What we understand to be a Person is the thinking, invisible soul and acting, visible body to be one in so intimate a union that—"Nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul. " [1]

If the doctrine of the Resurrection had not been revealed to us, it would be a necessity, in however unimagined a form, to our conception of a person. The countenance of our friend with the thousand delicate changes which express every nuance of feeling; the refinement, purpose, perception, power, revealed in his hand, the dear familiar carriage, the functions of that most marvelous brain cortex, the seat of consciousness, as furnishing us with images and impulses, of the motor nerves as originating action, of the brain as the seat of habit; of the possibility of educating a child in all becoming habits of act, in all sweet habits of thought, by taking measures to secure that these habits become, as it were, a memory of the brain to be awakened by due stimuli,—all these things we believe and receive. [2]

Body and soul sharing an intimate and complete union, matter and spirit are one such that divinity might unite with it. To be a person is to possess the potential for unity with God and a participation in the Resurrection. As Athanasius, the great Bishop of Alexandria and hero of Christian orthodoxy put it, "For the Son of God became man so that we might become divine."

Questions to Consider

~Take a moment to give appreciation for the wonderment of the Imago Dei in the Persons before you.

~How might possibility inform growth with oneself, children and all such Persons?