The root idea in the adjective rAetos, ' perfect,' is that of T^Xos, the 'end.' The perfect man is the man who has reached the end designed in his creation, the man who represents the ideal set before his own being. The Father may be said to be perfect, as completely and constantly realizing the end of His own being. God is love (1 Jn 4'*). His providence is the continuously perfect manifes- tation of His love (Mt S*"'). Jesus commands His disciples to be perfect in the continuous mainten- ance and manifestation of the spirit of love. They must love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their nnnd ; and they must love their neighbour as themselves. On these two commandments hung the whole Law and the Prophets (Mt 22-*7-'"). He who kept these two commandments was perfectly obedient. He met the whole requirement of loyal service. He realized the end for which he was created.
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PERPLEXITY
PERSONALITY
To many persons ' counsels of perfection ' are synonymous with ' demands of the impossible.' A large part of the difficulty in such minds is relieved, hov/ever, when the Master's limitation to perfec- tion in love and loving service is made. This is seen at once to be compatible with imperfections of other sorts. The child may love his father per- fectly, though he be weak in body and immature in mmd. Absolute perfection belongs to God, and is demanded of no one of His creatures. Perfec- tion in love God shares with man. He asks man to love Him with undivided loyalty and aff'ection, and to prove his love to God in the service of his fellow-man.
Literature. — Channing, The Perfect Life ; Eitschl, Chr. Doct. of JustiJicatio7i, 646 ; D. Steele, Love Enthroned ; J. Mudge, Growth in Holiness toward Perfection ; P. T. Forsyth, Chr. Perfection ; H. C. G. Moule, Thoughts on Chr. Sanctity ; Alvah Hovey, The Higher Chr. Life ; O. A. Curtis, The Chr. Faith (1905), 371 ; F. W. Robertson, Serm. 3rd ser. 143 ; J. E. Illing- worth, Univ. and Cath. Serin. 1 ; N. Smyth, Chr. Ethics, 108 ; G. Matheson, Landmarks of NT Morality, 250 ; J. Iverach, The Other Side of Greatness, 186 ; Expos. 4th ser. ix. (1894) 319, 5th ser. v. (1897) 30, 134, 211, 6th ser. iii. (1901) 73.
D. A. Hayes. PERPLEXITY.— The word 'perplexity' (awopia) occurs but once in the NT (Lk 2p5), in that reminis- cence of Daniel which foretells the day of terrors that shall usher in the presence of the Son of Man. But the idea has remarkable associations with Christ in the Gospels. Not only is perplexity dis- cernible in His own experience, but He was then (as now) a frequent cause of it in others. His powers, and the amazing insight of His wisdom, were a continual occasion of astonishment to the mere onlookers (Mt IS^^-^s, cf. Lk 42^). To explain His exorcisms, the Pharisees were driven to the confusing theory of demoniac possession (Mt %^ \\ 12^^, Mk 322, Lk W^). His disciples would listen to His unconventional judgments with blank perplexity. Had He not, for example, taught them the blessed- ness of charity, and the law of love for one's neigh- bour ? What, then, could they make of His defence of ' this waste ' of a box of precious ointment (Mt 268 li Jn 12^) ? It was hard for a disciple to understand why He should resist an opi^ortunity of helping the poor : men are slow to learn the value of a rightful surrender of our most beautiful and treasured possessions for the purpose of rever- ence only. Not a little of the discii:)les' perplexity arose from their own materialistic preconceptions. When Jesus used the language of parable or meta- phor, they made no attempt to reach the deeper and more spiritual meaning — as when He spoke of the Sower (Mk 4}^\\ Lk 8«), or of the 'leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ' (Mt 16'-i2 1| Lk 12i). Once the awful terror which is sometimes the accom- paniment of perplexity seized them — when Jesus spoke with such dread certainty of the presence of one among them who was ready to give Him up, and they ' looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake' (Jn \Z^^). Yet, while Christ per- plexed others, especially those who knew Him least, they seemed powerless to perplex Him. Perfect obedience to the will of God in all things left no room for that flickering of faith which blurs the answer or the gospel of so many teachers. When questioners deliberately attempted to puzzle Him, He unravelled their tangles with instinctive ease (Mt 9^ l| Mk 2», Lk 5^3 ; Mt 12^ || Mk 2^, Lk 6*). Sometimes in a phrase He re-tied the knot into a problem which they were unable to resolve, as when they asked by what authority He did these things (Mt 2P7 \\ Mk IF^, Lk 20^), or in the question of the tribute money being paid to Cisesar (Mt 22^1 II Mk 121'', Lij 2025), or the casuistry of the woman with the seven husbands (Mt 22^0 |l Mk 122', l]^ 20=*^). The pain of perplexity seems to have come to Jesus only towards the end of His life on earth, and then it was more from within than from without. In those