Christian Misuse of the Concept of ‘Person’

Trinitarian Christians believe this of Jesus Christ: He was the Son of God, true God and true man in one divine Person.

We modern human beings have created a problem I discussed in a longer and more technical posting on my other blog, Speaking Stutteringly About Moral Freedom, Part 2. The term person in traditional Christian thought was defined vaguely but constrained by our need to speak our beliefs about Jesus Christ.

Before we speak of each human being as a person at conception, we Christians should ask ourselves:

Was Jesus of Nazareth a human person at conception?

If we say, “Yes,” we cast into doubt our belief that He was a divine Person. If we say, “No,” while saying all the rest of us are human persons at conception, then we deny that the Lord Jesus Christ is true man. We deny He is truly one of us and we cast into doubt the reality of our salvation.

Some will counter that it’s important to have a way of defining a human person as having from conception a special dignity. Some will say we need a way to speak of human beings as being exceptional, set apart from other species in the animal kingdom. We need to fight all those who would abort babies and would clone human beings. In a simple but accurate sentence:

We need a way to argue against the powerful trend in the modern West to cast aside Christian beliefs and to use defenseless human beings as means to the ends of the powerful.

This is true, but when we speak as if we can demonstrate, or assume, the absolute value of human life within the realm of natural reasoning, we degrade revealed truths into mere products of human natural reasoning. In my various writings, I’ve advocated that we be willing to re-examine many of the speculative beliefs of Christianity (such as the belief that life after death is secured by an immortal soul). We should be willing to creatively analyze modern empirical knowledge by use of disciplined human reasoning.

But there are truths which Christians must defend, even unto martyrdom:

The Almighty is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, three Persons in one God; and

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnate Son of God, who took up a human nature, becoming true man while remaining true God.

We need a word to mean what person means in the traditional creeds of Christianity. In theory, we could invent a new word to mean what person once meant but it’s more likely that a continued corruption of that so-important word will be a factor in the ongoing erosion of Christian belief even in the minds and hearts of those who pray and attend worship service faithfully. We are all in danger of becoming unitarians of some sort.

I plan to post another short entry soon in which I’ll try to scout a way out of this maze we’ve entered.

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