But since Personism affirms that persons exist, the question naturally arises:
What is a person?
In answer to this question, let us return to the shift
that has taken place in the discussion of existence.
The shift of attention was from the general concept of existence
and the attempt to define it to the locus where existence can be
discovered: the human self. As pointed out above this shift took
place because of the impossibility of defining existence in the
traditional way. Existence just cannot be reduced to essence.
Now within the self, existence is known in the act of decision.
To exist is to decide. This is particularly apparent in those momentous
passionate decisions of a crisis. In fact, every act of decision,
whether a great crisis or not, is the place where existence can be
found. The act of decision itself is also an act of existence. That
is, to be is to choose. This was partially apprehended in Descartes'
phrase: cognito ergo sum; I think, therefore I am.
Descartes saw that the act of thinking or even doubting is to exist.
For one to think or doubt he had to exist. However, since he sought
to fit this into an essentialistic scheme of thought, Descartes did not
recognize that thinking and doubting are basically acts of decision.
Not only to think or doubt but to decide is to exist. Any act of
decision is an act of existence: decerno ergo sum, I choose,
therefore I am. A person therefore should be defined as a
being (an existent) that is self-determining, not determined, who
has freedom, free will, the ability to choose. A person is
distinguished from a non-person, a thing, an "it," which is a
being that is determined, not self-determining, that has no freedom,
no free will, no ability to choose.
Now a careful analysis of decision reveals that every act of
decision involves three elements:
(a) the agent making the decision,
(b) the alternatives to be decided between, and
(c) a criterion to decide by.
The last two elements involve the act of decision of the
agent deciding in relations to something else beyond the act of
decision itself. The criterion and the alternatives of an act of
decision involve relations to other existents. Personism is
pluralistic. But it is a relational pluralism, not an atomistic
pluralism; that is, there are many existents that are interrelated in
various ways. We have given to Personism and other forms of existential
relational pluralism the general name of Relational Existentialism.
However, we believe that there is only one form of the Relational
Existentalism which adequately relates the many existents: Personism.
This will become clear below in the next section.
From this point of view, no man is an atheist in the basic meaning of that word (that is, no god). Every man must have a god. Man is a religious animal who must necessarily have some object of ultimate allegiance and trust which functions as his guide of truth and his norm of conduct. Every man must choose a god. Though free to adopt the god of his choice, no man is free to avoid this decision. Every attempt to do so turns out to be not a denial of having a god but an exchange of gods. Every man must choose and have a god. To ask whether one believes in the existence of God is to completely misunderstand the issue. The issue is not whether one should choose between theism or atheism, that is, to believe in the existence of God or not, but whether one should choose this god or that god as the true God. Atheism wants you to believe in his god and his god is that God does not exist.
Since everyone must have a god, the crucial question for every man is:
Which god is the true God?
Or to put the question differently:
How are we to distinguish between the one true God, on the one hand,
and the many false gods on the other?
In other words, by what means can we determine
which of all possible gods are pretenders and which is the true one?
The clue to the answer to these
questions may be found in a further analysis of freedom.
As we have already seen, every man by the structure of his freedom
must have a god. That is, in every one of his choices a person must
necessarily appeal to some criterion by reference to which the
decision is made. And the ultimate criterion by which a person
makes his choices is his god. Clearly then the choice of one's god
is the most basic and fundamental choice that a man can make,
it lies behind and is presupposed by every other decision as to what
a man will do or think; it is clearly the most important exercise
of his freedom.
What should one choose as his ultimate criterion of decision?
Negatively, he should not choose that as his ultimate criterion
which will deny, destroy or limit the very freedom of
choice by which it is chosen.
And positively, he should choose that ultimate criterion
which will enhance and fulfil that freedom.
Any ultimate criterion that denies or takes away the very freedom
of choice by which it is chosen cannot be the true God. The choice
of such an ultimate criterion is a contradiction of man's basic
freedom of choice; such a god is fatal to man's freedom.
By freedom, we do not mean purposeless caprice or chance, indeterminism, but rather the ability of choice, freedom of decision, self-determination. Neither is this freedom an abstract entity, "freedom-in-general," Freiheit, but rather the concrete decision of someone, of a free agent. The most appropriate word for such a being who has such freedom is the word "person." A person is a being that is self-determining, not determined, who has freedom, free will, the ability to choose. A person is to be distinguished from a non-person, a thing, an "it", a being that is determined, not self-determining, that has no freedom, no free will, no ability to choose.
