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PERFECT SANCTIFICATION 
 
 AN AllTICLS FBOM TUB 
 
 PRINCETON REVIEW 
 
 JULY, 1 
 
 8 4 2. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 W. 
 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN T. ROBINSON. 
 
 1842. 
 
PERFECT SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 The Scriptural Doctrine of Sanctification stated and de- 
 fended against the error of Perfectionism. By W. D. 
 Snodgrass, D. D. Philadelphia : Presbyterian Board of 
 Publication. 1841. pp. 112. 
 
 This judicious and excellent treatise presents, in a small 
 compass, the substance of the modern controversy on the 
 doctrine of entire sanctification in the present life. The 
 author's statements are calm and clear, his method logical, 
 his arguments conclusive, and his style simple and dignified. 
 Though it is not long since we called the attention of our 
 readers to this subject, especially in the form in which it is 
 presented by the Oberlin professors, we think they will not 
 regard the following pages as misapplied, when they con- 
 sider how ceaseless are the efforts of the advocates of error 
 to propagate a doctrine which the history of the church 
 teaches us seldom fails to become, in one form or other, an 
 apology for sin. 
 
 The notion of the actual attainment, in some instances, of 
 perfect virtue in this life, is so gratifying to human pride, 
 that we need not wonder at its adoption by some in nearly 
 every age of the world. Contrary as it is to scripture and 
 experience, it is too deeply radicated in man's selfishness, 
 not to find apologists and advocates among the conceited, 
 the enthusiastic, and such as are unaccustomed to an impar- 
 tial scrutiny of their own hearts. It flatters exceedingly all 
 those pretensions to superior sanctity which are disjoined 
 from humility, penitence, and ardent aspirations after entire 
 assimilation to the perfection of the divine moral charac- 
 ter. In most of the false religions of the earth, the doctrine 
 of human perfection, manifested in at least some peculiarly 
 favored instances, has, if we mistake not, formed an essential 
 article of belief; and in all countries, perhaps, individuals 
 have been found, possessing an exemption from the com- 
 mon frailties of their race. A kind of perfection has been 
 claimed for Greek and Roman sages, for Hindoo devotees, 
 for Mahommedan saints ; and even for the savage warrior, 
 smiling in death at the impotent efforts of his enemies to 
 extract from his agonized nature the shriek, or the groan of 
 suffering. That Pantheism, which is the philosophical basis 
 
of most of the popular systems of idolatry, assumes as a 
 fundamental position, such a union of man to the Deity, as 
 constitutes the leading principle of modern perfectionism, 
 in its purest and most sublimated form. Hence originates 
 the deification of men, as well as the divine worship paid 
 to stocks, stones, rivers, mountains, wind, and all the infe- 
 rior parts of the creation ; Pantheism, (elevating a creature 
 of yesterday to the rank of a divinity,) which is supposed 
 by many to have been of more ancient date than the uni- 
 versal deluge,* was maintained in all following ages till the 
 time of Christ, and was not entirely relinquished even by 
 some of his professed disciples. Holding such a principle, 
 they were prepared to adopt other opinions equally prepos- 
 terous and unchristian. To this, perhaps, should be attribu- 
 ted, in part, at least, the antinomianism and perfectionism 
 of some of the heretics in the apostolic age — -so the Nicolai- 
 tans and Simonians — who maintained that they were releas- 
 ed from all obligation to the law, and that none of their ac- 
 tions, however contrary to the letter of the precept, were 
 really opposed to the divine will, and worthy of punish- 
 ment : and how could they, who were parts of God, or 
 rather identical with him, commit sin? "The Gnostics of 
 the first and second centuries, and the Manichaeans of the 
 third, believed human souls to be particles of the celestial 
 light, of the same essential nature with God himself, and no 
 otherwise corrupt or corruptible, than by being combined 
 with sinful matter. The new Platonists of Egypt, held 
 substantially the same opinions. Hieronymus, in the preface 
 to his dialogues against. Pelagius, says that ManichEeus, 
 Precillian, Evagrinus, Hyperborius, Flavinian, Origen, and 
 the Menalians of Syria, were Perfectionists.*" The breth- 
 ren and sisters of the Free Spirit, in the thirteenth, fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries, held that all things flowed by ema- 
 nation from God; that rational souls were poriions of the, 
 divine essence; that the universe was God ; and that by 
 the power of contemplation, they were united to the Deity, 
 and acquired hereby a glorious and sublime liberty, both 
 from sinful lusts, and the common instincts of nature.J " In 
 the latter part of the seventeenth century, the disciples of 
 Michael de Molinos in Spain, France, and Italy, were Per- 
 fectionists.'-^ It is worthy of remark, that in none of all 
 
 * free the Princeton Review, Vol. 13, p. 539. 
 j Literary and Theological Review, Vol. 3, p. 28. 
 1 Hack's Theological Diet, and Mosheim. 
 $ Lit. and The. Review, ut supra. 
 
these, during so many successive centuries, do we trace any 
 evidence of the belief of the direct agency of the Holy Spirit 
 on the heart, turning its affections to God, and securing the 
 perfection of its obedience. For the most part, they assert- 
 ed, that regeneration and complete deliverance from sin 
 could be effected by contemplation, and the soul thus be so 
 identified with God, as to constitute them not two things 
 united, but one being ; and in this way, they explained the 
 indwelling and controlling agency of the Most High in man. 
 Of the reality and presence of native moral corruption, as 
 maintained by consistent Calvinists, they seem to have had 
 no conception.'" Pelagius and Celestius, in the fourth cen- 
 tury, who denied the innate sinfulness of the human heart, 
 and the consequent necessity of efficacious grace in its 
 renewal, maintained, with entire systematic consistency, 
 that men might live without sin during the whole period of 
 their life ; that some had actually so lived for many years, 
 and that others, restored by repentance after transgression, 
 had subsequently continued perfect in holiness to the close 
 of their days.t The primitive Quakers, the French Proph- 
 ets, the Shakers, Jemima Wilkinson, Joanna Southcott, and 
 the great body of Mystics in every communion, held to 
 perfection in this life, as the attainment of the privileged 
 few ; and the advocates of this doctrine have usually repre- 
 sented the denial of it as involving great licentiousness, and 
 a state of utter spiritual bondage. The views of the famous 
 John Wesley, the father of Arminian Methodism, are well 
 known to the reading part of the religious community. He 
 affirmed, as Whitfield asserts, « that no Baptist or Presby- 
 terian writer, whom he had ever read, knew any thing of 
 the liberties of Christ ;" to which statement Whitfield re- 
 plied, in his own pointed and emphatical manner — " What ! 
 neither Bunyan, Henry, Flavel, Halyburton, nor any of the 
 New-England and Scotch Divines? See, dear sir, what 
 narrow-spiritedness and want of charity arise from your 
 principles ; and then do not say aught against election any 
 more, on account of its being destructive of meekness and 
 love. I know you think meanly of Abraham, though he 
 was eminently called the friend of God, and I believe also 
 of David, the man after God's own heart. "t Wesley gives 
 
 * Lit. and Theol. Review, ut supra. 
 
