PERDITION. — The word dirtiXem is rendered botli 'destruction' and 'perdition' in the NT'(AV and RV). It is not always easy to say with positiveness whicli translation is preferable. Jesus came ' to seek and to save that which was lost ' (rb diro\uX6s, Lk 19'"), those who were still alive, not destroyed. Judas is called o i/ids rqi diruXflos (Jn 17'"), 'son of perdition,' and the same phrase is tised of 6 &vdpuTroi Til's avoixla^, 'the man of sin,' in 2Th2^, which is variously interpreted of the Roman Emperor, the Roman Empire, or a false Messiah (ef. Rev 13). The notion here is not the ruin wrought by ' the son of perdition ' so much as that coining to him. In Ph 3'* the RV translates &v rb t^Xos dTTciXeia, ' whose end is perdition,' not ' destruction ' as the AV, because tAos is a future and tinal punishment. And yet in 2 P 3' the RV has dis- [ilaced 'perdition' of the AV by 'destruction.' So the RV lias ' destruction ' in the other pas- sages in 2 Pet. (2""» 3'»). In 1 Ti 6" eis 6\e0pov Atti aiTuAeLav the RV distinguishes between the two and gives ' destruction and perdition,' but no con- sistent principle of distinction exists in the trans- lation of diriiXeia in the NT. The advocates of anniliilation and conditional immortality appeal to the etymology of the word aTrdXKvm. The advo- cates of proljation after death likewise argue tliat there is nothing in oTriiXeia to mean interminable punishment. The contrast, however, is sharply drawn in Pli 1^ and He 10'* between those who are saved and those who fall into perdition ; cf. also Rev 17*- ", where it describes the state of eternal misery, the lot of those excluded from the King- dom of God. The word is common in the LXX and appears in Aristotle, Nic. Eth. IV. i. 5, Poly- bius, VI. li.\. 5, etc. Even when translated ' de- struction ' in the RV the word may still have the notion of eternal misery and not mere annihilation (see De.struction). But it must be admitted that the term dTriiXfia does not decide the question whether ' perdition ' is interminable or limited (see Fire, vol. i. p. 409 f.). We may well leave the problem of a sec(md probation to God, after remarking that it has very slender support in the NT outside of the possible interpretation of 1 P 3'"-. The Christian preacher is on safe ground when he warns the sinner not to risk the vague chance of that alternative. The problem of eternal life or death is .settled by the issues of this life. See, further, Desteuction, Eschatology, and Fire. A. "T. Robertson.
PERFECT, PERFECTION. — In the apostolic writings ' perfect ' is the EV rendering of three different Greek words, namely, dxpi/S^s, dpnos, and rtXetos (the only exception is Kev 3- [AV], where
the RV rightly renders ir\r)piu : ' I have found no works of thine fii/Jillcd before my God ').
1. 1 Th 5^ is the only passage in which the RV retains ' perfectly ' as the rendering of iKpifiu!. When St. Paul says 'ye know perfectly' he uses an oxymoron, for he is insisting on the accuracy of the information given to the Thessalonian Church as regarils the uncertainty of the day and the hour of Christ's coming. The true meaning of dic/ji/SiJ! and cognate words is well brought out in the RV by such translations as ' accurate,' ' careful,' and ' exact ' (ef. Mt 2'"-, Lk I», Ac IS'"- 2S> 23'»- *> 24»» 26», Eph 5").
2. In 2 Ti 3" the RV substitutes ' complete ' for the AV ' perfect' as the rendering of dpnos. The repetition of the same word brings out the con- nexion between dpnos and iiriprTiafiivoi : 'that the man of God maj' be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.' In early Christian writ- ings dpTio! is found ojiposed to ' lame ' and to 'mutilated'; it is exiilained b3' Calvin 'in quo nihil est mutilum.' Wlien perfection, in this sense, is predicated of the natural man, it is implied that no es.sential element of human nature is lacking. Similarly, St. Paul's ideal of the man of God in- cludes his possession of every gift of grace necessary for the discharge of the duties of the Christian calling. ' If we ask ourselves under what special aspects completeness is contemplated in fipnos, it would be safe to answer that it is not as the pres- ence only of all the parts which are necessary for that completeness, but involves further the adapta- tion and aptitude of these parts for the ends which they were designed to serve' (R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the NT", London, 1890, p. 78). From the same root (Spnos) is derived, with a strengthen- ing prefix, the causative verb Karaprtieiv, which in the RV is rendered {a) ' restore ' in Gal 6', 1 P 5'" RVm ; (6) 'make perfect' in 1 Th 3'", He 132' . (^j ' perfect' in 1 Co 1'", 2 Co 13", 1 P 5'". The cog- nate nouns are translated ' perfecting' in 2 Co 13", Eph 4'-.
(«) When there has been deterioration or fracture, wear or tear, the idea of ' perfecting ' includes that of repairing. Hence in Mt 4" Karaprl^eiv is used of mending nets, and in Gal 6' it has the ethical significance of restoration to the right way. It denotes ' re-adjustment,' and 'indicates the correc- tion of an ottender with a view to his restoration' (F. Rendall, in EGT, 'Galatians,' London, 1903, p. 188 f.). The word has probably the same sig- nificance in 1 Co 1'". St. Paul deplores the exist- ence of splits or schisms in the Church at Corinth ; he therefore desires that its members may be ' well and surely adjusted' (conrjmentati, Bengel) ; cf. G. G. Findlay (in EGT, ' 1 Corinthians,' London, 1900, p. 763), who quotes, with approval, Alford's note : ' the exact word for the healing or repairing of the breaches caused by the axt-trp-o-Ta.' According to this interpretation, the Apostle is anxious for the restoration of the Church to complete harmony. T. C. Edwards {1 Corinthians", London, ISS.'i, p. 17) blends this meaning with that of the perfecting of individual Christians : ' Their dissensions Avere beginning to tell injuriously on their spiritual condition. There were not only axii' p-ara in the Church, but personal iffrep-fifuiTa. " Let them, therefore, be fully equipped in giace, that so thej' may be reconciled to one another."' But even if tlie two meanings are not mutually exclusive, the jjrimary appeal is for reconciliation, in order that the personal perfecting in grace of the members of the Church may not bo hinilered.