A god that is a thing has less freedom than the person who chooses it as his god. Such a god does not have as much freedom as the one who chooses it to be his god. Now a god who does not have at least the freedom that man himself has cannot be the true God. It cannot do any more for them than they can do for themselves. Such a god is only the projection of the whims and fancies of its worshippers because it is in reality inferior to them. As a minimum criterion, therefore, a god can be recognized as a false god if it has less freedom than man himself. To choose such a god as one's ultimate criterion of choice would be a denial of one's freedom of choice and the worst kind of bondage. Thus having used his freedom to give this god his ultimate allegiance, the worshipper finds his freedom denied to the point of extinction and himself bound in a miserable slavery. As long as the false god remains his ultimate criterion of decision, he will not have the grounds for rejecting that god, since that god has not allowed him to have freedom of choice to do so. His power of choice having been effectively taken away from him, he is unable to reject the false god and free himself from its bondage. The commitment to such a god is the denial of human freedom. Therefore, a false god can also be recognized by the effect that it has upon the freedom of the one who gives it his allegiance; it limits the freedom and puts into bondage the one who chooses it as his god. The true God, on the other hand, sets free the one committed to him and fulfils and enhances his freedom. The true God must be at least a person in order to have at least as much freedom as the one who chooses Him as his god. But the true God must not only be a person, He must also have unlimited freedom if He is to be able to do the things He promises and to deliver the one who cries to Him in trouble and need. A god without unlimited freedom might not be able to keep his promises or to save the one who cries to him. Therefore, a god that does not have unlimited freedom must be a false god. The true God, on the other hand, has unlimited freedom; He can do whatever He pleases (Psa. 115:3; 135:6); He can save when He is called upon (Isa. 43:11; 45:15-17). The true God, therefore, is a person (or persons) with unlimited freedom.
It is this knowledge of what the true God must be like that lies behind all primitive religions, with their anthromorphic gods. Primitive man knows what a god must be like in order for it to be the true God. This knowledge derived intuitively from the nature of his freedom makes him uneasy about the things that he worships as god. He knows that the true God must be a living God. But having failed to encounter such a God, he fills the vacuum with what he imagines to be a facsimile of Him. And since the highest living being he knows is himself, he makes gods in his own image. He also knows that the true God must be a God of unlimited power, not limited like himself. He therefore identifies these anthropomorphic creations with the powerful forces that he sees in the physical world about him. Beyond the simple and profound suspicion that such a God does exist, he is at the end of his knowledge ("...whom ye ignorantly worship..." Acts 17:23 KJV). [3]
In what way can man find any additional knowledge of the true God?
In the same way in which he gets knowledge about another person:
by what the other person says and does. But the
initiative lies with the other person. If he remains silent and
inactive, no knowledge is available in addition to the fact that he is
there. Therefore, if man is to know anything additional about the true
God, God must take the initiative and reveal Himself in word
and/or deed. And the true God has taken the initiative and has revealed
Himself in word and deed. The Bible is a record of the "words and
the mighty acts of God." The true God is not silent and He is not
inactive; He has spoken and He has acted. This is recorded for us
in a book, the Bible. And we know that these are the words and
deeds of the true God because they are the words and the acts of a
God who is a personal being and has unlimited freedom and power.
The God who is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament
is the living God who created all things.
(The living God - Joshua 3:10; I Sam. 17:26; Psa. 84:2; Jer.
10:10; Matt. 16:16; Acts 14:15; I Thess. 1:9; I Tim. 3:15; Heb. 10:31;
The Creator - Gen. 1:1; 2:3-4; Ex. 4:11; Neh. 9:6; Job 38:4;
Psa. 90:2; 102:25; 104:1-5,24; Isa. 40:28; 44:24; 45:11-12,18;
48:12-12; Jer. 10:11-12; John 1:1-3; Acts 17:24; I Cor. 8:6; Col.
1:16; Heb. 1:2,10; 11:3; Rev. 4:11).
Because He is a person, He is alive; and because He has unlimited
freedom, He is the all powerful Creator of all things. The God
of the Bible is the true God, and all other gods are false.
