It is our Father
which is in heaven. It is substance, Spirit, Life, Truth,
and Love, -- these are the deific Principle. 9
_Do you mean by this that God is a person?_
The word person affords a large margin for misappre-
hension, as well as definition. In French the equivalent 12
word is _personne_. In Spanish, Italian, and Latin, it is
_persona_. The Latin verb _personare_ is compounded of
the prefix _per_ (through) and _sonare_ (to sound). 15
In law, Blackstone applies the word _personal_ to _bodily
presence_, in distinction from one's appearance (in court,
for example) by deputy or proxy. 18
Other definitions of _person_, as give by Webster, are 1
"a living soul; a self-conscious being; a moral agent;
especially, a living human being, a corporeal man, woman, 3
or child; an individual of the human race." He adds,
that among Trinitarian Christians the word stands for one
of the three subjects, or agents, constituting the Godhead. 6
In Christian Science we learn that God is definitely indi-
vidual and not a _person_, as that word is used by the best
authorities, if our lexicographers are right in defining 9
_person_ as especially a finite _human being_; but God is
personal, if by _person_ is meant infinite Spirit.
We do not conceive rightly of God, if we think of Him 12
as less than infinite.
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