 \ Lit. and Th. Review, Vol. o, p. 29, where wo h;ivo in a note a curious spe- 
 cimen of the arguments of Celestius on this subject. AUo Wigger's Hist, of 
 Augustinism and r'clsgianism. 
 
 * Gillie's Life of Whitfield, New-Haven edition, 1812, p. 256. 
 
us an account of the steps by which he was led, during a 
 course of many years, to embrace what he calls the doctrine 
 of " Christian perfection," which, as he explains it, though 
 it includes the idea of freedom from sin, implies neither per- 
 fection in knowledge nor infallibility, nor security against 
 temptations and infirmities.* According to the system of 
 the Romish church, good men may not only attain to per- 
 fection, but perform, moreover, works of supererogation, 
 serving as a fund of merit, for the advantage of believers of 
 inferior spiritual attainments. 
 
 It is not till lately that Perfectionism has been professed 
 within the pale of Congregational and Presbyterian church- 
 es. By our fathers it was accounted heresy, inconsistent 
 with the express testimony of the scriptures, contradictory 
 to Christian experience, and subversive of the entire scheme 
 of the gospel. But, in consequence of certain Pelagian 
 speculations, concerning moral agency, human ability, and 
 the divine influence in sanctification, — errors that have be- 
 come extensively popular — individuals, once reputed most 
 zealous for revivals of religion, have been led to join Pela- 
 gius and other kindred spirits, in their views of the attaina- 
 bleness of perfection in the present life. Such, as we believe, 
 is the philosophical origin of Perfectionism, as held by the 
 professors at Oberlin, and their theological friends. 
 
 That we may not misrepresent the meaning of those to 
 whom we refer, we will state their doctrine of perfection in 
 their own language. "What is perfection in holiness ? In 
 answer to this inquiry I would remark," says Mr. Mahan,t 
 " that perfection in holiness implies a full and perfect dis- 
 charge of our entire duty, of all existing obligations in re- 
 spect to God and all other beings. It is perfect obedience 
 to the moral law." With respect to the attainableness of 
 perfection in this life, the same writer says, " We have evi- 
 dence just as conclusive, that perfect and perpetual holiness 
 is promised to Christians, as we have that it is required of 
 them." " We have the same evidence from scripture, that 
 all Christians may, and that some of them will, attain to 
 a stale of entire sanctification in this life, that they will 
 attain to that state in heaven." "There is positive evi- 
 dence that some of them did attain to this state." Mr. 
 Finney affirms, and in this, we suppose, he expresses the 
 
 » Wesley's plain account of Christian Perfection, New-York edition, 1837, 
 pp. 3, 18, and passim, 
 f Christian Perfection, pp. 4, 37, 38. 
 
opinion of his associates at Oberlin, that sinless perfection 
 for the time being, is implied in the lowest degree of true 
 piety. " It seems to be a very general opinion," says he, 
 " that there is such a thing as imperfect obedience to God ; 
 (i. e.) as it respects one and the same act, but I cannot see 
 how an imperfect obedience, relating to one and the same 
 act can be possible. Imperfect obedience ! What can be 
 meant by this, but disobedient obedience ! a sinful holiness ! 
 Now, to decide the character of any act, we are to bring it 
 into the light of the law of God ; if agreeable to this law, it 
 is obedience — it is right — wholly right. If it is in any re- 
 spect different from what the law of God requires, it is 
 wrong — wholly wrong."* Here Ave have the doctrine that 
 all Christians are sometimes perfect, or are perfect so far as 
 they have any true holiness ; and it is a very natural infer- 
 ence from such premises, that believers may attain to a con- 
 firmed state of perfection in the present life. This conclu- 
 sion is adopted by Mr. Finney, as well as by Mr. Mahan. 
 
 To disprove the perfectionism taught in the above ex- 
 tracts, or to show that none of the saints are entirely free 
 from sin in the present life, will be our object in this essay. 
 
 We shall begin with noticing the principal arguments, 
 which are commonly adduced by perfectionists of different 
 descriptions, in support of their views of this subject. We 
 shall next exhibit direct evidence of the sinful imperfection of 
 the heart of the saints in this life ; and lastly, we shall show 
 the great practical importance of the doctrine for which we 
 contend, in opposition to the error which it controverts. 
 
 The arguments of the Perfectionists are first to be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 The command of God requires perfection, is one of their 
 arguments. Answer. It is doubtless true, that the Most 
 High does command us to be perfect ; and to enjoin any 
 thing less than perfection, would be inconsistent with his 
 own purity, and those eternal principles of rectitude, accor- 
 ding to which he governs the universe. The law expresses 
 his feelings towards moral objects ; but it leaves wholly 
 undetermined the question, whether his rational creatures 
 will acknowledge, or reject his authority. His command, 
 in any instance, neither supposes that it will be obeyed, nor 
 implies any insincerity in him, provided he foresees that it 
 will not be obeyed. The contrary supposition would be 
 
 • Obeilin Evangelist, Vol. 1. 
 
