"The word 'person' receives its special dignity in history when it is illuminated by the unique theological meaning."
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 personKenneth L. Schmitz
Retrieving the Tradition
"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. Schmitz
"The perfection of being—and therefore of the person—is essentially dyadic, culiminating in communion."
Notion of Person: Part V
Notes & Comments
Response to David Schindler’s CommentsW. Norris Clarke
Divine and creaturely “receptivity”: The search for a middle termSteven A. Long
Response to Long’s CommentsW. Norris Clarke
On Esse and RelationGeorge A. Blair
Notes & Comments
The Person: Philosophy, Theology, and ReceptivityDavid L. Schindler
Person: Substance and relationJohn S. Grabowski
A dangerous reflection on the fundamental act of the creatureFerdinand Ulrich
Who is the Church? The Personalistic Categories of Balthasar’s EcclesiologyLarry Chapp
“Existence Precedes Essence”: Fear of the GiftStanislaw Grygiel
“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.”
“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 CommuneAdrian 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 Splett
The Gift of Life - Why There Is No Right to DieJörg Splett
"There is only one admissible criterion for human personhood: belonging biologically to the human family."
Freedom: The Serenity of Letting GoJörg Splett
"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."