Incarnation literally meansembodied in flesh ortaking on flesh. It refers to theconception and birth of asentient creature who is the material manifestation of an entity,god orforce whose original nature is immaterial. In its religious context the word is used to mean the descent fromHeaven of a god, ordivine being in human/animal form onEarth. ThePharaohs ofAncient Egypt were sometimes said to be incarnations of theSun godsHorus andRa. The Incarnation ofChrist is a centralChristiandoctrine that God became flesh, assumed a human nature, and became a man in the form ofJesus Christ, the Son of God and the second person of theTrinity. InHinduism, incarnation generally refers to an avatar of Vishnu orGanesha. Collectively, the 10avatars ofVishnu are known as thedashavatara. In theBahá'í Faith, God is described as a single, imperishable God, thecreator of all things, including all the creatures and forces in theuniverse. In the teaching of theBuddha sentient beings incarnate due to thepsychological factors ofignorance, craving and clinging which results in thephenomenon of becoming andrebirth. MainstreamIslam completely rejects the doctrine of the incarnation of God in any form, as the concept is defined asshirk.
Jesus’ incarnation and ministry thus present us with the final critique of strategicreligion; on thecross, where we seeGod almost deliberately ‘lose’ – as if duped into being strung up by a scheming, fearful group of clerics – we see the end of power games. God will not play... - Kester Brewin.Basically there can be no categories such as 'religious art' and 'secular' art, because all true art is incarnational, and therefore 'religious'. -Madeleine L'Engle.
He was made man in order that we might be made gods.[Christ] manifested himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inheritimmortality.
Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about thetrinity or originalsin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied laterChristians. He went around doing good and beingcompassionate.
The Self-revealing of the Word is in everydimension - above, increation; below, in the Incarnation; in the depth, inHades; in the breadth, throughout theworld. All things have been filled with theknowledge ofGod.
TheChristian response is contained in these two fundamentaldogmas: that of theTrinity and that of the Incarnation. In the trinitarian dogmaGod is one, good, true, andbeautiful because he is essentiallyLove, and Love supposes the one, the other, and their unity.
Christians believe there is an afterlife. Although thebody dies and is buried or cremated, they believe that their uniquesoul lives on and is raised to new life byGod. Their belief thatJesus rose from the dead three days after hiscrucifixion (a Roman method of execution) gives Christians hope that if they followJesus’ teaching and accept him as their Lord and Saviour, then this new resurrectionlife awaits them. By being born as a human being (the incarnation), and then dying on thecross, Jesus made this new ‘life after death’ possible for all.
In thePlatonicanthropology, the first incarnation of thesoul occurs in a masculine body, and only a subsequent incarnation, marking a later descent of the soul into theworld of bodies, is feminine.
Ugo Bianchi, inDualism Religion, Encyclopædia Britannica, 14 January 2013
I have come that they may havelife and have it more abundantly
Jesus continues in his incarnation even after the resurrection, albeit in a different corporeal form. The incarnation did not cease with thecross and thetomb; it continues intranscendentalglory.
Jesus’ incarnation and ministry thus present us with the final critique of strategicreligion; on thecross, where we seeGod almost deliberately ‘lose’ – as if duped into being strung up by a scheming, fearful group of clerics – we see the end of power games. God will not play. I sincerelybelieve that if theChurch allows itself to be tied up in strategies, into ‘winning’ people forChrist, it will end inexorably moving towards power-politics, towards support forwars, and away from genuine concern for the ‘other’.
The alternative view of human nature may be termeddualistic. It conceives of the individual person as comprising an inner essential self orsoul, which is nonmaterial, and a physicalbody. In manyreligions] based on this view of human nature, the soul is regarded as being essentially immortal and as existing before the body was formed. Its incarnation in the body is interpreted as apenalty incurred for someprimordialsin orerror. Atdeath the soul leaves the body, and its subsequentfate is determined by the manner in which it has fulfilled what the particularreligion concerned has prescribed for the achievement ofsalvation. This view of human nature anddestiny finds most notable expression inHinduism and, in a subtly qualifiedsense, inBuddhism; it was alsotaught in suchmystical cults andphilosophies of the Greco-Romanworld asOrphism (an ancientGreek mystical movement with a significant emphasis on death),Gnosticism (an early system ofthought that viewedspirit as good and matter asevil),Hermeticism (aHellenisticesoteric,occultic movement), andManichaeism (a system ofthought founded by Mani in ancientIran).