8 
 
 incompatible with some of the most undeniable facts of re- 
 vealed religion. Does the divine command to be perfect, 
 prove that some may, or will obey this righteous precept? 
 Then, for the same reason, the divine prohibition of all sin 
 in mankind, equally proves that some of them may pass 
 through a long life without a single act of transgression. It 
 is by no means certain, therefore, that all the human race 
 are or have been sinners ; and, of course, the doctrine of 
 universal depravity, unequivocally and frequently as it is 
 taught in the scriptures, may be false. It is as easy 
 to imagine that some never sin, as that they become 
 perfectly holy after they have acquired a sinful character. 
 The opinion of Pelagius with regard to this subject, was, 
 therefore, more specious and more logical than is the 
 notion of those who make God's requirement of perfect 
 sanctification an argument that some are perfectly sanctified 
 in this life ; while, with strange inconsistency, they assert 
 the universal moral depravity, anterior to conversion, of 
 such of mankind as have sufficient knowledge to be moral 
 agents. Besides, entire holiness is plainly obligatory on all 
 rational creatures ; and no strength of depraved affection or 
 hopelessness of condition can release any from the demands 
 of the law of God. On this principle, the devils in their 
 place of torment, are bound to love their Maker, and yield 
 themselves implicitly to his authority. To say they are not 
 thus bound, is to take their part against their Maker, and 
 pronounce them entirely excusable and innocent in their 
 present rebellion, rage and blasphemy. But does it follow, 
 because they are under law, that they will, therefore, ever 
 return to their duty ? The Bible, on the other hand, assures 
 us, that their misery, and consequently, their enmity to God, 
 will be without end. 
 
 The command of God, it is alleged, implies our ability to 
 obey; and it is reasonable to suppose that where ability 
 exists, it will, sometimes at least, manifest itself by obedi- 
 ence. This argument has been strongly urged, both to 
 account for the existence of sin, (for where there is ability 
 to obey, there is also supposed to be ability to disobey, or 
 "the power of contrary choice,") and to show the practica- 
 bility of obedience, in the highest degree, to all the divine 
 requisitions. " Were it not," says Mr. Finney,* " that there 
 is a sense in which a man's heart may be better than his 
 
 * Lectures on Revivals of Religion, p. 17. 
 
9 
 
 head, I should feel bound to maintain, that pelfcons holding 
 this sentiment, that man is unable to obey God without the 
 Spirit's agency, were no Christians at all — obligation is only 
 commensurate with ability." Again he says,* "certain it 
 is that men are able to resist the utmost influence that the 
 truth can exert upon them, and therefore have ability to 
 defeat the wisest, most benevolent, and most powerful exer- 
 tions which the Holy Spirit can make to effect their sancti- 
 fication." Mr. Mahan says,t " I infer that a state of perfect 
 holiness is attainable in this life, from the commands of 
 scripture, addressed to Christians under the new covenant." 
 The philosophy, from which perfection is thus inferred, had 
 been previously asserted by certain divines of celebrity in 
 Connecticut. In proof of this, the reader is referred to two 
 or three citations from the Christian Spectator, formerly 
 published at New-Haven. « Free moral agents can do 
 wrong under all possible preventing influence.''^ "We 
 know that a moral system necessarily implies the existence 
 of free agents, with the power to act in despite of all oppo- 
 sing power. This fact sets human reason at defiance, in 
 every attempt to prove that some of these agents will not 
 use that power and actually sin."§ Again: "God not 
 only prefers on the whole that his creatures should forever 
 perform their duties rather than neglect them, but purposes 
 on his part to do all in his power to promote this very object 
 of his kingdom." || In all these statements, the implication 
 is clear, that men are, of course, able to do whatever God 
 requires of them ; and that the mind is in reality self-moved 
 in all its moral exercises. 
 
 We readily admit that men have the requisite faculties to 
 obey God, in other words, that they are moral agents. And 
 this is often what is meant by natural ability. We admit 
 also that the inability of sinners is a moral inability, inas- 
 much as it relates to moral objects, arises from moral causes, 
 and is removed by a moral change. The possession, how- 
 ever, of natural ability, in the sense just stated, does not 
 blish the conclusion contended for in the preceding argu- 
 ment. Because men or devils have the requisite intellectual 
 or physical faculties to serve their Creator, does it certainly 
 follow, that they will serve him? As it regards moral 
 
 * Oberlin Evangelist, Lcct. 21, p. 193. f Christian Perfection, p. 28. 
 \ Christian Spectator, 1830, p. 563. § Ibid, 1831, p. 617. || Ibid, 1832, p. 660. 
 
 2 
 
10 
 
 ability, it is absurd to imagine that the rule of duty is to be 
 measured by this. On this supposition, there is really no 
 rule of right except the inclinations of creatures ; or, guilt 
 is diminished in proportion to the stubbornness and viru- 
 lence of the principle of evil to be overcome ; which is but 
 saying, in other language, that the more sinful, the more 
 bent on rebellion any one is, the less is he to blame for his 
 disobedience. Mankind by nature, then, are perfectly inno- 
 cent in hating God, and in rejecting the manifold overtures 
 of the gospel ; for it is clear from this inspired volume, that 
 they are " dead in trespasses and sins." Their disinclina- 
 tion to obedience is affirmed to be so great, that it can be 
 overcome by nothing less than the direct exertion of Al- 
 mighty power. "No man," says Christ, "can come unto 
 me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him." Ac- 
 cordingly, the commencement of holiness in the sinner's 
 heart is again and again described by such phrases as indi- 
 cate the highest manifestation of the immediate and creative 
 agency of God. It is the donation of a new heart — a sec- 
 ond birth — a new creation — a resurrection from the dead. 
 These figures, strong as they are, are doubtless used with 
 the utmost propriety, as most happily expressive of the 
 inveteracy of the evil disposition to be vanquished, of the 
 sinner's moral helplessness, and of his absolute dependance 
 on sovereign grace. The continuance of believers in obe- 
 dience is also constantly ascribed to the same power by 
 which they were originally renewed after the image of 
 God. " Without me," says Jesus Christ, " you can do 
 nothing." "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 
 you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth 
 fruit, and that your fruit should remain." Here we learn 
 that the growth of the fruit in the first instance, and its per- 
 manency afterwards, are both owing to the choice, purpose, 
 and effectual agency of the Redeemer. " We are not suffi- 
 cient of ourselves," says Paul, " to think any thing as of 
 ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God." " Being confi- 
 dent of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good 
 work in God, will perform (finish) it until the day of Jesus 
 Christ." The good work here intended, is doubtless, as 
 appears from the connexion, the implantation of holiness in 
 the heart by the efficacious grace of God. " Who are kept," 
 says Peter, " by the power of God, through faith, unto sal- 
 vation." From these passages, and, indeed, from the whole 
 tenor of the Bible, it is evident, that, whatever may be 
 
