📘 Lexicon Entry: Kenotic Sovereignty

Understanding divine sovereignty as expressed through self-limitation and self-giving, demonstrating power through service rather than domination.

A theological concept describing divine sovereignty as expressed through self-limitation and self-giving, rejecting power as domination in favor of power as service and demonstrating divine authority through vulnerable love rather than coercive force. This understanding challenges both tyrannical models of divine control and deistic models of divine absence, offering alternative vision of power that enables rather than diminishes others’ agency. Kenotic Sovereignty provides theological foundation for Servant Power and directly addresses Authoritarian Spirituality by demonstrating divine authority through love rather than fear.

Theological Alternative

sovereignty, kenosis, self-limitation, divine authority, vulnerable power, service, non-coercive power

Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Kenotic Sovereignty.” *Political Theology Lexicon*. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon. Accessed [date].

Divine sovereignty manifested through self-limitation rather than unlimited domination

God’s power expressed through service and self-giving rather than coercion

Divine authority established through love rather than fear

Creation involves divine self-limitation to allow genuine creaturely freedom

Incarnation reveals divine sovereignty through kenotic presence rather than distant control

Divine sovereignty understood as unlimited domination and control

God’s power conceived primarily through coercion and force

Divine authority based on fear rather than love

Human freedom seen as threat to rather than expression of divine sovereignty

Divine transcendence understood as distance rather than intimate presence

Power exercised through self-limitation that enables others’ flourishing

Authority established through service rather than domination

Sovereignty demonstrated through vulnerable love rather than invulnerable control

Divine freedom expressed through commitment to relationship rather than arbitrary action

Christological revelation of divine power through cross and resurrection

Trinitarian understanding of divine authority as mutual self-giving

Creation theology emphasizing divine self-limitation for creaturely freedom

Covenant theology revealing divine commitment rather than arbitrary power

Christ’s self-emptying to take form of servant (Philippians 2:5-11)

Jesus’s teaching about rulers who serve rather than dominate (Luke 22:25-27)

Divine power manifested through weakness (1 Corinthians 1:25)

God’s sovereignty through covenant faithfulness rather than arbitrary power

Servant leadership models in religious and secular contexts

Democratic governance structures that distribute rather than concentrate power

Therapeutic approaches based on empowerment rather than expert control

Educational models that enable student agency rather than demanding passive reception

Political theological analysis of power, authority, and governance models

Comparative studies of kenotic versus coercive approaches to leadership

Philosophical exploration of sovereignty and self-limitation

Psychological research on authority and empowerment in relationships

Related Primary Concepts: Interindependence through enabling rather than dominating power

Key Alternatives: Servant Power, Counter-Imperial

Theological Mutations Addressed: Dominative Christianism, Binary Apocalypticism

Contemporary Movements: Servant leadership, democratic governance, empowerment-based approaches

May 23, 2025

*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*