Incarnation, centralChristian doctrine thatGod became flesh, that God assumed a human nature and became a man in the form ofJesus Christ, the Son of God and the second person of theTrinity.Christ was truly God and truly man. The doctrine maintains that thedivine and human natures of Jesus do not exist beside one another in an unconnected way but rather are joined in him in a personal unity that has traditionally been referred to as thehypostatic union.
The word Incarnation (from the Latincaro, “flesh”) may refer to the moment when this union of thedivine nature of the second person of the Trinity with the human nature became operative in the womb of theVirgin Mary or to the permanent reality of that union in the person ofJesus. The term may be most closely related to the claim in the prologue of theGospel. According to John that the Word became flesh—that is, assumed human nature.
Theessence of thedoctrine of the Incarnation is that the preexistent Word has been embodied in the manJesus of Nazareth, who is presented in theGospel. According to John as being in close personal union with the Father, whose words Jesus is speaking when he preaches the gospel.
The development of a more refinedtheology of the Incarnation resulted from the response of the early church to various misinterpretations concerning the question of the divinity ofJesus and the relationship of the divine and human natures of Jesus. TheCouncil of Nicaea (AD 325) determined thatChrist was “begotten, not made” and that he was therefore notcreature butCreator. The basis for this claim was the doctrine that he was “of the same substance as the Father.” The doctrine was further defined by theCouncil of Chalcedon (AD 451), at which it was declared that Jesus was perfect indeity and inhumanity and that the identity of each nature was preserved in the person of Jesus Christ. The affirmation of the oneness of Christ withGod and with humanity was made while maintaining the oneness of his person.
Greatness by nature includes apower, but not a will to power....The great man, whether we comprehend him in the most intense activity of hiswork or in the restful equipoise of his forces, is powerful, involuntarily and composedly powerful, but he is not avid for power. What he is avid for is the realization of what he has in mind, the incarnation of thespirit.
When all is said and done,science is about things andtheology is about words. Things behave in the same way everywhere, but words do not.Quantum mechanics works in allcultures, while theology works in one culture alone. If you have not grown up inPolkinghorne's culture, where words such as "incarnation" and "trinity" have a profound meaning, you cannot share hisvision.
The oldest known icon ofChrist Pantocrator -Saint Catherine's Monastery. The two different facial expressions on either side emphasize Christ's dual nature as bothdivine and human - The effect of the Incarnation on the human will ofChrist was to leave it free in all things save onlysin. It was absolutely impossible that any stain of sin should soil thesoul ofChrist. Neither sinful act of the will nor sinful habit of the soul were in keeping with theHypostatic Union. The fact that Christ never sinned is an article offaith. -Catholic Encyclopedia.
The Incarnation is themystery and thedogma of the Word made Flesh. ln this technical sense the word incarnation was adopted, during the twelfth century, from theNorman-French, which in turn had taken the word over from theLatinincarnatio.
The Incarnation implies three facts: (1) TheDivine Person ofJesus Christ; (2) The Human Nature of Jesus Christ; (3) TheHypostatic Union of the Human with the Divine Nature in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ.
The effect of the Incarnation on the human will ofChrist was to leave it free in all things save onlysin. It was absolutely impossible that any stain of sin should soil thesoul ofChrist. Neither sinful act of the will nor sinful habit of the soul were in keeping with theHypostatic Union. The fact that Christ never sinned is an article offaith.
I believe inGod - not in aCatholic God; there is no Catholic God. There is God, and I believe inJesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is myteacher and mypastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is thelight and theCreator. This is myBeing.
The most destructivecriticism has not been able to dethroneChrist as the incarnation of perfectholiness. The waves of a tossing and restless sea of unbelief break at His feet, and He stands still the supreme model, theinspiration of greatsouls, the rest of the weary, the fragrance of allChristendom, the onedivineflower in the garden of God.
