Kenosis

Christ "emptied Himself" (Philippians 2:7)

NPN1-03D - Augustine, Doctrinal Treatises, On the Trinity, Book 1, Ch.13, pt. 29

CHAP. 13.--DIVERSE THINGS ARE SPOKEN CONCERNING THE SAME CHRIST, ON ACCOUNT OF THE DIVERSE NATURES OF THE ONE HYPOSTASIS [THEANTHROPIC PERSON]. WHY IT IS SAID THAT THE FATHER WILL NOT JUDGE, BUT HAS GIVEN JUDGMENT TO THE SON.

28. Yet unless the very same were the Son of man on account of the form of a servant which He took, who is the Son of God on account of the form of God in which He is; Paul the apostle would not say of the princes of this world, "For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."(2) For He was crucified after the form of a servant, and yet "the Lord of glory" was crucified. For that "taking" was such as to make God man, and man God. Yet what is said on account of what, and what according to what, the thoughtful, diligent, and pious reader discerns for himself, the Lord being his helper. For instance, we have said that He glorifies His own, as being God, and certainly then as being the Lord of glory; and yet the Lord of glory was crucified, because even God is rightly said to have been crucified, not after the power of the divinity, but after the weakness of the flesh:(3) just as we say, that He judges as God, that is, by divine power, not by human; and yet the man Himself will judge, just as the Lord of glory was crucified: for so He expressly says, "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, and before Him shall be gathered all nations;"(4) and the rest that is foretold of the future judgment in that place even to the last sentence. And the Jews, inasmuch as they will be punished in that judgment for persisting in their wickedness, as it is elsewhere written, "shall look upon Him whom they have pierced."(5) For whereas both good and bad shall see the Judge of the quick and dead, without doubt the bad will not be able to see Him, except after the form in which He is the Son of man; but yet in the glory wherein He will judge, not in the lowliness wherein He was judged. But the ungodly without doubt will not see that form of God in which He is equal to the Father. For they are not pure in heart; and "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."(6) And that sight is face to face,(7) the very sight that is promised as the highest reward to the just, and which will then take place when He "shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;" and in this "kingdom" He means the sight of His own form also to be understood, the whole creature being made subject to God, including that wherein the Son of God was made the Son of man. Because, according to this creature, "The Son also Himself shall be subject unto Him, that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all."(8) Otherwise if the Son of God, judging in the form in which He is equal to the Father, shall appear when He judges to the ungodly also; what becomes of that which He promises, as some great thing, to him who loves Him, saying, "And I will love him, and will manifest myself to him?"(9) Wherefore He will judge as the Son of man, yet not by human power, but by that whereby He is the Son of God; and on the other hand, He will judge as the Son of God, yet not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in which He is God equal to the Father, but in that [incarnate form] in which He is the Son of man.(10)

29. Therefore both ways of speaking may be used; the Son of man will judge, and, the Son of man will not judge: since the Son of man will judge, that the text may be true which says, "When the Son of man shall come, then before Him shall be gathered all nations;" and the Son of man will not judge, that the text may be true which says, "I will not judge him;""(11) and, "I seek not mine own glory: there is One that seeketh and judgeth."(12) For in respect to this, that in the judgment, not the form of God, but the form of the Son of man will appear, the Father Himself will not judge; for according to this it is said, "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." Whether this is said after that mode of speech which we have mentioned above, where it is said, "So hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself,"(1) that it should signify that so He begat the Son; or, whether after that of which the apostle speaks, saying, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name:"--(For this is said of the Son of man, in respect to whom the Son of God was raised from the dead; since He, being in the form of God equal to the Father, wherefrom He "emptied" Himself by taking the form of a servant, both acts and suffers, and receives, in that same form of a servant, what the apostle goes on to mention: "He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, in the Glory of God the Father:"(2)--whether then the words, "He hath committed all judgment unto the Son," are said according to this or that mode of speech; it sufficiently appears from this place, that if they were said according to that sense in which it is said, "He hath given to the Son to have life in Himself," it certainly would not be said, "The Father judgeth no man." For in respect to this, that the Father hath begotten the Son equal to Himself, He judges with Him. Therefore it is in respect to this that it is said, that in the judgment, not the form of God, but the form of the Son of man will appear. Not that He will not judge, who hath committed all judgment unto the Son, since the Son saith of Him, "There is One that seeketh and judgeth:" but it is so said, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son;" as if it were said, No one will see the Father in the judgment of the quick and the dead, but all will see the Son: because He is also the Son of man, so that He can be seen even by the ungodly, since they too shall see Him whom they have pierced.