Wcielenie a Misterium Paschalne

Abstract

Theologians of different Christian denominations agree more and more that the Incarnation is both a starting point and an integral part of Christ's redemptive work. The very act of assuming the body subjected to death and suffering implies already the beginning of redemption through His cross and resurrection. The Incarnation is directed by an inner dynamism toward its fulfilment in the mystery of Christ’s Passover. The author focuses his attention on the question of relationship between the Incarnation and the paschal mystery, which is of great importance for the whole of Christian soteriology; without a deep understanding of this relationship one cannot theologically understand neither the full dimension of the event of Incarnation nor the salutary dynamism of the paschal mystery. Therefore he first of all tries to show the Incarnation as a dynamic and developping reality, taking advantage of some contemporary anthropological insights and of the contribution of the Eastern tradition. Both the Scripture and tradition emphasize a constant gravitation of Incarnation toward the “hour” of Christ's Passover. A special attention is paid to the witness of the Greek Fathers and to the Christian theology of Christ's kénosis. The last part of the article is devoted to His Resurrection considered as the fulfilment of the mystery of Incarnation, or even as some sort of the “second Incarnation”. When the Greek Fathers speak of the théosis of mankind which took place at the very moment of Incarnation, they understand the latter as a developping reality ontologically bound up with the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. An integral Christian soteriology has to take into account the two poles of the redemptive work of Christ. None of these poles constitutes an autonomous salvific reality. Both of them form one indivisible mystery of Christ's salvation, whose beginng is the Incarnation, and the fulfilment His death and resurrection.