Christian perfection
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Christian perfection is a Christian doctrine which holds that the soul of the baptised Christian may attain a high degree of virtue and holiness and become entirely sanctified with the help of divine grace of Jesus.
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[edit] Catholic Church
The concept of entire sanctification may initially come from the Catholic Church's doctrine of theosis. Medieval Christian philosophy held that the concept of perfection might describe creation, but was not appropriate to describe God. The Scholastic, Thomas Aquinas, indicating that he was following Aristotle, defined a perfect thing as one that "possesses that of which, by its nature, it is capable." Also (Summa Theologiae): "That is perfect, which lacks nothing of the perfection proper to it." Thus there were, in the world, things perfect and imperfect, more perfect and less perfect. God permitted imperfections in creation when they were necessary for the good of the whole. And for man it was natural to go by degrees from imperfection to perfection.[1]
Duns Scotus understood perfection still more simply and mundanely: "Perfection is that which it is better to have than not to have." It was not an attribute of God but a property of creation: all things partook of it to a greater or lesser degree. A thing's perfection depended on what sort of perfection it was eligible for. In general, that was perfect which had attained the fullness of the qualities possible for it. Hence "whole" and "perfect" meant more or less the same ("totum et perfectum sunt quasi idem").[2]
This was a teleological concept, for it implied an end (goal or purpose). God created things that served certain purposes, created even those purposes, but He himself did not serve any purpose. Since God was not finite, He could not be called perfect: for the concept of perfection served to describe finite things. Perfection was not a theological concept, but an ontological one, because it was a feature, in some degree, of every being. The 9th-century thinker Paschasius Radbertus wrote: "Everything is the more perfect, the more it resembles God." Still, this did not imply that God himself was perfect.[3]
El Camino de Perfección is a method for making progress in the contemplative life written by St. Teresa of Ávila for the sisters of her reformed convent of the Carmelite Order (Discalced). St. Teresa was a major figure of the Catholic Reformation in 16th Century Spain. Christian perfection is also the title of a book written by theologian Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange.
Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life , is one of the shorter documents issued by the Second Vatican Council. Approved by vote of 2,321 to 4 of the bishops assembled at the Council, the decree was promulgated by Pope Paul VI on October 28, 1965. As is customary for Church documents, the title is taken from the first words of the decree: "Perfect Charity" in Latin.
[edit] Wesley's teaching
The doctrine is chiefly associated with the followers of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, from Wesley's understanding of sanctifying grace. Perfection can either define the journey to perfection or the state of perfection. Christian perfection is commonly referred to as "going on to perfection".
The concept is also referred to as sinless perfection, though John Wesley himself did not use this term and noted in his book A Plain Account of Christian Perfection that "...sinless perfection is a phrase I never use, lest I should seem to contradict myself."[4] However John William Fletcher, an interpreter of Wesleyan theology in the 18th century, used the term "evangelically sinless perfection" or "evangelically sinless" but notes in his book The Last Check to Antinomianism that "With respect to the FIRST, that is, the Adamic, Christless law of innocence and paradisiacal perfection, we utterly renounce the doctrine of sinless perfection."[5]
Perfection is the process of sanctification and is a work of grace. It may also be called entire sanctification. To Wesley, sanctification was a grace-led spiritual growth. Christian perfection, according to Wesley, is “purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God” and “the mind which was in Christ, enabling us to walk as Christ walked.” It is "loving God with all our heart, and our neighbor as ourselves."[6] It is “a restoration not only to the favor, but likewise to the image of God,” our “being filled with the fullness of God.”[7]
Wesley was clear that Christian perfection did not imply perfection of bodily health or an infallibility of judgment. It also does not mean we no longer violate the will of God, for involuntary transgressions remain. Perfected Christians remain subject to temptation, and have continued need to pray for forgiveness and holiness. It is not an absolute perfection but a perfection in love. Furthermore, Wesley did not teach a salvation by perfection, but rather says that, “Even perfect holiness is acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ.”[4]
Wesley did not use perfection to describe sinlessness. Similarly, perfection is not the state of being unable to sin, but rather the state of choosing not to sin. Wesley's perfection represents a change of life, a freedom from willful rebellion against God, impure intentions, and pride. Wesley also did not view perfection as permanent.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialetics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 189.
- ^ Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialetics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), pp. 189-90.
- ^ Tatarkiewicz, "Ontological and Theological Perfection," Dialetics and Humanism, vol. VIII, no. 1 (winter 1981), p. 190.
- ^ a b A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
- ^ The Last Check to Antinomianism
- ^ A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, 109
- ^ The End of Christ’s Coming, 482
[edit] External links
- Sermon 40: "Christian Perfection" by John Wesley
- John Wesley
- Sermon 76: "On Perfection" by John Wesley
- Consider Wesley: Christian Perfection by Henry H. Knight
- Christian Perfection by Charles Finney
- Christian Perfection by Asa Mahan
- "Christian Perfection, or Entire Sanctification" by H. Orton Wiley (chapter 29 of Christian Theology)
- Justification and Sanctification
- "Earnestly Striving: Reclaiming Christian Perfection in United Methodism" (PDF) by Joanne Carlson Brown from Circuit Rider (May/June 2003)
- "Perfectionism", section 3.18.7 from Systematic Theology by Charles Hodge
- "Entire Sanctification", an article by B. B. Warfield
- "Can Christians Stop Sinning?", a brief answer by Ra McLaughlin
- A Look At Holiness And Perfectionism Theology by Armin J. Panning
- Christian Cyclopedia article on Perfectionism
- Holiness - the False and the True by Dr. Harry Ironside
