Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ

Definition and Meaning

The humiliation and exaltation of Christ is a framework in Christology that explains the life and work of Jesus Christ in terms of two "states." Humiliation means "being made low," and exaltation means "being raised high." The course by which God the Son became man, suffered, and died is regarded as his humiliation, and the course from his resurrection to his second coming as his exaltation.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, drafted alongside the Westminster Confession of Faith, summarizes this framework as follows:

• Humiliation: his being born, and that in a low condition (the Incarnation); being made under the law; undergoing the miseries of this life and the wrath of God; enduring the cursed death of the cross; and being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time
• Exaltation: his rising again from the dead on the third day; his ascending up into heaven (the Ascension); his sitting at the right hand of God the Father; and his coming to judge the world at the last day (the Second Coming)

The same catechism explains that Christ executes his threefold office of prophet, priest, and king in both of these states.

Biblical and Historical Background

The principal supporting text is Philippians 2:6–11. It states that Christ "made himself of no reputation" (from the Greek verb meaning "emptied," whence kenosis), took upon him the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, and that for this reason God highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9–11). Hebrews 2:9 and Acts 2:33, among other passages, are also cited.

The systematic division into two states became established in Protestant dogmatics after the Reformation. Understandings of the details differ by tradition:

• The Reformed and Presbyterian traditions regard the Apostles' Creed clause "he descended into hell" as the final stage of the humiliation. The Heidelberg Catechism interprets it as the hellish anguish Christ suffered on the cross.
• The Lutheran tradition, in the Formula of Concord (1577), regards the descent into hell as a proclamation of victory and places it as the first stage of the exaltation.
• In the nineteenth century, "kenotic Christology" emerged, which views the humiliation as Christ's voluntary laying aside of divine attributes. This view drew criticism for weakening Christ's deity.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestantism, the term itself is used mainly in systematic theology and doctrinal instruction at Presbyterian seminaries. Because Korean Presbyterian denominations adopt the Westminster Standards as their doctrinal standard, this sequence is taught in catechumenate and church-membership classes and in doctrinal study.

Korean Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches use the term less often, but they share its content, since the Apostles' Creed confessed in worship follows the same sequence from Christ's birth to his return. Churches in the Pentecostal tradition tend to emphasize Acts 2:33, which speaks of the exalted Christ pouring out the Holy Spirit, and to connect it with the experience of the Spirit.

The Korean translation of the Apostles' Creed long in wide use among Protestants is known to omit the clause "he descended into hell." By contrast, the Korean Catholic version of the Apostles' Creed includes the phrase "he descended to the realm of the dead."