Thus the word reveals theDivineEssence; His incarnation makes thatLife, thatLove, thatLight, which is eternally resident inGod obvious tosouls that steadily contemplate Himself. These terms Life, Love, Light — so abstract, so simple, so suggestive — meet in God; but they meet also inJesus Christ. They do not only make Him the centre of aphilosophy; they belong to themysticlanguage offaith more truly than to the abstract terminalogy of speculativethought. They drawhearts to Jesus; they invest Him with a higher than anyintellectualbeauty.
Priesthood is not a convenient,historically conditioned form of Church organisation, but is rooted in the Incarnation, in the priesthood and mission ofChrist himself.
Robert Oppenheimer, in a letter to his brother Frank (12 March 1932), published inRobert Oppenheimer : Letters and Recollections (1995) edited by Alice Kimball Smith, p. 155
But as flawed humans, we give only a vague hint ofGod. Our brokenreflection of God'simage is easily drowned out by our broken humanity. then, two thousand years ago, God came in his fullness. He came to all of us inJesus. The incarnation is not owned, trademarked, or controlled by anychurch. It belongs to every human being. The incarnation is not something that requires a distributor or middleman. It is agracious gift to every person everywhere,religious or not. God gave himself to us inJesus. -Michael Spencer.
The trouble with mostEnglishwomen is that they will dress as if they had been amouse in a previous incarnation they do not want to attract attention.
WithoutGod, listening to thatChristmassermon was avinegarexperience. Without the incarnation,Christianity isn't even a very goodstory, and most sadly, it means nothing. "Be nice to one another" is not a message that can give mylife meaning, assure me oflove beyond brokenness, and break open the dark doors ofdeath with the key ofhope. The incarnation is an essential part ofJesus-shapedspirituality.
The incarnation has many wonderful aspects...the incarnation is the complete refutation of every human system and institution that claims to control, possess, and distributeGod. Whatever anychurch orreligiousleader may claim in regard to their particular access to God or control over your experience of God, the incarnation is the last word:Godloves theworld. God came into the world in the form of the people he created, the human race (including you and me), who bear hisimage. God'screation ofhumanity in his image gives hints of who he is, since we all are marked by his fingerprints.
But as flawed humans, we give only a vague hint ofGod. Our brokenreflection of God'simage is easily drowned out by our broken humanity. then, two thousand years ago, God came in his fullness. He came to all of us inJesus. The incarnation is not owned, trademarked, or controlled by anychurch. It belongs to every human being. The incarnation is not something that requires a distributor or middleman. It is agracious gift to every person everywhere,religious or not. God gave himself to us inJesus.
Michael Spencer, in "Mere Churchianity: Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality", p. 91
The symbol of the sun circle, one of the most prevalent artistic representations of the sacred king, and the practice of addressing the king as “my sun” are well depicted in rock reliefs and inscriptions in areas ruled by the Hittite kings. The Persian king was regarded as the incarnation of the sun god or of the moon god. In addition to sky or sun deities, the sacred king also has been identified with other gods: the town god (Mesopotamia), the gods of the country, the god of the storm, and the weather god.
As on manymornings inMarin, there is this sly strip offog -water in it's mostmystical incarnation - slithering over, around, and through the hills, making everything look ancient and unsolved.
...]A Qubilghan, is in fact the representative in flesh andblood, of some Buddha,Bodhisattva,god orsaint, whosespirit is incarnated in him at the moment of his birth, and will pass, at hisdeath, into thebody of the child destined to become his successor in the functions fulfilled by him. The incarnation is thus less a matter of person than function. - Alice Getty....LikeGautama Buddha in his incarnation of thearhatSumedha, the Bodhisattva may have been, in a former re-birth, an arhat bent on his ownsalvation who, becoming inspired with thedesire forBodhi in order to save mankind, renounced his arhant-ship - Alice Getty.
