" Christian Perfection''' is pre-eminently a doctrine of Methodists of nearly all classes. It is not a perfec- tion o{ justijication, but a perfection of sanctijication ; "which John Wesley, in a sermon on Christian perfec- tion, from the text Heb. vi, 1, " Let us go on to perfec- tion," earnestly contends for as attainable in tliis life by believers, by arguments founded chieflj' on the com- mandments and promises of Scripture concerning sanc- tification ; guarding his doctrine, however, by saying that it is neither an angelic nor an Adamic perfection, and does not exclude ignorance and error of judgment, witli consequent wrong affections, such as "needless fear or ill-grounded hope, unreasonable love or unrea- sonable aversion." He admits, also, that even in this sense it is a rare attainment, but asserts that "several persons have enjoyed this blessing, without interrup- tion, for many years, several enjoy it at this da}^ and not a few have enjoyed it unto their death, as they have declared with their latest breath, calmly witnessing that God had saved them from all sin, till their spirit returned to God." Paul and John he deemed suffi- cient authorities for the use of an epithet which he knew, however, would l)e liable to the cavils of criti- cism. The Christian world had also largelj' recognised the term in the writings of Clemens Alexandrinus, Ma- carius, Kempis, Fenelon, Lucas, and other writers, Pa- pal and Protestant. Besides incessant allusions to the doctrine in his general writings, Wesley has left an elaborate treatise on it. Fletcher of Madele}', an exam- ple as well as an authority of the doctrine, published an essay on it, proving it to be scriptural as well as sanc- tioned by the best theological writers. Wesley's the-
ory of the doctrine is precise and intelligible, though of- ten distorted into perplexing difficulties by both its ad- vocates and opponents. As above observed, he taught not absolute, nor angelic, nor Adamic, but " Christian perfection." Each sphere of being has its own normal limits ; God alone has absolute perfection ; the angels have a perfection of their own above that of human- ity, at least of tiie humanity of our sphere; unfallen man, represented by Adam, occupied a peculiar sphere in the divine economy, with its own relations to the di- vine government, its own " perfection," called by Wes- ley Adamic perfection ; fallen, but regenerated man, has also his peculiar sphere as a sul)ject of the mediato- rial economy, and the highest practicable virtue (what- ever it may be) in that sphere is its "perfection," is Christian perfection. Admitting such a theory of per- fection, the most important question has respect to its practical limit. When can it be said of a Cliristian man tliat he is thus perfect? Wesley taught that perfect Christians "are not free from ignorance, no, nor from mistake. We are no more to expect any man to be infallible than to be omniscient. . . . From infirmities none are perfectly freed till their spirits return to (iod ; neither can we expect, till then, to be wholly freed from temptation ; for 'the servant is not above his Master.' Neither in tliis sense is there any absolute perfection on earth. There is no perfection of degrees, none which does not admit of a continual increase. . . . The propo- sition which I will hold is this: 'Any person may be cleansed from all sinful tempers, and yet need the aton- ing blood.' For what? for ' negligences and ignoran- ces ;' for both words and actions (as well as omissions), which are, in a sense, transgressions of the perfect law. And I believe no one is clear of these till he lays down this corruptible bodj'." Perfection, as defined by Wes- ley, is not then perfection according to the absolute moral law : it is perfection according to the special re- medial economy introduced by the Atonement, in wliich the heart, being sanctified, fulfils the law by love (Kom. xii,8, 10), and its involuntary imperfections are provid- ed for, by that economy, witliout the imputation of guilt, as in the case of infancy and all irresponsible per- sons. The only question, then, can be, Is it possible for good men so to love God that all their conduct, inward and outward, shall be swaj'ed by love ? that even their involuntary defects shall be swayed bj' it ? Is there such a tiling as the inspired writer calls the "perfect love" which " casteth out fear ?" (1 John iv, 18). Wes- ley believed that there is ; that it is the privilege of all saints ; and that it is to be attained b}- faith. " I want you to be all love," he wrote. " This is the perfection I believe and teach ; and this perfection is consistent with a thousand nervous disorders, which tliat high- strained perfection is not. Indeed, my judgment is that (in this case particularly) to overdo is to undo ; and that to set perfection too high is the most effectual way of driving it out of tlie world." " Man," he says, "in his present state, can no more attain Adamic than angelic ])erfection. The perfection of which man is ca- pable, while he dwells in a corruptible bodj', is the com- plying with that kind command, 'My son, give me thy heart!' It is loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and witli all his mind." Such is his much misrepresented doctrine of Christian perfection. Wesley taught that this sanctification is usuall}' gradual, but may be instantaneous (Stevens, Centenary of Methodism p. 13o). See Weslej', Plain Account of Christian Perfection; Fletcher, Chiistian Perfection; Merritt, Chistian's Manual; Peck, Scrip- ture Doctrine of Christian Perfection ; Foster, Christian Purity. See Methodism.