Dr. Larry Hurtado (2003; 2-3)  mentions that it would appear as if Early Christians adhered to Jewish monotheism while worshiping Jesus as divine from the beginning of the resurrected Jesus. This practice created theological tension as it seemed to contradict the belief in one God. “the worship of Jesus is both remarkable and without real analogy in the ancient setting…” (Hurtado 2005; 25). The early church resolved this by defining Jesus in relation to YHWH, leading to the development of the Trinitarian doctrine, which integrated Jesus into the understanding of God.

This theological evolution was a response to early Christians’ convictions about God’s self-revelation in Jesus and became the foundation of their faith. Trinitarianism emerged not from abstract speculation but from the necessity to reconcile Jesus’ worship with Jewish monotheism. This doctrine aimed to maintain God’s unity while acknowledging Jesus’ and the Holy Spirit’s distinct personhood. The early church fathers used scriptural exegesis and philosophical reasoning to articulate the relationships within the Godhead, culminating in the formal definitions provided by the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople.

In his significant work “Against Praxeas” (Adversus Praxean), Tertullian of Carthage, an early Christian thinker, grappled with the concept of personhood. He aimed to defend the distinction of persons within the Godhead, countering the modalistic teachings of Praxeas and the unitarian Monarchianism prevalent at the time. Tertullian drew upon the concepts of ‘persona’ from classical Latin and ‘prosopon’ from Greek to elucidate the distinct identities within the Godhead. These terms were instrumental in conveying the reality of individual subsistence and relationality within the Trinity.

Conceptions of Personhood in Western Culture

Psychological Perspective: Influenced by philosophers like John Locke and René Descartes, this perspective defines a person primarily as a thinking, self-conscious subject. Locke’s emphasis on self-identity and Descartes’ famous dictum “I think; therefore I am” highlight the centrality of consciousness and self-awareness in defining personhood.

Moral Perspective: Following Immanuel Kant, this view sees a person as autonomous and capable of free action, emphasizing individual freedom. Kantian ethics centers on the capacity of individuals to govern themselves according to rational principles, underscoring the moral agency and inherent dignity of each person.

Relational/Social Perspective: This approach focuses on the social dimension of personhood, defining a person by their responsibilities and relationships with others. It posits that our identities are shaped by our interactions and commitments within a network of social relationships, emphasizing the communal and relational aspects of being a person.

The Christian tradition integrates psychological, moral, and relational dimensions into a metaphysical understanding of the person. The term “person” was initially used in Trinitarian contexts to counter heresies such as unitarian Monarchianism. Early Christian authors like Tertullian employed the Latin term persona and the Greek term prosopon to articulate the distinct yet unified existence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Divine and Human Personhood.

In Christian theology, nature (essence) and person (hypostasis) are distinct. Each divine person in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) shares the same divine nature but is distinguished by unique relational properties such as paternity, filiation, and procession. This distinction maintains the unity of God while acknowledging the personal identities within the Trinity. According to Aquinas, a divine person is a subsisting relation, meaning relational properties define the persons of the Trinity without dividing the divine unity. The Father’s paternity, the Son’s filiation, and the Holy Spirit’s procession are real relations that constitute their personal distinctions within the Godhead. These relations are identical to the divine essence, which is why they do not compromise the unity of God.

Humans are composed of a body and a soul, which together constitute a single human person. Human individuality is grounded in matter, with each person possessing a unique, rational nature that includes the faculties of intelligence and will. Divine persons, being perfectly simple and not composed, are defined by subsisting relations in the divine being. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct in their relational properties but identical in their divine nature. This concept of personhood is unique to the divine Trinity, where relational distinctions exist without compromising the unity and simplicity of God’s essence.

Conclusion

Christian theology provides a comprehensive metaphysical understanding of personhood that integrates psychological, moral, and relational aspects. The Trinitarian doctrine, in particular, highlights the unique relational properties that distinguish the divine persons while maintaining their unity. This theological framework allows for a nuanced understanding of both human and divine personhood, emphasizing individuality, rational nature, and relationality as fundamental aspects of what it means to be a person.