The most important lineage of reincarnation was derived from the basicBuddhist idea of rebirth — the concept of the reimbodiment of asaintly predecessor's existence in a reincarnation of the same being in a new appearance, discovered anywhere in a child born at the right time and recognized by the leadingmonks andLamas.
TheBuddhist theory of re-incarnation is mainly rooted in the theory ofKarma.
Taglung Tsetrul Rinpoche quoted, in "Buddhism, Reincarnation, and Dalai Lamas of Tibet", p. 17
Beside the 'regular'clergy exists a special class ofecclesiastical dignitaries — the 'incarnations' or livingBuddhas who are at the summit of thelamaisthierarchy and who, in right of their very origin differ from the rest. A Qubilghan, is in fact the representative in flesh andblood, of some Buddha,Bodhisattva,god orsaint, whosespirit is incarnated in him at the moment of his birth, and will pass, at hisdeath, into thebody of the child destined to become his successor in the functions fulfilled by him. The incarnation is thus less a matter of person than function.
According to the Northern Buddhist school, there are both mortal and celestialBodhisattvas. A mortal Bodhisattva is one who has manifested himself onearth in human (manushi) form, in a series of incarnations, until such a time as he has acquired sufficientmerit andenlightenment to receiveBuddhahood. LikeGautama Buddha in his incarnation of thearhatSumedha, the Bodhisattva may have been, in a former re-birth, an arhat bent on his ownsalvation who, becoming inspired with thedesire forBodhi in order to save mankind, renounced his arhant-ship.
Alice Getty, in "The Gods of Northern Buddhism: Their History and Iconography", p. 44
A text ofTibetan Buddhism describes the time ofdeath as a unique opportunity forspiritualliberation from the cycles of death and rebirth and a period that determines our next incarnation.
The institution of "reincarnating lamas" unique toTibetan Buddhism and best known to the general public in the case of theDalai Lama, is very widespread. The great teacher, considered to be anemanation of a celestialBuddha orBodhisattva, is successively incarnated, generation after generation, in the young child selected as his successor and trained almost from infancy for that role. No leaders in Tibetan Buddhism receive greaterrespect,devotion, and honour, or have greaterpower andinfluence than these ”incarnations”, especially those who are heads of major lineages in important monasteries
The final form of the (Mahayana)Buddhistdoctrine of incarnation is the idea of trikaya, three bodies: first, “Transformation Body,” the earthlyBuddha, a transient and illusionary form of existence; second, “Enjoyment Body,” the form of existence for the sake of others; and third, “Dhamma Body,” the ultimate form of existence that indeed is no longer a “form” of existence but formless.
...In order to break themind of thisvain,mundaneattitude towardslife, we sit inmeditation and contemplate first the eight freedoms and ten endowments, and then the meaningful and rare nature of a human incarnation. -Dalai Lama.
The ordinarysamsaricmind sees the humanbody as just a tool with which to chase material,social, andbiological needs, all of which satisfy only superficial levels of thespirit. Their effects do not pass beyond the gates ofdeath. We have to learn to appreciate the intrinsicspiritual quality of human nature, to have a subtle confidence in the positive, creative aspect of our being. It is difficult to enter spiritual training if one regards one's life as having no purpose other than the pursuit ofephemeral,transient goals, as does arat who builds a strong nest and then drags home all sorts of trinkets to it. In order to break themind of thisvain,mundaneattitude towardslife, we sit inmeditation and contemplate first the eight freedoms and ten endowments, and then the meaningful and rare nature of a human incarnation.
If we do not practice now while we have an incarnation most suitable to the attainment ofenlightenment, what hope do we have for progress in thefuture? Many types ofsentient beings, such as dogs and insects thatlive near a temple, meet with the teachings but, not having an appropriate physical or mental basis, they are unable to comprehend them or put them to use.
The sunlight ranges over theuniverse, and at incarnation we step out of it into thetwilight of thebody, and see but dimly during the period of ourincarceration; atdeath we step out of theprison again into thesunlight, and are nearer to the reality.
