![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nQ. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate Christ or to have the same mental attitude about life and follow his example. I take what that text says very seriously.\u00a0 God the Son could have taken advantage of being equal to God the Father, but instead, to be genuinely human without in any way giving up his divinity, he put all the omnis on hold and accepted all the natural limitations of being human\u2014 limitations of time, space, knowledge, power, and mortality.\u00a0 He was genuinely human and could be tempted.\u00a0\u00a0 He was like us in all respects save without sin\u2014 he was Adam gone right. And his life was not a charade.\u00a0 When the text says he grew in knowledge, or when Jesus says he didn\u2019t know something, the text is not fibbing.\u00a0 When he asks who touched me, he doesn\u2019t know.\u00a0\u00a0 Now I would say he had access to such divine knowledge and power etc. but chose not to draw on it.<\/p>\n
Notice in the temptation stories in Luke 4 and in Matthew these are very odd temptations.\u00a0 And they read \u2018if you are (the divine) Son of God then turn these stones into bread\u2019.\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve known some people who could turn bread into stones, but not the reverse.\u00a0 Only a divine person could turn stones into bread. But notice Jesus doesn\u2019t say\u2014\u2019 I\u2019m God, God can\u2019t be tempted to sin, go away Satan\u2019. No, he resists temptation using the two resources we have to do so\u2014 the Word of God, and the Spirit of God.\u00a0 And he also performed his miracles by the power of the Spirit.\u00a0 In other words, when Jesus calls his disciples to follow his example, and use the resources he used to resist temptation and do good works, even miracles, we can follow his example, because we have those resources, and God\u2019s grace as well.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus is truly our model for godly and good behavior.\u00a0\u00a0 In short, divine condescension means self-limitation for the divine Son of God, and some of his temptations are ones only a divine Son of God would have\u2014 like asking to not drink from the cup, and bypass the cross and atone for our sins. The best book I ever read on this whole matter is Tom V. Morris\u2019s The Logic of God Incarnate<\/em>. \u00a0Jesus was both 100% divine and 100% human, and the only way that works is by divine self-limitation. Does this make sense to you?<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A. Yes, for sure! That is a beautiful recounting of the grace of God as revealed in the humility of Jesus Christ, the Son. <\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate Christ or to have the same mental attitude about life and follow his example. I take what that text says very seriously.\u00a0 God the Son could have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-25T05:07:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T14:08:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/\",\"name\":\"Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-25T05:07:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-13T14:08:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Women and the Gender of God– Dialogue Part Five\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five","description":"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five","og_description":"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2023-03-25T05:07:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-13T14:08:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/02\/51mESmSAQeL.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/","name":"Women and the Gender of God-- Dialogue Part Five","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-25T05:07:39+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-13T14:08:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"Q. For me one crucial text to understanding all this is Phil. 2.5-11, and it is one of the keys to understanding why we have exhortations to imitate","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/03\/25\/women-and-the-gender-of-god-dialogue-part-five\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Women and the Gender of God– Dialogue Part Five"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}