"13 For He [God] delivered us from the domain of darkness,God's Beloved Son is the model and pattern according to which God created man. As such He is the first-born of all creation. Not that He is the first created being, but that He is the pattern by which all men will be born. God created man with the anticipation that His Son would become man, a human being. Thus He is the first-born of all creation. Note that the Scriptures never says that the image of God is in man, but rather that man has been created in the image of God.
and translated us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins;
15 And He is the image of the invisible God,
the first-born of all creation."
(Col. 1:13-15 NAS; compare II Cor. 4:4; Rom. 8:29);
"26 Then God said,In this passage of Scripture, we find that there are two aspects to man being created in the image of God.
'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.'
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."
"The Lord God said,Of all the creatures God had created "there was not found a helper fit for him" (Gen. 2:20). So God created, out of man, woman. Man, in the very way in which he was created had a social need -- a need for fellowship. This need could only be satisfied through an equal fellow creature. None of the animals could satisfy this need for fellowship. So God made an equal being, a woman. Man as a social being is able to enjoy a reciprocal personal relationship or fellowship with an equal being. In this respect man is also like God. In God there is an equality and fellowship between the three persons of the Godhead.
'It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him a helper fit for him.'"
Thus according to Genesis 1:26-27, being created in the image of God means for man to have dominion over creation and to have a personal relationship with an equal human person - woman; these are the two aspects of man being created in the image of God. Both of these presuppose freedom - the freedom of choice and the freedom of action. This freedom is the presupposition and possibility of being in the image of God. Since God created man with freedom, dominion over creation and personal relationships with equal personal beings become possible. With freedom of choice and action, man can exercise his dominion over creation. And since love is the essence of personal relationships, with his freedom of choice and action, man can love an equal person and enter into a personal relationship with her. The freedom of choice and not reason, neither self-consciousness, nor self-transcendence, is that which make possible man's dominion over creation and personal relationship with an equal personal being.
"Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground, andWhen God breathed into the nostrils of the body of man the breath of life, He created man's spirit and man became a living soul. The soul of man is the union of this created spirit and the body formed from the dust of the ground. Thus man is diparite being having two parts, spirit and body; the soul is not a part of man but is the union of man's created spirit and his body.
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul [nephesh]" (Gen. 2:7 KJV).
Man's soul is the union and expression of the spirit or person of a
human in and through the body. And his existence as a person is found
in his ability to choose, to make decisions.
"I choose, therefore, I am", not, "I think, therefore, I am".
To be is to choose, not to think nor to preceive.
Man's reason is a function and an expression of his will.
"...whatever evidence one accepts,Knowledge and reason depend upon a prior decision as to what is real and to what is the criterion of reality, ultimate reality, the Truth.
whether that of experience or that of logic,
will depend upon neither logic or experience alone,
but upon a decision by the individual concerned
in favor of the one or the other." [4]
Ultimate reality is not the universal and the necessary. That is, Reason, the universal and the necessary, is not God. God is a person (or more accurately, three persons) whose existence is not in His reason but in His unlimited sovereign free decision and will; it is not the universal ideas in God's mind that determine how or why God will create man and the world, but His unlimited sovereign will (Rev. 4:11). Since reason is a function of the will, God is rational and His reason is a function of His will. Thus the world that God has chosen to create is rational.
Man is also a person (or more accurately, a spirit [person] in a body) whose existence is also to be found, not in his reason, but in his limited free decision and will. And since decisions involve a reference to an ultimate criterion in or beyond the self, to a god, the Biblical view of man is that man is a religious animal, a being who must have a god; the view that man is a rational animal is not the Biblical view of man. Reason is not that which makes man different from the rest of the animals.
Reason as the universal and necessary is not God and Reason is not man's ultimate criterion but the sovereign will of the Creator who made all things and has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. This is the basic choice that a human person must make if he is understand what is real and what is the Truth, the criterion of reality. Is the Truth the universal and necessary or is it the sovereign will of the personal Creator who made all things and has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ?
This choice explains the basic incompatibility between Greek philosophy and the Biblical view of God and man; it also explains the conflict between Greek philosophy and the Christian faith and the failure of the attempted synthesis of these divergent points of view by Augustine and Aquinas. All attempts to synthesize the classical Greek philosophical view of God and man with the Biblical view will fail. And worst of all, the Biblical view of God and man will be and has been obscured and misunderstood.