11 
 
 men's natural power, or freedom as moral agents, their de- 
 praved propensities present as effectual an obstacle to obe- 
 dience, as the want of liberty itself would do. At the same 
 time, they arc constantly blamed for that disinclination, or 
 moral inability, which, but for the interposition of omnipo- 
 tent grace, insures their destruction. They have ruined 
 themselves ; and their only hope is in the mercy and uncon- 
 querable might of their injured Creator, who may justly 
 leave them to perish in their perverseness. There is no 
 reason, then, for the conclusion, that because men have the 
 natural ability, they will, therefore, obey the law of God, 
 any more than there is ground for arguing with Pelagius, 
 that a portion of the human race will live without sin, from 
 the commencement of their existence till death ; and, con- 
 sequently, that for them, no repentance, no pardon, no 
 Saviour, will be necessary ; or, than there is ground for 
 inferring with Universalists, the future probable, if not cer- 
 tain, return of devils and the spirits of lost men in hell, to 
 their duty and to happiness. The argument from ability, 
 therefore, in this instance, is of too wide a sweep in its gene- 
 ral application, to be admitted as of any force ; for it mani- 
 festly goes to undermine the whole gospel, and overthrow 
 all the revealed principles of the moral government of God. 
 
 Another argument, connected with the foregoing, in 
 favour of Perfectionism, is founded in an erroneous philoso- 
 phy concerning the nature of sin. This affirms, that those 
 propensities which we cannot overcome by the force of our 
 own sovereign determination, are merely constitutional sus- 
 ceptibilities, or physical attributes, having no moral charac- 
 ter, the extirpation, or extinguishment of which is, conse- 
 quently, not necessary to sinless perfection. Thus it has 
 been argued, that the most selfish innate desires and pas- 
 sions are in themselves innocent, being nothing more than 
 incentives or occasions to sin, which must be expected to 
 continue after the heart has become completely sanctified. 
 
 This summary method of disposing of the subject must 
 doubtless be very gratifying to those who choose rather 
 to find an apology for their sins, than to confess and mourn 
 over them before God. Where there is no sin, there is 
 surely no occasion for godly sorrow on account of sin. 
 Let the standard of duty be low enough, and it will be easy 
 to show that perfection belongs to many men, or to all men, 
 or even to the inhabitants of hell themselves. Suppose, for 
 example, that malice, hatred of God, enmity to creatures, 
 
12 
 
 and furious blasphemy, under circumstances of hopeless 
 suffering, are not criminal ; and it will follow, incontrover- 
 tibly, that these feelings and acts are perfectly innocent in 
 Satan and his hosts, in their present state of misery. God 
 cannot, therefore, with propriety punish them for their pre- 
 sent irreconcileable malignity, and that conduct which flows 
 spontaneously from their hearts. In this view of the sub- 
 ject, the devils are as truly perfect now, as they were when 
 they existed enthroned seraphs in the heavenly paradise. 
 Their condition has, indeed, been changed ; but then the 
 divine law has been altered to suit their new condition. 
 To bring this reasoning to bear on the case before us — if the 
 natural passions of anger, revenge, covetousness, pride and 
 ambition be not in themselves wrong, and if nothing but 
 strong resolutions against sin, a resistance of our evil pro- 
 pensities, a devout and moral life, and reliance on the grace 
 of Christ, be needful to constitute a sinless character, then 
 we admit that many of the human race have attained to 
 perfection in this life. Yea, verily, according to this phi- 
 losophy, sinless perfection is consistent with an eternal 
 war in the breast between principle and passion ; and, as 
 there is reason to suppose that the physical attributes of the 
 soul will continue after death, it is next to certain that the 
 saints in glory will be obliged to maintain an unceasing 
 conflict with such innocent things as their love of self-indul- 
 gence, their fondness for distinction and power, and their 
 constitutional susceptibility to resentment and revenge. Deny 
 the principle of concupiscence to be sinful, and what hinders 
 its existence, its disquieting irruptions, its violent onsets even 
 within the walls of New Jerusalem? 
 
 This philosophy requires an exposition of the law, en- 
 tirely contrary to the scriptures. The sacred volume con- 
 demns the first risings of inordinate desire, and, of course, 
 all vicious tendencies to transgression in the soul. " Whoso 
 hateth his brother, is a murderer." " Whosoever looketh 
 upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery 
 wilh her already in his heart." It requires us, not merely 
 in choose and strive niter, but to possess and exercise right 
 affections and passions; to love God and our neighbour; to 
 feel kindly even to our enemies. « Thou shalt not covet," 
 is one of its express prohibitions. Yet coveting may exist, 
 when from the restraints of conscience and fear there is no 
 effort, no purpose, to obtain the desired object. The affec- 
 tion is wrong and is forbidden, though it lead to no corrcs- 
 
13 
 
 pondent external acts, or conscious determinative volition of 
 the mind. 
 
 It was an apprehension of the spirituality of the law 
 which convinced the Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, of the ex- 
 ceeding corruption of his heart, and destroyed all his self- 
 righteous hopes. " I had not known sin but by the law ; 
 for I had not known lust," (concupiscence,) that is, I had not 
 known that it was sin, " except the law had said, thou shalt 
 not covet." " For I was alive without " (a just apprehen- 
 sion and sense of) " the law once ; but when the command- 
 ment came," (with a clear view of its spiritual requirements, 
 and immutable obligation,) " sin revived, and I died." Thus 
 plain it is, that, whether we call the principle of concupi- 
 scence constitutional or not, it is still sinful in the eye of the 
 law. Words may create confusion in the mind ; but they 
 do not change the nature of things. So long as the Chris- 
 tian is agitated in any degree, by excessive or ill-directed 
 devices, he is deficient in his obedience, and therefore con- 
 tinues to be a transgressor. 
 
 Changing his ground, the advocate of the doctrine of per- 
 fection in this life sometimes asserts, that though Christians 
 cannot accomplish their own sanctification, and ought not 
 to attempt it, yet if they cast themselves upon Christ for this 
 boon, it will be bestowed upon them. Instead of working 
 themselves, they must come to Christ to work in them, both 
 to will and to do, and he will make them perfect. This 
 notion, too, is affirmed by the very men who contend, when 
 it suits their purpose, that sinners have perfect ability to 
 change their own hearts, and believers perfect ability to do 
 all that, is required of them. " I am willing to proclaim it 
 to the world," says Mr. Mahan,* "that I now look to the 
 very God of peace to sanctify me wholly." " I have for- 
 ever given up all idea of resisting temptation, subduing any 
 lust, appetite, or propensity, or of acceptably performing 
 any service for Christ, by the mere force of my own resolu- 
 tions. If any propensities which lead to sin are sacrificed, 
 I know that it must be done by an indwelling Christ." " If 
 you will cease from all efforts of your own, and bring your 
 sins and sorrows and cares and propensities which lead to 
 sin, to Christ, and cast them all upon him, if, with implicit 
 faith, you will hang your whole being upon him, and make 
 it the great object of life to know him, for the purpose of 
 
 * Christian Perfection, pp. 189, 190, 191. 
 
