The manifest and the revealed

a phenomenology of kenosis

Adam Wells

What is scripture and how does it function? Is there a “scientific” way to understand its meaning? In answer, Adam Wells proposes a phenomenological approach to scripture that radicalizes both phenomenology and its relation to Christianity. By reading the “kenōsis hymn” (Philippians 2:5–11) alongside the work of Edmund Husserl, Wells develops a kenotic reduction that rehabilitates the Husserlian idea of “absolute science” while also disclosing the radical philosophical implications of Paul’s “new creation.” More broadly, The Manifest and the Revealed pushes the fields of phenomenology and biblical studies forward. The turn to scripture, as a source for theological and philosophical reflection, marks an important advance for the recent “theological turn” in phenomenology. At the same time, by bringing to light the incredible complexity of scripture, phenomenology provides a ay for contemporary biblical studies to exceed its own limits. Wells demonstrates how phenomenology and scripture ultimately illuminate one another in profound and surprising ways.