Christian perfection

[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.

[18] Origen also proposed his own stages of spiritual ascent beginning with conversion and ending with perfect union with God in love.

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.

[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.

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.

[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.

Perfectae Caritatis, the Decree on the Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life, is one of the shorter documents issued by the Second Vatican Council.

[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.

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.

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.

In traditional Calvinism and high church Anglicanism, perfection was viewed as a gift bestowed on righteous persons only after their death (see Glorification).

According to Noble, Wesley transformed Christian perfection as found in church tradition by interpreting it through a Protestant lens that understood sanctification in light of justification by grace through faith working by love.

Let love fill your heart, and it is enough!Involuntary transgressions (such as those arising from ignorance, error, and evil tempers), according to Wesley, were not properly called sins.

Based on 1 John 2, Wesley proposed three stages in the Christian life: little children, young men, and finally fathers.

Wesley believed this last stage of Christian maturity was made possible by what he called entire sanctification (a phrase derived from First Thessalonians 5:23).

"[56] In "Thoughts on Christian Perfection" (1759), Wesley stressed the gradual aspect of perfection, writing that it was to be received "in a zealous keeping of all the commandments; in watchfulness and painfulness; in denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily; as well as in earnest prayer and fasting and a close attendance on all the ordinances of God ...it is true we receive it by simple faith; but God does not, will not, give that faith unless we seek it with all diligence in the way which he hath ordained.

[56] The systematic theologian of Methodism, John William Fletcher, termed the reception of entire sanctification as Baptism with the Holy Spirit.

[58] John Wesley taught outward holiness as an expression of "inward transformation" and theologians in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition have noted that the observance of standards of dress and behaviour should follow the New Birth as an act of obedience to God.

[61][62] After Wesley's death, his teachings on Christian perfection remained important to the Methodist church, but, according to historian David Bebbington, "the tradition fell into decay.

While Arthur encouraged readers to pray for a greater experience of the Holy Spirit, he de-emphasized the instantaneous aspect of Christian perfection.

It is given either gradually or at one moment...[65]Candidates for ordination are asked the following question, "Do you expect to be made perfect in love in this life?

[67] The Confession of Faith, one of the Doctrinal Standards of the United Methodist Church, teaches that entire sanctification may be bestowed upon the believer gradually or instantaneously: We believe sanctification is the work of God's grace through the Word and the Spirit, by which those who have been born again are cleansed from sin in their thoughts, words and acts, and are enabled to live in accordance with God's will, and to strive for holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

"[68] However, he has also noted that uncertainty, among some, exists within the denomination over the teaching: "Our discomfort with this doctrine today is seen in services of ordination when candidates are asked, 'Are you going on to perfection?'

"[68] Brian Beck, former President of the Methodist Conference in Britain, expressed his personal opinion in 2000 that "The doctrine [of sanctification] remains with us in Charles Wesley's hymns, but the formative framework, and even, I suspect, the spiritual intention, have largely gone.

Dr. Kevin M. Watson, a United Methodist clergyman and Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific University, implores fellow pastors: "Teaching and preaching the possibility of being made perfect in love for God and neighbor, and seeking to actually become entirely sanctified are the reasons Methodism was 'raised up.'

[78] The Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches thus teaches that:[79][80]We believe that entire sanctification is that work of the Holy Spirit by which the child of God is cleansed from inherited depravity and empowered for more effective service through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Spirit-filled believer is thus enabled to love God with an undivided heart.A second defining emphasis of the Holiness movement is the complete destruction and eradication of the sinful nature.

[105]While Presbyterians believe that Christians do "grow in God's grace" or holiness as they become conformed to the image of Christ, they reject the notion that perfection is attainable.