The Word “Persons” in the Trinity – More by Will Willimon
“John Wesley didn’t like using the word ‘persons’ of the Trinity. One reason that’s not [helpful], it’s historic and all, but it’s very difficult for us to think of persons without thinking of individuals. When I say ‘person’ we’re thinking about a detached individual. You’re not really a person in our culture if you’re completely linked up, submerged in, another person. Most of our education is an attempt to find who you are in your singularity and identity.” – Will Willimon
Amen. This is why I believe in the Oneness critique of the doctrine of the Trinity. We hold to a God who is three-in-one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but we do not believe that it is helpful or right, indeed false, to speak of them in any way that tends to sound polytheistic or makes the Godhead into a team or a committee. As I understand it, the original word used in describing the Trinitarian model was the Latin persona, signifying the mask of an actor. Now that makes sense to me and seems like a helpful metaphor, that God is playing multiple roles in His revealed story. However, the word person today no longer has that meaning and no one even thinks of it even remotely in that way at all. We think of persons as individual beings with unique personalities but the Bible tells us that God is one being and that He has one personality.
