Within many denominations of Christianity, Christian perfection is the theological concept of the process or the event of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is union with God characterized by pure love of God and other people as well as personal holiness or sanctification. Other terms used for this or similar concepts include entire sanctification, holiness, perfect love, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, baptism by fire, the second blessing, and the second work of grace.
Understandings of the doctrine of Christian Perfection vary widely between Christian traditions, though these denominational interpretations find basis in Jesus' words recorded in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (King James Version) but not Matthew 19:21, "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me."
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christian perfection is to be sought after by all of the just (righteous).[2] Eastern Orthodoxy situates Christian perfection as a goal for all Christians.[3] Traditional Quakerism uses the term perfection and teaches that it is the calling of a believer.[4][5]
Perfection is a prominent doctrine within the Methodist tradition, in which it is referred to as Christian perfection, entire sanctification, holiness, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the second work of grace.[6][7][8] Holiness Pentecostalism inherited the same terminology from Methodism, with exception of the fact that Holiness Pentecostals take the term Baptism with the Holy Spirit to mean a separate third work of grace of empowerment evidenced by speaking in tongues, whereas Methodists use the term Baptism of the Holy Spirit to refer to the second work of grace, entire sanctification.[7][9]
Other denominations, such as the Lutheran Churches and Reformed Churches, reject the possibility of Christian perfection in this life as contrary to the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, holding that deliverance from sin is begun at conversion but is only completed in glorification.[10] Contrasting to all, Christian Science teaches that as man is made in God's image and likeness (Genesis 1:27), "The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal".[11]
The terms "perfect" and "perfection" are drawn from the Greek teleios and teleiōsis, respectively. The root word, telos, means an "end" or "goal". In recent translations, teleios and teleiōsis are often rendered as "mature" and "maturity", respectively, so as not to imply an absolute perfection of no defects. But the words "mature" and "maturity" do not capture the full meaning of "end" or "goal". (Even these recent translations use the word "perfect" when not referring to people, as in James 1:17.[12]) In the Christian tradition, teleiōsis has also referred to personal wholeness or health, an unswerving commitment to the goal.[13]
The roots of the doctrine of Christian perfection lie in the writings of some early Roman Catholic theologians considered Church Fathers: Irenaeus,[14] Clement of Alexandria, Origen and later Macarius of Egypt and Gregory of Nyssa.[15]
Irenaeus wrote about the spiritual transformation that occurred in the believer as the Holy Spirit is to "fit us for God."[16] In antiquity, baptism was commonly referred to as the perfecting of the Christian. This view was expressed by Clement of Alexandria in his work Paedagogus: "Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated we become children [lit. 'sons']; being made children, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are immortal."[17] In another work, the Stromata, Clement discussed three stages in Christian life that led to a more mature perfection. The first stage was marked by the change from heathenism to faith and initiation into the Christian religion. The second stage was marked by a deeper knowledge of God that resulted in continuing repentance from sin and mastery over the passions (apatheia). The third stage led to contemplation and agape love.[18] Origen also proposed his own stages of spiritual ascent beginning with conversion and ending with perfect union with God in love.[19]
Gregory of Nyssa defined human perfection as "constant growth in the good". For Gregory, this was brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit and the self-discipline of the Christian.[20] Macarius of Egypt taught that all sin could be washed away and that a person could be made perfect in the "span of an hour" while stressing the fact that entire sanctification had a two-fold nature, as "an act and a process".[16] Pseudo-Macarius taught that inner sin was rooted out of the pure in heart, but he also warned against the hidden potential for sin in everyone so that no one should ever say, "Because I am in grace, I am thoroughly freed from sin."[21]
By the 4th century, the pursuit of the life of perfection was identified with asceticism, especially monasticism and withdrawal from the world.[22] In the 12th century, Bernard of Clairvaux developed the idea of the ladder of love in his treatise, On the Love of God. This ladder had four rungs or degrees. The first and lowest degree was love of self for self. The second degree was love of God for what he gives. The third degree was love of God for his own sake; it would not be difficult, according to Bernard, for those who truly loved God to keep his commandments. The fourth degree was love of self only for God's sake; it was believed that this degree of perfection in love was only rarely achieved before death.[23]
Thomas Aquinas wrote of three possible levels of perfection.[24] The first, absolute perfection, is where God is loved as much as he can be loved; only God himself can be this perfect. The second level, where love for God fills a person constantly, is possible after death but not in life.[25] The lowest level of perfection was thought to be possible to achieve while living. Theologian Thomas Noble described Aquinas' view of this level of perfection as follows:
All Christians have the grace of caritas infused into them at baptism and this love for God excludes all mortal sins. Such sins are not impossible, and, if committed, require the grace of penance, but Christians do not live committing flagrant acts of intentional sin contrary to their love for God. That is incompatible with the state of grace. But those who are no longer beginners, but making progress in the life of perfection, come to the point where everything contrary to being wholly in love with God is excluded: they love God with all their hearts.[26]
