Exinanition describes the voluntary self-humbling of the eternal Son of God in the Incarnation — His willingness to lay aside the independent exercise of divine glory, omnipotence, and prerogative in order to take on human flesh and fulfill the mission of redemption (Philippians 2:5–8). The word does not imply that Christ stripped Himself of divine nature — He remained fully God — but that He veiled that nature in weakness, poverty, and servanthood.
Exinanition is the eternal Son's movement downward: from the heights of heaven to the womb of a peasant girl; from the throne of creation to a manger; from commanding angels to washing feet. This descent was not accidental or reluctant — it was willed, purposeful, and total. The exinanition of Christ is the greatest act of condescension in the history of the universe, and the foundation of every Christian call to humility.
Where kenosis is the Greek term, exinanition is its Latin cognate — same doctrine, older English vocabulary. Theologians such as Francis Turretin, John Owen, and the Westminster divines would have naturally used this term.
EXINANITION — n. [L. exinanitio.] 1. The act of emptying; a state of emptiness; privation; exhaustion. 2. In theology, a word used to express the humiliation of the Son of God in becoming man; his humbling himself, laying aside the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, condescending to take on him the form of a servant, and submitting to the ignominy and sufferings of life and death. Webster's inclusion of this word in 1828 confirms it was standard theological vocabulary of its era — now largely replaced by the Greek kenosis in modern usage.
• Philippians 2:5–8 — "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing… taking the very nature of a servant."
• John 1:14 — "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us."
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 — "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor."
• Isaiah 53:2–3 — "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him… He was despised and rejected by mankind."
Latin exinanire — to empty completely; ex- (out of, completely) + inanis (empty, void, hollow). The Vulgate at Phil. 2:7 reads "semetipsum exinanivit" — "He emptied Himself out completely."
G2758 — κενόω (kenoō) — the Greek root: to empty, to make of no effect. From kenos (empty). The Greek technical term kenosis (the emptying) derives from this root, translating the same Philippians 2:7 action.
Both exinanition (Latin-English) and kenosis (Greek) describe the same theological reality from different linguistic traditions. Knowing both helps you read older Reformed and Catholic theology without confusion.
The loss of the word exinanition from common Christian vocabulary is itself a small symptom of the broader amnesia about the depth of the Incarnation. When Christians hear "kenosis" today, it often prompts shallow sentimentalism ("Jesus gave up heaven for us — sweet!") rather than the staggering theological gravity intended. Orthodox exinanition theology demands that we grapple with what exactly the Son laid aside, how His two natures related during the Incarnation, and what it means that the Creator became a creature. Modern Christianity often prefers a Jesus who is warm and accessible over a Jesus who is cosmically self-humbled — and in so doing, loses the full wonder of both.
• "The exinanition of the Son is not a subtraction of deity — it is an addition of humanity, freely willed for our salvation."
• "Exinanition is not weakness. It is infinite strength choosing a manger over a throne — and knowing exactly what it is doing."
• "Every Christian call to humility is rooted in the exinanition of Christ: 'Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus' (Phil. 2:5)."