14 
 
 receiving and reflecting his image — you will find that all 
 the exceeding great and precious promises of his word are, 
 in your own blissful experience, a living reality." " You 
 shall have a perpetual and joyful victory." " Every where, 
 and under all circumstances, your peace in Christ shall be 
 as a river." 
 
 From these, and other similar passages in the writings of 
 the new Perfectionists, it would seem that Christians have 
 nothing to do but to lie passively in the hands of Christ, and 
 "roll the responsibility" of their sanctifi.cation upon him. 
 What mean, then, the numerous scriptural inculcations upon 
 believers to strive, to run, to wrestle, to fight, to put on the 
 whole armour of God ? It is manifest from the inspired 
 volume, that we are to come to Christ, not for the purpose 
 of saving ourselves the trouble of a personal warfare, but 
 that we may engage in such a warfare with good motives, 
 with becoming zeal, with persevering energy, and with 
 success. The effect of faith is not drowsiness, but vigilance ; 
 not self-satisfied repose, but self-distrust ; not siothfulness, 
 but untiring activity. When Christ works in us, both to 
 will and to do, of his own good pleasure, it is that sustain- 
 ed, quickened by his power, we may work out our own sal- 
 vation with fear and trembling. The present is not the first 
 time in which Pelagian self-sufficiency and Antinomian 
 indolence have been found co-inhabitants of the same dwell- 
 ing, interchangeably occupying one another's places, and 
 adopting one another's phraseology. But how are these 
 apparent contradictions to be reconciled ? They cannot be ; 
 yet, after all, it is not intended by the writers to whom we 
 refer, to ascribe all holiness to divine agency. Their mean- 
 ing appears to be, that Christ will sanctify us wholly, if we 
 look to him for such a blessing ; yet there is no provision, 
 in their system, to secure the act of looking itsrlf. Man 
 begins to turn, and God completes the sanctilication of 
 man. Hence it is affirmed, that, notwithstanding 1 1 ic promi- 
 ses of the new covenant, insuring perfection in this life, 
 comparatively few of the saints do ever become perfect on 
 this side of the grave. 
 
 The fact that the saints are in scripture sometimes said to 
 be perfect, has been alleged as another argument in favour 
 of Perfectionism. 
 
 We answer, that the word perfection is used in different 
 senses. It is sometimes employed to express advancement 
 and maturity in the Christian character and in knowledge, 
 
15 
 
 as distinguished from the comparatively low conceptions, 
 weakness and inconsistencies of mere infants in the divine 
 life. " We speak wisdom among them that are perfect," that 
 is, the thoroughly instructed. " Let us therefore, as many as 
 be perfect, be thus minded." It is sometimes used to de- 
 note evangelical uprightness, or sincere piety, in distinction 
 from an empty profession of godliness. In this sense of the 
 word, perfection belongs to all real saints. Thus the Psalm- 
 ist says, "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, 
 for the end of that man is peace." Here perfect and up- 
 right, agreeably to a well known rule of Hebrew construc- 
 tion, are evidently synonymous terms. A perfect man, in 
 this place then, is a man who is sincere in his religious pro- 
 fession, a real friend of God, and an heir of heaven. The 
 wicked are said to " shoot in secret at the perfect," that is, 
 at the regenerated children of God. '•' For the upright," 
 says Solomon, "shall dwell in the land, and the perfect 
 shall remain in it." In this passage, too, the terms upright- 
 ness and perfection have the same meaning. Noah is said 
 to have been a perfect man ; yet the phrase is immediately 
 explained as signifying the reality of his piety, or his hum- 
 ble walk with God. That he was not without the remains 
 of moral corruption, is manifest from a subsecment instance 
 of intoxication, with which he is charged in the scriptures. 
 Job is also affirmed to be a perfect man. But that it was 
 not intended to assert his freedom from sin, is apparent from 
 his conduct, which is recorded, for he afterwards cursed the 
 day of his birth. He, also, himself confessed his want of 
 sinless perfection. "If I justify myself, mine own mouth 
 shall condemn me : if I say I am perfect, it shall also prove 
 me perverse." " If I wash myself with snow-water, and 
 make my hands never so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in 
 the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me." " Behold 
 I am vile ; what shall I answer thee ? I will lay mine hand 
 upon my mouth." In the same sense we are to understand 
 the phrase as used- by Hezekiah, when he says, "Remem- 
 ber now, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with 
 a perfect, that is, with a sincere heart." That sinless per- 
 fection was not intended, seems evident from what the 
 scriptures tell us concerning his conduct soon after the 
 prayer, in which these words arc contained. " But Heze- 
 kiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto 
 him, for his heart was lifted up : therefore wrath was upon 
 him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, 
 
16 
 
 Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart." 
 Most clearly, therefore, though he was perfect in the sense 
 of sincere, or truly pious, he was yet far from being sinless. 
 Of several of the kings of Judah, it is said that their heart 
 was perfect with the Lord, yet actions are attributed to 
 them utterly inconsistent with the supposition, that they 
 were exempt from all sinful defects. The obvious meaning 
 of the phrase as applied to those good men is, that they were 
 sincere believers, and maintained, by their example and pub- 
 lic acts, the doctrines, institutions and laws of true religion 
 in their dominions. It is affirmed of Zacharias and Eliza- 
 beth, that " they were both righteous before God, walking in 
 all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blame- 
 less." In this passage, it is plainly the design of the inspi- 
 red writer to teach us that Zacharias and Elizabeth were 
 eminent saints, maintaining an example of impartial and 
 universal obedience. That he did not mean to attribute to 
 them sinless obedience is manifest, because in the context 
 Zacharias is charged with criminal unbelief, for which he was 
 punished with the temporary loss of the power of speech. 
 What ! a perfectly holy man subject himself to the divine 
 displeasure, and struck dumb, for his distrust of God's 
 word ! Paul calls upon those whom he had addressed as 
 perfect, to be followers of him, Phil. iii. 15, 17 ; yet, in the 
 same connexion he says, " Not as though I had already 
 attained, either were already perfect." It is certain, there- 
 fore, that in the one instance, the word has a different mean- 
 ing from what it has in the other ; for it is absurd to sup- 
 pose that a wise and humble man, who confessed himself to 
 be still imperfect, would exhort those whom he regarded as 
 sinless, to look to him as an example. Some have under- 
 stood by the perfect, whom Paul addressed, full grown men 
 in Christian knowledge, in distinction from children. Ac- 
 cordingly, Beza translates the passage "quotquot itaque 
 adulti sumus, hoc sentiamus." 
 
