scandal of particularity

noun

The paradox inherent in the idea of a particular individual human (Jesus of Nazareth) incarnating the eternal divine God.

OriginGerman Ärgernis der Einmaligkeit →
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Meanings

noun
  1. lifestyleThe paradox inherent in the idea of a particular individual human (Jesus of Nazareth) incarnating the eternal divine God.

    2006: Reformed theologians look to the scandal of particularity as a way of naming how the unknowable God is known to us. — Cynthia L Rigby, ‘Scandalous Presence’, Feminist and Womanist Essays in Reformed Dogmatics (John Knox 2006, p. 59)

    1 more example

    1994: A materialism […] was supposed to be what science favoured: and the ‘scandal of particularity’, God becoming incarnate in Christ in human history, was indeed regarded as a scandal — that is, absurd — by contemporary intellectuals. — Richard Swinburne, Reason and the Christian Religion (Oxford 1994, p. 1)

Origin

  1. GermanÄrgernis der Einmaligkeit
  2. Englishscandal of particularity

Calque of German Ärgernis der Einmaligkeit

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

scandal of particularity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scandal%20of%20particularity

MLA

“scandal of particularity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scandal%20of%20particularity. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scandal of particularity,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scandal%20of%20particularity.

Source: scandal of particularity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.