On the Concept of Person
Hans Urs von Balthasar"The word 'person' receives its special dignity in history when it is illuminated by the unique theological meaning."
The Notion of Person in Theology
The notion of "person" is of perennial interest for Communio editors and readers. Here you'll find in chronological order some of our most frequently requested articles dealing with the history and meaning of the concept of person.
The Geography of the Human Person
Kenneth L. SchmitzRetrieving the Tradition
Concerning the Notion of Person in Theology
Joseph Ratzinger Benedict XVI"Relativity toward the other constitutes the human person. The human person is the event or being of relativity."
Selves and Persons: A Difference in Loves?
Kenneth L. SchmitzPerson, Being, and St. Thomas
W. Norris Clarke"The perfection of being—and therefore of the person—is essentially dyadic, culiminating in communion."
Notion of Person: Part V
Norris Clarke on Person, Being, and St. Thomas
David L. Schindler
Notes & Comments
Response to David Schindler’s Comments
W. Norris Clarke
Divine and Creaturely “Receptivity”: The Search for a Middle Term
Steven A. LongResponse to Long’s Comments
W. Norris ClarkeOn Esse and Relation
George A. BlairNotes & Comments
The Person: Philosophy, Theology, and Receptivity
David L. Schindler
Person: Substance and Pelation
John S. GrabowskiA Dangerous Reflection on the Fundamental Act of the Creature
Ferdinand UlrichWho is the Church? The Personalistic Categories of Balthasar’s Ecclesiology
Larry Chapp“Existence Precedes Essence”: Fear of the Gift
Stanislaw GrygielThe Church as Person in the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar
Stephan Ackermann“Within the space of the Church, persons do not exist as unrelated atoms, but they mutually pervade each other, analogously to the perichoresis of the Persons of the Trinity.”
Extra Communionem Personarum Nulla Philosophia
Stanislaw Grygiel“By defending the human being, beauty also defends philosophy. It protects the great question which man himself becomes from being broken down into petty problems.”
Personal Singularity and the Communio Personarum: A Creative Development of Thomas Aquinas' Doctrine of Esse Commune
Adrian J. Walker"To be a person is to be a member of a communio personarum."
How Many ‘No’s? Billions. How Many ‘Yes’es? Just One!
Jörg SplettThe Gift of Life - Why There Is No Right to Die
Jörg SplettBegotten, Not Made
Robert Spaemann"There is only one admissible criterion for human personhood: belonging biologically to the human family."
When Death Becomes Inhuman
Robert Spaemann
Freedom: The Serenity of Letting Go
Jörg Splett‘An Animal That Can Promise and Forgive’
Robert Spaemann Holger Zaborowski"In forgiveness, I allow the other to distance himself from his nature, from the way he is. In the moment of forgiveness, the other ceases to be a liar, so to speak. But it takes permission from outside of himself."
Response to Blair’s Comments
W. Norris ClarkeTranscendental Relationality: A New Proposal on Personhood
Andreas Kramarz“[A] person is a distinct subsisting being whose rational nature is capable of realizing relationality (and, with it, all the transcendentals) in a conscious and free exchange of love.”