 One of the arguments of Mr. Mahan, on which he strongly 
 insists, is expressed in the following terms. " The Bible 
 positively affirms, that provision is made in the gospel for 
 the attainment of a state of perfection, and that to make 
 such provision is one of the great objects of Christ's redemp- 
 tion."* 
 
 This language is ambiguous in several respects. It may 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. 20. 
 
17 
 
 mean, that God has revealed it as his determination, that 
 his people, or some of them, shall become perfect in the 
 present world ; and, in this sense, it is but an assumption of 
 the doctrine to be proved. It may mean that God's plan 
 includes the complete sanctification of his children, at some 
 future period of their existence ; a fact which no one ques- 
 tions, and which proves nothing with respect to the subject 
 in dispute. God has also made provision for the deliver- 
 ance of his people from sickness, pain and all afflictions, 
 and for the enjoyment of the Redeemer's presence in glory ; 
 but this purpose concerning the elect, is not accomplished, 
 till they are released from the present world by dealh. Does 
 Mr. Mahan mean, that nothing hinders the perfect obedience 
 of Christians but their own culpable abuse, or disregard of 
 their privileges ? Very well ; and it may with equal truth 
 be said, that nothing different from this, hinders the perfect 
 obedience of impenitent sinners. Does he mean merely that 
 believers might be perfect but for their own fault ? It is also 
 true, as the apostle assures us, that the very heathen are 
 without excuse ; and the damned themselves are doubtless 
 inexcusably criminal for their present rebellion. Does he 
 mean, that the atonement secures the perfect holiness of 
 Christians in the present life? This is simply a begging of 
 the question ; and it is moreover contradicted by fact ; since 
 the great body of believers are, by the acknowledgment of 
 Mr. Mahan himself, far from perfect holiness. Does he 
 mean that the Spirit of God is able and gracious enough to 
 make them perfect? So the Spirit of God is able and gra- 
 cious enough to make the whole world perfect, and even to 
 exclude all sin from the universe. But his power and mercy 
 are ever regulated, in their exercise, by his wisdom and his 
 supreme regard to the interests of universal being. The 
 only question, in reference to this subject, is, what is God's 
 revealed purpose ? Has he any where told us that his 
 people, or a part of them, will become perfectly holy during 
 their abode in this world ? If not, the removal of external 
 obstacles to their perfection no more proves that they will be 
 perfect, than God's readiness to receive every true peni- 
 tent justifies the conclusion, that all mankind will repent 
 and cordially embrace the overtures of the gospel. The 
 loose manner in which Mr. Mahan expresses himself, makes 
 it difficult to say what he does mean, except that he intends 
 to assert that God has done or will do something that ren- 
 ders it certain a part of his people will grow to a state of 
 
 3 
 
lb 
 
 perfection, before they exchange earth for heaven. Excel- 
 lent, therefore, as Dr. Woods's discussion of this subject 
 mainly is, we cannot agree with him in saying, that "devout 
 Christians and orthodox divines have in all as;es maintained 
 the same doctrine" with Mr. Mahan, concerning "the pro- 
 visions of the gospel." We must know what Mr. Mahan 
 means by the provisions of the gospel, before we can say any 
 thing like this. In all " the practical writings of Calvin, 
 Flavel, Owen, Bunyan, Watts, Doddridge, President Davies, 
 and Good," not a sentence can be found which implies that 
 God has, in such a sense, made provision for the complete 
 sanctification of his children while they "abide in the flesh," 
 that his plan includes this result of his administration to- 
 wards them ; and if Mr. Mahan does not mean so much as 
 this, he means nothing to his purpose. 
 
 Mr. Mahan also affirms that " perfection in holiness is 
 promised to the Christian in the new covenant under which 
 he is placed."* 
 
 If it be true, that God has promised that his people 
 shall become perfect in this life, the question is settled. 
 But what are the proofs adduced of this fact? Why, he 
 cites a number of passages, which, if they are at all relevant 
 to his design, prove that all Christians become completely 
 holy at the moment of their regeneration. The promises he 
 mentions belong to all under the new covenant. These are 
 contained in Jer. xxxi. 31-34, and Heb. vih. 8-11 ; Deut. 
 xxx. 10 ; Jer. i, 20 ; Mali, xxxii. 30, 40 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27 ; 
 Mah. xxxvii. 23 ; Is. lix. 21, and Luke i. 74, 75, &c. God 
 circumcises the hearts of all his people ; he puts his law in 
 their inward parts ; he takes away the stony heart out of 
 their flesh ; and he causes them to walk in his statutes. But 
 does Mr. Mahan believe, (as he should, in order to be consis- 
 tent with himself,) that all the elect are completely sancti- 
 fied, at the very instant of their conversion ? So far from 
 it that he says, " the great men of the church are slumbering 
 in Antinomian death, or struggling in lecal bondage, with 
 barely enough of the evangelical spirit to keep the pulse of 
 spiritual life faintly beating?'t But does Mr. Mahan believe 
 that the promises of the new covenant have failed, with re- 
 spect to "the great mass of the church ?" How, then, can 
 he argue from these promises, that any part of the church 
 will be completely sanctified in this life ? Again, he says, 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. 22. f Idem, pp. 100. 101 
 
10 
 
 " from the evangelical simplicity of their first love, they, (i. e. 
 the great mass of Christians,) fall into a state of legal bon- 
 dage, and after a fruitless struggle of vain resolutions with 
 the world, the flesh and the devil, they appear to descend 
 into a kind of Antinomian death." " The spirit of Antino- 
 mian slumber prevails, and death, and not a present Christ, is 
 looked for as the great deliverer from bondage." What 
 does this mean ? Has God forgotten his covenant? Or is 
 it simply conditional 1 But a conditional covenant, from its 
 very nature, does not insure the compliance of a single indi- 
 vidual with its proposals. The truth, however, is, that the 
 promises enumerated by Mr. Mahan, have their incipient 
 fulfilment here, and will be accomplished, in the broadest 
 extent of their meaning, hereafter. God, therefore, is faith- 
 ful, though it remain true, that none are entirely free from 
 sin on this side of heaven. 
 
