Divine Becoming
Rethinking Jesus and Incarnation
- Theology
- Publisher: Fortress Press (Augsburg Fortress)
- Published: 2001
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Publisher's Description
The universally human element of Jesus' incarnation Despite the feverish pace of publishing in historical Jesus studies, biblical scholars and theologians have not notably progressed in addressing the meaning and significance of the figure of Jesus in ways credible for contemporary persons. In this creative and insightful work, Burns seeks to understand the significance of Jesus and his incarnation through the category of participation. The central theological claims in the traditional concept of incarnation are anchored and illumined by Jesus' particular ability for empathy, sympathy, attunement, and entrainment. This notion, derived from the psychological research of Daniel Stern, allows Burns to show that incarnation — the capacity to participate in the life of others — is present not only in Jesus but to some extent in all people and in all religions. It further illumines features of God's trinitarian life and our lifelong journey into God (deification).
Endorsements (2)
“What Charlene Burns attempts to answer in Divine Becoming is surely one of the knottiest contemporary christological puzzles: how can orthodox christology be understood, that is, made persuasive, really internalized, deeply appropriated? She does so by a creative and credible use of psychological analysis (of empathy and sympathy), showing that God and the human belong together, not only in Jesus, but in all of us. This book will be, I believe, at the center of future christological discussion.”
“Divine Becoming is a beautifully articulated and carefully reasoned book, conversant with the classical theological tradition. Charlene Burns creatively incorporates interdisciplinary research into the human phenomena of entrainment, attunement, and altruism to interpret the meaning of incarnation. Where divine empathy meets the human capacity for self-transcendence on behalf of others, there deification occurs like unto Jesus.”
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