Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Person (prosopon / persona)

A distinct centre of self, relation, and action — 'someone'.

Latin persona (originally an actor's mask, then a legal/relational identity); Greek prosopon.

Not a biblical technical term; the persons are shown acting toward one another — the Father sends, the Son obeys and prays, the Spirit is given.

Tertullian's 'three persons, one substance'; refined by the Cappadocians (hypostasis) and Chalcedon. Modern debate over whether 'person' now imports too much individual psychology.

The persons are irreducibly distinct yet not separable, defined by their relations: the Father unbegotten, the Son eternally begotten, the Spirit eternally proceeding.

Some modern theologians (social vs. Latin Trinitarianism) dispute how 'person' should be understood.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.