How to Define a Human Person | Kevin Vanhoozer

Lecture Title - The Human Person: A Grammatical Subject

TEDS professor Kevin Vanhoozer raises the question of how one can define a human person. The first step is to differentiate between a person and a non-person. A person is someone, not something. Vanhoozer traces the history of "person" in the Trinity. "Person" comes from the Latin "persona," meaning "a player's mask." Vanhoozer continues to articulate three initial questions: First, given that personhood is an interdisciplinary topic, which discipline do you think should take priority in the discussion? Second, do you agree that the discourse about personhood is often subject to dichotomizing forces? Third, echoing David Kelsey's concern, whatever the concept of person means in Trinitarian theology, it cannot be generalized to cover human beings. The modern concept of human beings is so culturally dominated and theologically inadequate as to render it unserviceable.

Kevin J. Vanhoozer (PhD University of Cambridge) is Research Professor of Biblical and Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including The Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action, Passion, and Authorship (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Faith Speaking Understanding: Performing the Drama of Doctrine (Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), and Hearers and Doers: A Pastor’s Guide to Making Disciples Through Scripture and Doctrine (Lexham Press, 2019).

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