 Some have insisted on those texts, in which God promi- 
 ses to cleanse his people from all sin, as an evidence that 
 they may attain to perfection in this life. 
 
 In some instances, to be cleansed from sin, is equiva- 
 lent to pardon, or gratuitous justification. Thus, in Ps. li : 
 "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse 
 me from my sin ;" that is, save me from the deserved conse- 
 quences of my disobedience. Again, in allusion to ceremo- 
 nial purification, which represented atoning blood, David 
 says in the same psalm, " purge me with hyssop, and Ishall be 
 clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Thus, in 
 Jer. xxxiii. 8 : " And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, 
 whereby they have sinned against me." That this refers to 
 justifying omce, rather than sanctification, seems evident 
 from what immediately follows — " and I will pardon all their 
 iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they 
 have transgressed against me." Thus, also, in 1 John i. 7, 
 8, " The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all 
 sin." that is, obtaineth our pardon ; for it is not the atone- 
 ment, but a direct divine influence, which removes the 
 power and pollution of sin. Again : " If we confess our sins, 
 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
 us from all unrighteousness." Here, to forgive sins, and to 
 cleanse from all unrighteousness, appear to be equivalent 
 phrases. In the sense of pardon, or free justification, all 
 believers are cleansed from sin, since they are all acquitted, 
 and viewed and treated as perfectly righteous, for the Re* 
 deemer's sake. 
 
20 
 
 Where deliverance from the dominion of sin is promised, 
 reference is in part had to what takes place in this world, 
 but, more especially, to the future perfection of the heavenly 
 state. The purifying process begins in the new birth, and 
 is gradually carried forward in sanctification, till the work 
 is completed in glory. But how does the promise of future 
 entire emancipation from the thraldom of sin, prove that this 
 blessing will be obtained immediately, or during the brief 
 term of our earthly existence? It is also promised to believ- 
 ers, that they shall be delivered from all sorrow, that they 
 shall vanquish completely death and hell, and shall live 
 and reign with Christ ; and it might as well be argued, that 
 these promises will have their full accomplishment here, as 
 those which relate to the entire purgation of the saints from 
 their moral defilement. The truth is, God's faithfulness 
 peculiarly appears in sustaining his people, amidst the temp- 
 tations and difficulties connected with a state of sinful im- 
 perfection, till death is swallowed up in victory. Every 
 good thing which the Lord has spoken will be shortly ac- 
 complished ; and is his veracity to be distrusted, because he 
 does not give to his children in this world, the perfect rest 
 and triumph of heaven ? Was God unfaithful to his ancient 
 saints, because he did not send them the promised Messiah 
 in the time of Moses? I may remark in general, that if we 
 regard not the scope of a passage, nor the peculiar import of 
 scriptural phrases, nor the analogy of the faith, we may, 
 from insulated texts, deduce doctrines as preposterous as 
 any that were ever advanced by the greatest heretics. Thus 
 from the passage, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh 
 away the sin of the world," we might argue, in opposition to 
 the repeated declarations, and general tenor of the scriptures, 
 that Christ sanctifies or pardons and saves the whole human 
 race. Whereas, the truth intended to be taught in these 
 words, is the reality, and universal extent of the atonement 
 of Christ. 
 
 " I argue," says Mr. Mahan,* " that perfection in holiness 
 is attainable in this life, and that the sacred writers intended 
 to teach the doctrine, from the fact, that inspired men made 
 the attainment of this particular state the subject of definite, 
 fervent, and constant prayer." 
 
 So we have examples of inspired men, praying for the 
 purity and blessedness of the heavenly state. But do be- 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. 34. 
 
21 
 
 lievers, while sojourning on eartlj, ever literally become 
 companions of the glorified ? Paul was continually press- 
 ing toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of 
 God in Christ Jesus; the acquisition of this prize was the 
 object of his most earnest labours, of his most fervent pray- 
 ers : and Mr. Mahan supposes* that the " mark " at which 
 the apostle so strenuously aimed, was the " resurrection of 
 the dead." But was Paul actually raised from the dead, 
 during the period of his abode in this world ? Or, does it 
 follow, because he continued to sigh and groan, being bur- 
 dened, that he did not pray in faith for a glorious resurrec- 
 tion ? Christ taught his disciples to pray, " Thy kingdom 
 come, thy will begone on earth as it is in heaven." This 
 prayer was offered by the apostles, and has been offered by 
 the most devoted Christians, in all later ages ; yet to this day, 
 much the greater part of mankind continue the slaves of sin, 
 and ignorant of the way of salvation by the Mediator. Are 
 we to conclude, therefore, that this prayer has been so long, 
 and by such multitudes of the excellent of the earth, offered 
 in vain ? 
 
 Perfectionists have urged the prayer of Christ, recorded in 
 John xvii. 21, 23, as a proof of their doctrine, " That they all 
 may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that 
 they also may be one in us : that the world may believe that 
 thou hast sent me." " I in them, and thou in me, that they 
 may be perfect in one." " The union here prayed for," says 
 Mr. Mahan, " is a union of perfect love." " We must admit 
 that this love, and consequent union, will exist among believ- 
 ers, or maintain, 1st, That Christ prayed for that which he 
 requires us to believe that it is not for the glory of God to 
 bestow upon his children. 2d, That the world are never to 
 believe in Christ."! 
 
 That this prayer was offered in behalf of all God's 
 children, cannot admit of a doubt. But if it was offered 
 for all, it has been answered in part at least, with respect 
 to all, since the supplications of the Son are ever prevalent 
 with the Father. However imperfect Christians may be, they 
 are all united to their head by a Jiving faith, they all have 
 essentially the same views of the gospel ; they approve of 
 one another's character, and rejoice in the prosperity of the 
 kingdom, of which they are all subjects ; they all hate sin, 
 and love the same divine objects ; they have all been washed 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. GO. f Id. p. 33. 
 