The majorreligions that hold abelief in reincarnation, are Asian religions, especiallyHinduism,Jainism,Buddhism, andSikhism, all of which arose inIndia. They all hold in common a doctrine ofkarma (karman; “act”), the law of cause and effect, which states that what one does in this presentlife will have its effect in the next life. In Hinduism the process of birth and rebirth—i.e.,transmigration ofsouls—is endless until one achievesmoksha, orliberation (literally “release”) from that process. Moksha is achieved when one realizes that the eternal core of the individual (atman) and the Absolute reality (brahman) are one. Thus, one can escape from the process of death and rebirth (samsara).
The number ofVishnu’savatars is sometimes extended or their identities changed, according to local preferences. Thus, Krishna is in some areas elevated to the rank of adeity and his half brother,Balarama, included as an avatar.
One formulation of thedoctrine is given in thereligiouspoem theBhagavad Gita when charioteerLord Krishna tellsArjuna: “Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and rise of unrighteousness then I send forth Myself. For the protection of the good, for the destruction of the wicked, and for the establishment ofrighteousness, I come into being from age to age.”
Instead of a just king and a perfect man,Rāma is an incarnation ofVishnu and an intense object ofdevotion, dwarfing theVedicgods;Kampaṉ called his workIrāmāvatāram (“Rāma’s Incarnation”); yet the emphasis is not on Vishnu but ondharma (“the law”), localized andTamilized.
Both of them revert to theirdivine status, but in opposite places. When Brahma is chastisingRama for doubtingSita, he reassures Rama that Sita is an incarnation of thegoddessLakshmi and will be reunited with him inheaven.
In: p. 231
... allconscience and moralizing, andKumbhakarna (Ravana's monstrous brother, who sleeps for years at a time and wakes only to eat and fight) is a superb literary incarnation of the bestial id.
In: p. 246
Dharma, the god, must undergo thecurse for miscarriage of dharma. Being born as a human is different both from fathering a child (as Dharma fathersYudhishthira) and from spinning off an incarnation (asVishnudoes forRama andKrishna), ...
In: p. 279
A slave girl who functions as a dispensable, low-class stand-in (like theNishadas burned in the house of lac) gives birth toVidura, the incarnation of Dharma in fulfillment ofMandavya'scurse that he should be born as the son of aShudra...
In: p. 294
The myth ofVishnu's incarnation as theBuddha is established in full detail in theVishnu Parana, represented on the sixth- to seventh-century Dashavatara temple atDeogarh and mentioned in a seventh centuryPallava inscription and an eight centuryTamil inscription.
Jainism reflects abelief in aneternal and transmigratinglife principle (jiva) that is akin to an individualsoul—holds thatkarma is a fine particulate substance that settles upon thejiva according to thedeeds that a person does. Thus, the burden of the oldkarma is added to the new karma that is acquired during the next existence until thejiva frees itself byreligious disciplines, especially byahimsa (“nonviolence”), and rises to the place of liberatedjivas at the top of theuniverse.
Sikhism teaches adoctrine of reincarnation based on theHindu view but in addition holds that, after the Last Judgment,souls—which have been reincarnated in several existences—will be absorbed in God.
Muslimsbelieve that there are no intermediaries betweenGod and thecreation that he brought into being by his sheer command, “Be.” Although his presence is believed to be everywhere, he is not incarnated in anything. He is the sole creator and sustainer of theuniverse, wherein every creature bears witness to his unity and lordship. But he is also just and merciful: hisjustice ensures order in his creation, in which nothing is believed to be out of place, and hismercy is unbounded and encompasses everything.
Ahl-e Ḥaqq, (Arabic: “People of Truth,” or “People of God”), a secret, [[w:Syncretistic|syncretisticreligion, derived largely fromIslām, whose adherents are found in westernIran, with enclaves inIraq. They retain the 12 imams of the Ithnā ʿAsharīyah sect and such aspects of Islāmicmysticism as the communalfeast. Central to theirreligion, however, is abelief in seven successivemanifestations ofGod. They further believe in the transmigration of souls, asserting that every person must pass through 1,001 incarnations, in the course of which he receives the proper reward for his actions.
_-_James_Tissot.jpg)
.jpg)
