Literature.— The Lives of Christ ; Young, The Christ of Ilifttorn ; Ullmann, The SinlcKuness of Jesus ; Channing's Works, vol. ii. ; Bushnell, On the Character of Jesxis ; Lacordaire, Jesus Christ ; F. W. Newman, P/iasesof Faith, with Martineau's reviews thereof, in Essays, vol. iii. ; Martineau, Seat of Authority in Helijjion, bk. v. ; Weriile, Beginnin(js of Christianity, vol. i. ; J. Scott Lidgett, The Spiritual Principle of the Atonement, ch. vi.; Peabody, Jesus Christ and the Christian Character; Forrest, The Authority of Christ; Weinel, Jesus im neunzehnten Jahrhundert. IllCHARD GLAISTER.
PERFECTION (Human).— Perfection is one of those ' terms which, however they may have been perverted to the purposes of fanaticism, are not only scriptural, but of too frequent occurrence in Scripture to be overlooked or passed by in silence ' (Coleridge, Aids to Reflection, xli. c. ). In the Sermon on the Mount the second grand division of the tltought culminates in the command, ' Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect ' (Mt 5*^). The verb in this sentence is a future indicative, but pr^.ctically all scholars agree that it has the force of an imperative (Meyer, Holtzmann, Dods, Weis?, Votaw, etc.). As a com- mand of our Lord, this saying clearly sets before His disciples the possibility and the necessity of their perfection in conduct and character ; and it becomes of supreme importance to know Mhat the adjective T^Xetos, ' perfect,' here means. It cannot stand for absolute j^^rfection, which is defined as ' entire freedom from defect, blemish, weakness, or liability to err or fail ' {Century Dktionnry). Such perfection is clearly incompatible with finite being. Every man must confess that he falls far short of this glory ; it belongs to God alone. The NT has little to say about this absolute perfection of God. It is everywhere assumed, but the word ' perfection ' does not occur in any direct statement of it any- where. When we are told here that the Father is perfect, we know that His absolute perfection is not in view, since the Master says that men may and must attain unto a like perfection. The con- text must determine the meaning of the word in this command.
The first ])ortion of the Sermon on the Mount sets forth the character of the citizens in the new Kingdom which Jesus preached (vv.^-^"). The Beatitudes are pronounced upon those who meet the conditions for seeing God and becoming tlie sons of God. Since those who see God become like Him (1 Jn 3^), and the sons of God are to be like the Father who is in heaven (Mt 5^''), the character pictured in the Beatitudes is one of God-likeness (vv.*-^2). The influence of such character is next
presented under the figures of the salt which pre- serves antl the lamp which illuminates. The pre- serving and enlightening work of the Heavenly Father is to be manifest in the lives of His sons. Their works are to parallel His. They are to reproduce and represent Him. He is glorified in the good works of His children, because their works are like His ovn\ (vv.'^''"). Like Him in character and conduct, what will be the law of their life ? That question is answered in the second great division of the Sermon. It will not be any code of external regulations. The Father is governed by nothing of that sort. He is a law unto Himself. His conduct is the si)ontn,neous outcome of His own being. Even so the life of His children will not be measured bj^ the standard of any written code, but by the unwritten law of a heart in perfect sympathy with the will of God (vv.''^-*"). This law of the higliest and purest possible motive will preclude not only the external act of miirder, but the cherishing of anger against a brother (vv.-'"-*'). It Mill render impossible not only adulterous acts but imjjure meditations (yy 27-3;;^ j^ ^yjji feuder oaths unnecessary (vv.^^^^'). It will counsel the surrender of rights in the main- tenance of peace (vv.^^-'*'^). It will demand the constant exercise of love towards enemies as well as friends, towards Gentiles as well as Jews, to- wards the just and the unjust alike (vv.'*^"*). This law of the inner life in harmonj' with the Father's will is in no danger of coming into conflict with any righteous system of legal regulations, and least of all with the Law of God as revealed in the OT. It will not destroy this Law, but fulfil it in a right- eousness far exceeding that which any mere legal- ists can maintain (vv.""-"). It will lift the life above the plane of morality into the realm of genuine religion, in which the thoughts and the afl'ections will be as pure as the outward conduct is righteous. As all the Father's acts are the i)roof that His thoughts towards us are of good and of good alone, so all His children's deeds will evi- dence their desire for the universal good ; and they will be blessed as the Feather is bles.sed, and active for the good of all as the Father is active for the good of all, and their motives will be as single and pure as the motives of the Father Himself. In such case, said the Master, ye shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.' The statement is a culminating summary of all that the Master has said up to this point. The citizens of the Kingdom are to be the sons of God. The sons of God are to be like God. The children are to be like their Father in their character and their conduct and the law of their life. In love to all and in doing good to all they give the clearest and the most indubit- able jiroof of their likeness to Him. In this their perfection consists. In this the end of their being is reached.