INCARNATION (ML. incarnatio, front Lat. incarnari, to be made flesh, front in, in cam flesh, Gk. yin, kreas, AS. !trite, Skt. krarya, raw flesh). In Christian theology, the assump tion of humanity, by the second person of the divine Trinity, by which Ile was both God and man in one person. The idea of the manifest: licit of God in human form is as old as religion. It underlies all the supposed appearances of God to men. It is found especially in the religion of India, where there are repeated incarnations of the divine principle in and men. (See METEM PsrcHosis.) The biblical doctrine is, however, different from all these doctrines, since it is the doctrine of a real assumption of human nature, by a distinct person of the Trinity, for a specific purpose, and once only. It is as ferent from other doctrines of incarnation as the Christian doctrine of sin is from other doctrines.
The fact of the incarnation is variously repre sented and sustained in the Scriptures. It is in troduced by the story, of the miraculous eoncep tion of .Jesus. He was not born. as other men are, of two parents, but was born of it virgin. miraeu lcaisly conceived by her of the Holy Ghost. The direct evidence for this is confined to the two nospels of Matthew and Luke. The disposition has been frequently manifested to deny the value of the accounts and the reality of the miraculous concept ion. This has recently received some furtherance from the higher criticism of the New Testament. The fact that the accounts are not confirmed from other sources of the Gospel his tory, that the genealogies seem to derive Jesus' descent from, Joseph, that various expressions are used in the body of all the Gospels implying that lie was born in the natural way, and that Paul and other New Testament writers know nothing of the matter, is variously urged. But there is nothing inconsistent with the accounts or the fact in other portions of the New Testament, and the peculiar nature of the subject demanded a de gree of reticence upon it which would naturally lead to its late explanation, and to the silence of most of the New Testament, written when it was, upon this point. For an excellent discussion of the subject, consult Weiss, Life of Christ, book ii., eh. 11 (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1883).
By the miraculous conception God specially prepared the humanity of Jesus, and the natural conclusion is that it was prepared for a special purpose. Then, all through the Gospels .Tesus is represented as having 'come' into the world. In the Gospel of John it is said that the Word, who "was in the beginning with God and was God," "became flesh" (John i. 14), or man, and
in Philippians (ii. G-7) it is similarly said that Christ, "being in the form of God," emptied Him self and took "the form of man." The whole at mosphere of the New Testament is that in Christ we have a. heavenly, an eternal, a divine, being come to earth for the salvation of man. And that there may be no doubt that such is the real meaning of the Bible (intimated in the Old Testa ment as well as declared in the Newj, the later writers of the New Testament ascribe to Christ the work of creation, that of preservation, and that of divine government of the world, designate Min as the goal toward whose glorification the world is tending, and teach that He will come in glory to be our judge. to close the history of this world, and to deliver up the kingdom again to the Trinity.
Thus the reality of the divine nature of Christ is set forth. But another point must be under steod before the biblical doctrine is fully com prehended. This heavenly being, come to earth of His own act for the salvation of man, is the proper 'self,' the dominating and willing '1,' in the person of Christ. Thus Christ is not a man in whom God dwells, illuminating Him and fit ting Him for the work of a prophet, but He is God Himself, acting variously for the instruction, enlightenment, and salvation of man.
At the same time, the human nature of Christ is real and entire. lie was truly born, and lived as other men do. All this in perfect unity of consciousness, which was the consciousness of the divine Logos. The explanation of the union of these two natures in one person is the task of Christ°lo,r_ry (qx.).
Consult: Core, Incarnation of the Son of God (London. 1891) ; Ottley. Doctrine of the Incar nation (London, 1896) : Simon. Reconciliation by Incarnation (Edinburgh, 1898) ; Dorner. His tory of thc Derelopment of the Doctrine of the Person of Christ (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1861 (13) ; Eck, The Incarnation (London, 1902) ; Powell, Principle of the Incarnation (London, 1896) ; Orr, Christian View of God and the "World as Centring in the Incarnation (Edin burgh, 1893) : Dix, The Sacramental System Con sidered as an Extension of the Incarnation (Lon don, 1893) ; Didon, Vie de Jeisu (Paris, 1890; trans. Jesus Christ, New York, 1891) ; Touard, The Christ the Son of God (trans., London, 1890) ; G. F. Baur, Die christliche Lchrc von der Drcieinigkrit und Nenschircrduny Gottes (Tu bingen, 1841) ; Themasius, Christi Person :tad ll'rrk (Erlangen, 1874) ; id., Dogincngeschichte (ib., 1874) ; Gess, Christi Person und Berk (Basel, 1870-87) ; Harnack, Dogmengcschichte (Freiburg, Is93). See ('IIRISTOLOGY.