Timeline for What does it mean for God to be a person?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
28 events
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| Jan 2 at 18:12 | answer | added | pygosceles | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 13, 2017 at 12:56 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
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| Apr 19, 2013 at 14:42 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen, Is the idea something like this? | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 21:34 | comment | added | user900 | @Daniel: There are other definitions besides the one you supplied. For example, dictionary.com also states, "Philosophy . a self-conscious or rational being." Is God self-conscious? Sure. Is God a rational being? Sure. That means He possesses reason (λογος). Boethius wrote that three are considered "persons": God, angels (and other spiritual beings, like kruvim), and humans. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 19:55 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackChristian/status/324974587664277504 | ||
| Apr 18, 2013 at 17:23 | vote | accept | Daniel | ||
| Apr 18, 2013 at 16:59 | comment | added | svidgen | @Daniel While I mean it in the theological sense of the word, non-human senses of the word certainly exist in many, if not all, reputable dictionaries. In the legal sense, a person is generally an individual subject to law, which includes most homo-sapiens, excludes others, and includes things that are distinctly not homo-sapien. I think it's only often assumed that a person is a human. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 16:46 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen You're probably right that Judaism considers God a person according to your definition of "person". But the dictionary definition of "person" is per·son /ˈpərsən/Noun 1.A human being regarded as an individual So, that excludes God. I am wondering about your definition of personhood such that it includes God. According to the dictionary definition, "supernatural personhood" is self-contradictory. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 16:44 | comment | added | svidgen | @Daniel My point is in reference to Judiasm, primarily. And while I'm not an expert in Judiasm, my comment is only intended to challenge that notion Judiasm doesn't perceive God as a person, since the very name of God [the Father?] in Judiasm implies supernatural personhood. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 15:49 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen, Please post that as an answer to this question with relevant sources. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 15:44 | comment | added | svidgen | @Daniel Opposite of what you're saying. Not that anything which isn't "it" is a person. Rather, any "thing" that can accurately refer to itself as "I" is a person. And all else is an "it." | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 15:38 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen, My original question certainly did not refer to God as "it". And that statement does not imply that God is an "it". Jews do not refer to God as a person, but we still call God "him". It seems, though, that you have a more general definition of the word "person" than I do (and perhaps than the dictionary does), which includes anything that is not referred to as "it". That is exactly what I am asking about in my question. What does it mean for God to be a person? | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 15:16 | comment | added | svidgen | @Daniel In your original question. And implied in this statement: "I do not think that a Jew would ever refer to God as a person." | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:16 | comment | added | Daniel | @Alypius, I don't think your edit really reflected what I was trying to ask. I think the current version is more accurate. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:16 | history | edited | Daniel | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
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| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:15 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen ^^^^^^ | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:14 | comment | added | Daniel | @H3br3wHamm3r81 christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/15698/… | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:10 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen, when did I ever indicate that God is "it"? | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 14:10 | comment | added | Daniel | @H3br3wHamm3r81, you are presupposing that I know what a "person" is. My understanding of the word is that it means "human", which is clearly not what God is. The whole point of the question is to find out what a "person" is to Christians. The way I see it, there could be two different groups that can refer to themselves in the first person: people, and God. (P.S. I read the links above, but don't really understand them because they are very jargon-y.) | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 13:33 | comment | added | svidgen | @Daniel He doesn't need to be. But, the name God reveals indicates I-ness, not it-ness. | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 7:12 | history | edited | Alypius | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Fixing title, removing mildly argumentative wording.
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| Apr 18, 2013 at 7:09 | answer | added | Alypius | timeline score: 4 | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 6:11 | comment | added | user900 | God speaks. Isn't that enough evidence that He's a person? When Christians use the term "person," we don't mean human. Please do yourself a favor and visit the supplied links by Ben Dunlap. Your question has already been answered there. Also, have you known anything but a person --- a rational individual --- that refers to Himself in the first person and can express that using a developed and logical language? I'd be willing to see that! | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 4:28 | comment | added | Daniel | @svidgen, why does God need to be a person to refer to himself in first person? | |
| Apr 18, 2013 at 1:25 | comment | added | svidgen | YHWH = I am who am, not It is what is | |
| Apr 17, 2013 at 22:32 | comment | added | Ben Dunlap | This is at least closely related to christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/5792/… and christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/15659/… | |
| Apr 17, 2013 at 22:08 | answer | added | Narnian | timeline score: 3 | |
| Apr 17, 2013 at 21:48 | history | asked | Daniel | CC BY-SA 3.0 |