appropriation

In my gift-ontology, appropriation is the practice of attributing certain works or attributes to one person in a fitting way while maintaining inseparable operations. It is a rule of theological rhetoric and pedagogy, not a division of agency. Appropriation helps keep discourse personal and scriptural without collapsing into either an undifferentiated monotheism or a tri-agent model. For example, one may speak fittingly of wisdom in relation to the Son or charity in relation to the Spirit, while affirming that the one simple act is identical across persons. Appropriation must be governed by non-composition and analogy. It must never imply that one person possesses an attribute as a separable part or performs a work as an exclusive act.