is the bullied gay teen, Jesus is the Syrian refugee, Jesus is the suffering and oppressed of our world.
Would There Still Be An Incarnation If There Had Been No Fall?
Jason Micheli
The reason for Jesus is that before the stars were hung in place, before Adam sinned or Israel’s love failed God’s deepest desire is, was and always will be friendship. With us.
He Came to Dwell
Naomi
Not just to pop in for a quick, “Hello, I’m God, nice to meet you. You can see I’m real, so go tell everybody. K, bye.”
The Incarnation and Marshal Mcluhan
Jason Valendy
When it comes to understanding the importance of the Incarnation, Marshal Mcluhan is right: The medium is the message.
Sarx >Silver or Gold
Michael J. Teston
The message of the incarnation is that being in the “flesh” is something good and holy. I need to be reminded of that.
Adventurous Theology
MJ Kimpan
Could it be that an embodiment of the incarnation in our acceptance of the Other is exactly what God meant to teach us in his act of the word becoming flesh?
What Does it Mean to Celebrate Immanuel?
Paul Anthony
The concept of Immanuel is, I would argue, far more powerful than the concept of omnipotence.
What God Was Really Trying to Say
J.D. Whitlock
The Incarnation showed us that God is self-sacrificing love and not an adolescent that throws tantrums.
Waiting on Emmanuel
Ben Howard
What if God became man to show us the man could become God by embracing what humanity was created to be?
A Christmas Confession
Paul Allen
What if it wasn’t morality that Jesus came to model for us, but a life fully lived?
A Fanfare for Humanity
Jeff Carter
He came to say, ‘Pay attention to these noble beings – humanity. Look at these wonders. Celebrate their worth.’
Optional Advent
Sean Graham
As I become more aware and more conscious of "God with me" - Emmanuel - what I am discovering with new eyes, and re-newing eyes, is that God is with everybody else, too.
Licking the Wisemen
Aaron Holbrough
I caught my dog licking a wise man in our Nativity creche the other day, and when I bent down to resuscitate him it got me thinking of all I am missing.