Man was created by God and, in contrast to the rest of creation, was created in the image of God, who is Jesus Christ, the God-man (Col. 1:13-15; compare II Cor. 4:4). Man, as created by God, is a personal being, a unity of spirit [person] and body (see Gen. 2:7), having dominion over creation and fellowship with another equal human being (woman). Man's existence as a person is also to be found not in his reason but in his limited free will and decision. And since decisions involve a reference to an ultimate criterion beyond the self, to a god, the Bibical view of man is that he is a religious animal, a being who must have a god.
The first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, used their freedom to disobey God and choose a false god, wisdom and knowledge; that is, Reason. The basic sin is turning from the true God and to faith in a false god of some kind; it is idolatry. Sin is any choice contrary to ultimate allegiance or faith in the true God (Rom. 14:23). The consequence of Adam's sin was death (Gen. 2:16-17): physical death (the separation of their spirits from their bodies) and spiritual death (the separation of their spirits from God). In other words, they lost their fellowship with God and with each other (Gen. 3:7-8) and their dominion over creation. But even though they have fallen from the image of God, they still are persons and still have the freedom of choice.
The descendants of Adam are born not in the image of God but in the image of Adam, the man of dust, the old man, and as such are subject to death, physical and spiritual. Death has been inherited by all men (Rom. 5:12). And since they have been born into the world spiritually dead, alienated from God, not knowing the true God, and since they must have a god, an ultimate criterion of decision, they choose a false god as their God and thereby sin (Gal. 4:8). The creation, man himself, contains a knowledge about the true God which leaves them without excuse for the sin of idolatry (Rom. 1:19-20). But this knowledge is about the true God and is not a personal knowledge of the true God which comes from an encoounter and fellowship with God.
Salvation is the restoration of fellowship and communion with God through the historical death, bodily resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit. God in His love for man has sent His Son into the world to become a man - Jesus Christ. He is the image of God, the perfect man. But He came not just to be what man should have been or to give man a perfect example but to give them life and restore them to the image of God. He did this by entering into their condition of spiritual and physical death on the cross. So that as Christ was raised from the dead, they might be made alive with Him in His resurrection. That is, Christ's death was their death and His resurrection is their resurrection. That is, salvation is basically from death to life (John 5:24). Also, Jesus Christ was exalted to the right hand of God as Lord to become their Lord and their God. God has sent the Holy Spirit to save man from death and sin by revealing Him personally to them in the preaching of the gospel, the good news of what God has done for man in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, of Jesus Christ as their Savior who died for them and as their resurrected and living Lord. When a man responds to this revelation by turning from his false gods (in repentance) and turning to the true God, acknowledging Jesus as his Lord (in faith), he is saved from sin (Rom. 10:9-10). And since in this decision of faith he receives the living Christ as his life and identifies himself with the death and resurrection of Christ, the believer is also saved from spiritual death, being made spiritually alive to God in Christ. The believer has eternal life which a personal knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ He has sent (John 17:3). Thus man is now being restored to the image of God.
But this restoration is not now yet complete. At the second coming of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:9) the believers' bodies will be resurrected if they die before He comes (I Thess. 4:13-17), or will be transformed into bodies like His resurrected body if they are alive at His coming (I Cor. 15:51-52; Phil. 3:20-21; I Thess. 4:13-17; I John 3:2). Thus physical death will be replaced with physical life just as spiritual death was replaced with spiritual life when they first believed. What was begun at conversion will be brought to completion (Phil. 1:6) at Christ's coming. Spiritual life will become eternal life - eternal fellowship with the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit (heaven) (Rev. 21:3). Thus will man be restored to the image of God. And their salvation is from death (both spiritual and physical) unto life, from sin (idolatry - trust in false gods) unto righteousness (trust in the true God), will be completed.
[1] Runes, D.D. ed., Twentieth Century Philosophy
(New York: The Philosophical Library, 1947), p. 346.
[2] E. La B. Cherbonnier, Hardness of Heart
(New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1955), p. 40.
See also E. LaB. Cherbonnier,
"Biblical Metaphysic and Christian Philosophy,"
Theology Today 9 (October 1952): 367.
To read this article, click
here
[3] Cherbonnier, "Biblical Metaphysics," p. 369.
To read this article, click
here
[4] E. LaB. Cherbonnier, "Biblical Metaphysic and Christian Philosophy,"
Theology Today 9 (October 1952): p. 372.
To read this article, click
here.