Belonging to Another: Christ, Moral Nature, and the Shape of Humility

Abstract

This article reflects on Paul’s Christology in the Epistle to the Philippians and the operative notion of humility that is both implicit and explicit in his paraenesis. Through a theological exegesis of the famous Christ-hymn in particular, three consequential aspects of humility come to the fore: its grounding in Christ’s love, as well as its definition by and distinction from Christ’s own humility. Humility thus has a Christological foundation in a twofold sense because Christ not only exemplifies this virtue but constitutes the moral nature that defines those who belong to him. When the shape of humility is discerned in this light and explicated in relation to the theological virtues, it is understood as a form of eschatological belonging that finds concrete expression in faith working through love.