According to the standard formulation of the process of Christian perfection, as formulated by Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite (late 5th to early 6th century),[27][28] there are three stages:[29][30][28]
Daniel L. Burnett, a professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary, writes that:[31]
Views compatible with the Wesleyan understanding of entire sanctification were carried forward in later times by men like the medieval Catholic priest Thomas a Kempis, the Protestant Reformers Caspel Schwenkfeld and Thomas Munzer, the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, the German Pietist Phillip Jacob Spener, the Quaker founder George Fox, the Anglican bishop Jeremy Taylor, and the English devotional writer William Law. Many of these influences fed into [John] Wesley's heritage and laid the foundation for the development of his thought. In fact, the concept of entire sanctification is so pervasive throughout church history that it can accurately be said that virtually all the major traditions—Orthodox, Catholic, Reformed, and Anglican—played some part in shaping Wesley's passion for holiness.[31]
According to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, something is perfect when nothing is lacking in its nature or purpose. The ultimate purpose of Man is union with God, also called divinization. This is accomplished on earth by grace and in heaven by the beatific vision. Perfect union with God while on earth is impossible; therefore, absolute perfection is reserved for heaven.[32]
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christian perfection is a spiritual union with God that is attainable in this life. It is not absolute perfection as it exists alongside human misery, rebellious passions, and venial sin. Christian perfection consists of charity or love, since it is this virtue that unites the soul to God. It is not just the possession and preservation of sanctifying grace, since perfection is determined by one's action—the actual practicing of charity or the service of God.[32]
The more charity a person possesses, the greater the perfection of the soul. A person who is perfect in so far as being free from mortal sin obtains salvation and can be called just, holy, and perfect. A person who is perfect insofar as also being free from venial sin and all affections which separate a person from God is in a state of active service and love of God. This is the perfect fulfillment of the law—loving God and loving other people.[32]
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that Christian perfection is something all should pursue in light of Jesus' injunction in Matthew 5:48.[2] There is also, however, what is called "religious perfection", which is pursued by those committed to living religious life, such as members of religious orders. All Roman Catholics are obliged to attain perfection by observing the commandments, but religious life imposes a more exacting obligation, requiring the religious to also observe the evangelical counsels (also known as "counsels of perfection") of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The evangelical counsels are believed to promote perfection in two ways. They remove the obstacles to perfection—lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. They also increase a person's love of God by freeing the affections from earthly ties.[32]
El Camino de Perfección is a method for making progress in the contemplative life written by Saint Teresa of Ávila for the sisters of her reformed convent of the Discalced Carmelites. St. Teresa was a major figure of the Counter-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 Latin incipit of the decree: "Of Perfect Charity".
The Orthodox Church teaches that "perfection is possible for us as human beings as long as we understand it in its proper, dynamic sense" and that humans are "made for Theosis, for the deification ('divinizing') of the totality of our being, body, mind, heart, and soul".[3] This is in accordance with the writings of Saint Paul that encourage Christians to seek after the righteousness of Jesus to be transformed from "one degree of glory to another".[3]
Byzantine Orthodox hagiographer and hymnodist St Symeon the Metaphrast (10th c.) declared:[33]
Those who deny the possibility of perfection inflict the greatest damage on the soul in three ways. First, they manifestly disbelieve the inspired Scriptures. Then, because they do not make the greatest and fullest goal of Christianity their own, and so do not aspire to attain it, they can have no longing and diligence, no hunger and thirst for righteousness (cf Matt. 5:6); on the contrary, content with outward show and behavior and with minor accomplishments of this kind, they abandon that blessed expectation together with the pursuit of perfection and of the total purification of the passions. Third, thinking they have reached the goal when they have acquired a few virtues, and not pressing on to the true goal, not only are they incapable of having any humility, poverty and contrition of heart but, justifying themselves on the grounds that they have already arrived, they make no efforts to progress and grow day by day. People who think it is impossible to attain through the Spirit the 'new creation' of the pure heart (cf 2 Cor. 5:17) are rightly and explicitly likened by the apostle to those who, because of their unbelief, were found unworthy of entering the promised land and whose bodies on that account 'were left lying in the desert' (Heb. 3:17).[33]
Anabaptist Christians (inclusive of the Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite, Bruderhof, Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren and Apostolic Christian denominations) believe that "because they have voluntarily chosen to follow Christ as their only authority", they can be successful in their pursuit of Christian perfection.[34] Professor of Religious Studies Ira Chernus explicates Anabaptist doctrine:[34]
... Anabaptists put special stress on the power of faith to produce good works and a more moral life. ... they are guided by the concluding injunction of the Sermon on the Mount: "You shall be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." They strive for perfection; they view their church as the visible body of Christ, which must be, and can be, a "spotless congregation." As one of their greatest early leaders, Menno Simmons, said: "The reborn willfully here sin no more."[34]
In particular, the Apostolic Christian Church is "distinguished by its emphasis on entire sanctification".[35]