"Persons" of the Trinity

[Hokomai]

Given that the Church holds that it is appropriate to use terms such as “Father” and “he” to describe the first an second Persons of the Trinity, and the Godhead itself, why are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit consistently referred to as “Persons”. why not “men”?

 

[1ke]

Because they are not men. They are God.

Jesus became a man, so he could properly be termed a man. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit cannot.

Persons describes who they are, God describes what they are.

 

[EricFilmer]

Because the concept of being a “man” in Trinitarian terminology is too closely associated with the Incarnation. This includes both a male role and a male gender, and Christ is the only person of the Holy Trinity that this refers to. For example…

The First Person of the Holy Trinity has traditionally revealed himself as a father-figure but did not actually become a man.

The Second Person of the Holy Trinity, through the Incarnation, became man. He had a male role (to be the Groom for the Church) and a male gender. He was a man in all ways except sin.

The Holy Spirit is associated with both a male and female role (in terms of the latter, consider the OT biblical concept of the Wisdom of God, which is symbolized as a wise and righteous woman). The Holy Spirit did not actually become a man.

But, for what it’s worth, Don McLean at least referred to the Holy Trinity as “the three men I admire most”, but something tells me he wasn’t trying to make a theological statement.

 

[MarcusAndreas]

Not to derail the thread, but Don McLean’s “three men I admire most” were Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, not the Trinity.

 

[GEddie]

“Man” != person; but you knew that already.

A human being is a special case of “person,” which includes humans, God, and angels. “Man” is a special case of human being, which also includes women and children, although “man” is also used to refer to the collectivity of human life.

A man is always a person; a person is not always a man; therefore “person” cannot be logically replaced by “man.”

ICXC NIKA.

 

[EricFilmer]

Not to derail the thread, but Don McLean’s “three men I admire most” were Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, not the Trinity.

Bravo Marcus!

I agree that’s by far the best theory. I don’t want to derail the thread either, so in case I’ve perked the interest of other Don McLean fans, let me simply give a couple of links on the subject: The Straight Dope, and Yahoo Answers.

 

[Heuchler]

We don’t call God a man (except in the case of Christ) because they aren’t men. While they have masculine properties and are generally described in that way, they are not men. They also have femine attributes but when paired with humanity and our universe, they appear to be the heroic man of the relationship.