PERSON, DIVINE

This article successively examines the scriptural foundation of the doctrine, the testimonies of early tradition, and finally the theological formulation.

Scripture. The Trinitarian mystery of God's inner life, remotely foreshadowed in the Old Testment (Prv8.22; Sir 24.3–21 for the Word; Ez 3.12, 14; 36.26; Jl3.1–5 for the Spirit), is unfolded in its totality, but gradually, by Christ Himself. Old Testment monotheism, deeply rooted in the Jewish mind (Dt 6.4–5; Mt 22.37) is the basis on which the new mystery is built and at the same time its main doctrinal obstacle. Yahweh's divinity needs no proof for a Jew. Paul, reared in the purest Jewish tradition (Phil 3.5), reserves the title ὁ θεός exclusively to god the father (Rom 15.5, 13, 33; 1 Cor 2.11; Col 1.3).

Jesus Christ is the only Son of God (Mk 1.11, where ἀγαπητός is the equivalent of only). Though rarely called God in the New Testment, Christ is endowed with strictly divine attributes: He is the spouse (Mt 9.15) and shepherd of the people (John, ch. 10), titles which were strictly divine in the Old Testment (Hos 2:16–25: spouse; Ezekiel ch. 34: shepherd). He forgives sin (Lk 5.20) on His own authority (Mk 2.7), perfects and completes the Law (Mt5.17), is the supreme master of the Sabbath (Mt 12.8; Mk3.1–6), and supreme judge of all men (Mt 25.31; Rom2.16), who knows His Father as intimately as His Father knows Him (Mt 11.27). Christ is called directly God by Paul in Rom 9.5 if the Christological character of this doxology is admitted (see son, god the).

As for the distinct, divine personality of the holy spirit, it is at the Last Supper that Jesus discloses it in full: He is the paraclete (John 14.16, 26), who hears (Jn 16.13), speaks (ibid. ), announces (Jn 16.13–15), and teaches (Jn 14.26; 16.13). In Paul, the expressions "to live in Christ" and "to live in the Spirit" are practically synonymous: man is justified in Christ (Gal 2.17) and in the Spirit (1 Cor 6.11), sanctified in Christ (1 Cor 1.2) and in the Spirit (Rom 15.16), sealed in Christ (Eph 1.13) and in the Spirit (Eph 4.30). Both, Son and Spirit, preexistent in God, are sent by Him into the world (Gal 4.4–6; Rom8.15–16).

Early Tradition. The doctrine is definitely shaped by nicaea i (325, divinity of the Son) and constantinople i (381, divinity of the Spirit). Simultaneously with the fixing of the doctrine itself, the thorny problem of terminology is thrashed out. After some initial hesitation (Tertullian, Novatian), the term persona is adopted in the West. This word translates the Hebrew pānîm (face), and originally designated a mask, then a theatrical role, and finally any concrete individual. The use of the word reflects Hebrew usage, easily recognizable in the literal Vulgate: "facies mea praecedet te" (Ex 33.14); "in tempore vultus tui" (Ps 20.10); "ab increpatione vultus tui" (Ps 79.17). In 2 Cor 1.11 the word persona has the meaning of an individual (see H. Lesètre, Dictionnaire de la Bible, ed. F. Vigouroux [Paris 1895–1912] 5.1:159–160). The word πρόσωπον (person) is applied to the Persons of the Trinity already by Hippolytus (Cont. haer. Noet. 7, 14; Patrologia Graeca, ed J. P. Migne [Paris 1857–66] 10:813, 822), but the definite formula "three Persons, one substance" is due to Tertullian (Adv. Prax. 11–13; Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne [Paris 1878–90] 2:166–170). After him, this terminology spreads throughout the West (Damasus, Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose).

In the East there are similar uncertainties with regard to terminology: the hypostasis ([symbol omitted]πόστασις) of Biblical origin (Heb 1.3) is now taken to mean a concrete individual with definite characteristics of his own, as opposed to a common substratum, or ο[symbol omitted]σία, which can be shared by several individuals (see Basil, Ep. 236.6; Patrologia Graeca 32:884). Therefore in God ο[symbol omitted]σία expresses what is common to all three, such as goodness and divinity; whereas [symbol omitted]πόστασις signifies respectively paternity, filiation, and sanctifying power (Basil, Ep. 214.4; Patrologia Graeca 32:789). It is Gregory of Nazianzus who brings about final reconciliation between the conflicting terminologies of East and West (Orat. 42.16; Patrologia Graeca 36:475–478). Hereafter the Greek terms ο[symbol omitted]σία and [symbol omitted]πόστασις will be equivalent to the corresponding Latin substantia and persona (Orat. 21.35; Patrologia Graeca 35:1125). At the explicit request of Basil and Jerome, Pope Damasus authoritatively pronounces the validity of Basil's formula (Damasus, Ep. 2.1; Patrologia Latina 13:350). In 382 the East accepts the Latin formulation (Theodoret of Cyr, Hist. eccles. 5.9; Patrologia Graeca 82:1212–17), and, conversely, the West agrees to the Greek formula (Theodoret, op. cit. 5.3; 82:1202).

Theology. A Divine Person is essentially constituted by a subsistence that is both individual and incommunicable. Divine personal properties cannnot be shared among the three Persons. Yet, this concept of Divine Person, far from suggesting a nature that is closed up within itself, signifies rather an essential openness, an outward tendency relating each Person to the other two. In man, this social, outward bent is counterbalanced by and rooted in an unavoidable self-centeredness that is to be surpassed and perfected by an external acquisition. This social tendency in man fills up his own innate poverty. In the Trinity, on the contrary, each Person lacks this self-centeredness: a Divine Person is nothing else than an infinite, eternal, loving, centrifugal force, necessarily related to the other two centrifugal forces. In God that outward inclination has as its origin not poverty to be filled, but superabundance to be communicated. Each Person is nothing but a total self-gift to the other two, and this communication is so peculiar as to constitute a personal, distinct trait, a distinct Divine Person. A Divine Person is the supreme pattern of man's unselfish generosity.

See Also: trinity, holy, articles on; person (in theology); nature; incommunicability; paternity, divine.

Bibliography: a. michel, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., (Paris 1903–50) 7.1:369–437. a. grillmeier, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (Freiberg 1957–65) 8:290–292. a. malet, Personne et amour dans la théologie trinitaire de st. Thomas d'Aquin (Paris 1956). f. prat, The Theology of St. Paul, tr. j. l. stoddard, 2 v. (London 1926–27; repr. Westminster, Md. 1958). t. de rÉgnon, Études de théologie positive sur la Sainte Trinité, 4 v. (Paris 1892–98).

[a. m. bermejo]