This is both a historical and a systematic exploration of the basic Christian belief in God's self-emptying in creation and redemption. In Christ, God has --emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.-- Not only does the author review the thinking on the kenotic motif from earliest Christian times (even antedating the Pauline Epistles) to the present, but he views it as a source of fresh insight for Christology today. Kierkegaard introduced the kenotic motif to contemporary theology, which views it as the ultimate paradox. In Barth's doctrine of the freedom of God, kenosis means God is...