Incarnation

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term seongyuksin (成肉身) means "becoming flesh (a human body)" and translates the Latin incarnatio ("entering into flesh"). It refers to the teaching that God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, became man and was born as Jesus Christ. The heart of the doctrine is that Christ did not cease to be God but became fully human while remaining God. The church commonly expresses this by confessing that he is "true God and true man."

Biblical and Historical Background

The principal scriptural basis for the Incarnation is John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Other frequently cited passages include Philippians 2:6–8, which says that he who was in the form of God emptied himself and was made in the likeness of men; Colossians 2:9, which says that in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; and Hebrews 2:14, which says that Christ shared in human flesh and blood.

The early church worked through various views and controversies concerning this doctrine. Some Gnostic groups, regarding matter as evil, claimed that Christ only appeared to be human and did not have a real body (Docetism). Arianism, by contrast, taught that the Son was not God in the same sense as the Father but a created being. The Council of Nicaea in 325 rejected Arius's position and confessed that the Son is of the same essence as the Father, a confession carried forward in the Nicene Creed. The Council of Chalcedon in 451 defined that Christ possesses in one person both a divine nature and a human nature—that is, the nature of God and the nature of man. This definition later became the standard accepted by the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and most Protestant churches.

In the Korean Church

Korean Protestant denominations generally share a common confession of the doctrine of the Incarnation. It is expressed in the line of the Apostles' Creed, which congregations recite in worship: "conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary." The Westminster Confession of Faith, followed by Presbyterian churches, confesses it in its chapter on Christ the Mediator, and the articles of religion of the Methodist and Anglican churches contain the same teaching.

The Incarnation is also connected to the doctrines of atonement and salvation. Many denominations explain that Christ had to be true man in order to stand in the place of human beings, and true God in order to accomplish salvation. Lutheran and Reformed (Presbyterian) churches, however, differ in their interpretation of how Christ's humanity is present in the Lord's Supper; this issue is treated under Eucharistic controversy.

In church life, Christmas is observed as the feast commemorating the Incarnation. Some churches also observe Advent before Christmas. Advent is more prominent in churches that follow the liturgical calendar, such as Anglican and Methodist churches and some Presbyterian churches. In addition, some churches and theologians use the terms "incarnational ministry" and "incarnational mission" to express the call to follow Christ's example of descending to a lowly place, and they emphasize ministry that enters into the life of the local community.