Perfectibility

Perfectibility, or PERFECTIONISM, the doctrine that man in a state of grace may attain to perfection in this life. Catholics hold that no one, not even the most holy, can avoid sin altogether except by a special privilege of God, as in the case of the Blessed Virgin; the justified do not, however, commit mortal, but venial sins (see SIN). In various points Franciscans, Jesuits, and Molinists approach to a doctrine of perfection denied by Dominicans and Jansenists. Among Protestants, Wesleyan Methodists believe in the possibility of a Christian perfection attainable in this life. It is not a perfection of justification, but a perfection of sanctification; which John Wesley, in a sermon on Christian Perfection, from the text Heb. vi. 1, 'Let us go on to perfection,' earnestly contends for as attainable in this life by believers, by arguments founded chiefly on the commandments and promises of Scripture concerning sanctification; 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, with consequent wrong affections, such as 'needless fear or ill-grounded hope, unreasonable love, or unreasonable aversion.' He admits, also, that even in this sense it is a rare attainment. The Friends profess that the justified may be 'free from actual sinning and transgression of the law of God, and in that respect perfect. Yet doth this perfection admit of a growth; and there remaineth a possibility of sinning where the mind doth not most diligently and watchfully attend unto the Lord.' Other schools also hold similar views; but most Protestants repudiate the doctrine of Perfectibility. The general belief of Protestant Christians is that those who have professed a belief in their own perfectibility were merely more self-conplacent and less sensible of their own corruptions than is usual, and that the commands and promises concerning sanctification are all susceptible of an explanation consistent with remaining corruption in believers, and a need of further sanctification, or a continued going on unto perfection whilst this life endures.