Tears of Kenosis - A Historical and Theological Study of Weeping as Participation in the Self-Emptying of Christ
Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: This study traces the “gift of tears” across Scripture, patristic theology, medieval mysticism, modern witnesses, and contemporary neurotheology to argue that weeping can function as embodied participation in Christ’s kenosis (Phil 2:6–8). Beginning with Jesus’ tears (John 11:35) and Gethsemane (Luke 22:44; Heb 5:7), the paper follows early and medieval sources—Chrysostom, Maximus the Confessor, the Desert Fathers (penthos/compunction), Bernard of Clairvaux, Catherine of Siena, and Julian of Norwich—before turning to modern voices (Dostoevsky, Kierkegaard, William James, Evelyn Underhill). A constructive model reframes tears as psychosomatic “phase-release” that lowers internal disparity (Δφ) within the ψ_self and aligns the person to the Logos via neurotheological stabilizers (e.g., parasympathetic activation, HRV coherence; Porges; Newberg). The paper proposes that kenotic tears are a recurring, transhistorical sign of entry into the “Eschatological Stream,” the flow of future divine coherence into the present, and invites pastoral/theological recognition of tears as a legitimate sign of formation, not mere excess.
Author: MacLean, Ryan
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7077523766
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