22 
 
 in the same blood, have been renewed by the same spirit, 
 have become partakers of the same hope, and have been 
 made heirs of the same salvation. The union among believ- 
 ers, as it is far more pure and sacred than that which sub- 
 sists among worldly men, is destined to grow in strength, 
 while all earthly friendships decay, and to endure forever. 
 Nor, apparently defective as it is, has it been wholly ineffec- 
 tual in carrying a conviction to the ungodly of the divine 
 reality and power of the gospel. In consequence of the 
 example of Christians, notwithstanding the many inconsis- 
 tencies with which it has been marred, the " world " have 
 been constrained to admit the divine mission and character 
 of the Redeemer. But Mr. Mahan seems to suppose that 
 this prayer is not answered at all, except with regard to 
 those who become perfectly sanctified in the present life. 
 What must be the inference ? Plainly this — that, with re- 
 spect to the great body of Christians hitherto, during their 
 mortal pilgrimage, the prayer of the Saviour has been follow- 
 ed by no correspondent effect. According to Mr. Mahan's 
 interpretation, therefore, Christ has failed to secure the object 
 which he sought ; for this writer supposes that comparatively 
 few of the saints have attained to that perfection, which their 
 master prayed they should possess. But if the prayer has 
 failed of an answer till now, with respect to millions of Chris- 
 tians, what evidence is there that it will not equally fail, in 
 all the future ages of time? It is reasonable, therefore, to 
 conclude, not that the great intercessor has prayed in vain, 
 but that the Perfectionists have misapprehended and misin- 
 terpreted his prayer. Our Lord said, " I pray not thou 
 shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst 
 keep them from the evil." The word evil may be under- 
 stood to include both sin and suffering, as well as the temp- 
 tations and bufferings of Satan. If, therefore, we forget facts, 
 and the general testimony of the scriptures, in our exposition 
 of particular texts, we may infer from this last cited passage, 
 that all real believers have done with conflicts, and enjoy 
 perfect freedom from afflictions and sorrows. 
 
 Mr. Mahan thinks that Paul's proposing himself as an 
 example to other Christians, " shows that he had arrived to 
 a state of entire sanctification."t 
 
 Paul does not propose himself as a perfect example. 
 He was worthy of imitation in many respects ; and so are 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. 39. 
 
23 
 
 many other good men, who would he the last persons on 
 earth to claim the character of entire obedience. That 
 Paul was imperfect, and that, after all his attainments, 
 he felt himself to be so, will fully appear in the sequel. As 
 for the passages which Mr. Mahan cites to prove the perfec- 
 tion of Paul's obedience, they assert nothing more than the 
 sincerity of his faith, the eminency of his self-denial, and his 
 fidelity as an apostle and minister of Christ. "When he de- 
 clared that he was pure of the blood of all men, he referred 
 merely to the clearness and fulness with which he had 
 preached the gospel. But can none, save one who is per- 
 fectly holy, declare to his hearers all the counsel of God? 
 
 Some have considered 1 John, iii. 9, as proving that saints 
 may be entirely free from sin in this life. "Whosoever is 
 born of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in 
 him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." 
 
 It is the opinion of some writers, that the apostle here 
 refers to the sin of total and final apostacy, against which 
 all true Christians are secured by the power and pre- 
 sence of God. The connexion, however, seems to warrant 
 the conclusion, that John's object is to exhibit one of the dis- 
 tinguishing evidences of true religion, which is obedience. 
 Some in the primitive church were Antinomians, supposing, 
 with many modern Perfectionists, that Christians were freed 
 from the rule of duty, and were at liberty to live according 
 to their inclinations. To meet this impious dogma, as well 
 as excite believers to the diligent pursuit of holiness, the 
 sacred writer affirms that regeneration implies the implanta- 
 tion of a virtuous "seed," or "principle," which, by its own 
 proper tendency, prompts to all the works of faith and labours 
 of love. The real Christian, therefore, cannot be the com- 
 mitter or doer of sin, in such a sense as implies an habitual- 
 ly and totally depraved character. He longs for perfect holi- 
 ness, and assiduously strives to keep all the commandments 
 of God. In other words, he is habitually a new man, both 
 in his heart, and in the overt actions of his life. The con- 
 nexion, both preceding and following the text, accords with 
 this interpretation. The 10th verse is, "In this the children 
 of God are manifested, and the children of the devil : who- 
 soever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that 
 loveth not his brother." Such are the scope and design of 
 the passage. The other interpretation is moreover attended 
 with difficulties not easy to be removed. 
 
 1. It overthrows a leading doctrine of the greater part of 
 
24 
 
 the Perfectionists, (who are Arminians,) concerning the de- 
 fectibility of the saints. Here we learn that regeneration 
 includes the idea of permanency or certain perseverance in 
 obedience, " His seed remaineth in him." Most surely 
 then, Wesleyans and other Arminian Perfectionists, ought 
 not to cite this passage as an evidence of their doctrine ; 
 since if it proves any thing in their favour, it proves too much 
 for their cause. 
 
 2. Admit the interpretation of the Perfectionists, and it 
 will follow, that none but the perfectly holy had been born 
 of God, or are real Christians. The language of the apos- 
 tle is very explicit: "Whosoever is born of God, doth not 
 commit sin." If by not committing sin here, be intended 
 absolute perfection, then the smallest sin, either external or 
 internal, is o enough to demonstrate a professor of religion to 
 be a hypocrite. On this ground, therefore, the difference 
 between saints and sinners must be, not in the nature of some 
 or all of their exercises, but the perfection of the former, 
 and the imperfection of the latter. The last part of the text 
 is, if possible, stronger than the first : " He cannot sin, 
 because he is born of God." If the meaning be he cannot 
 sin at all, then of course no one who does sin at all, has 
 within him the smallest spark of true religion. 
 
 3. The interpretation adopted by the Perfectionists, makes 
 John contradict himself in this very epistle ; for he does 
 expressly affirm that none of the children of men in this 
 world are entirely free from sin. In chap.i. ver. 8, he tells us 
 " If we say that we have no sin," (as some pretended that all 
 their actions as believers were pure,) " we deceive ourselves, 
 and the truth is not in us." In the language of the New 
 Testament, the affirmation that the truth is not in one, 
 seems to be the same as saying that he is not a real Chris- 
 tian. Paul speaks of men of " corrupt minds, and destitute 
 of the truth," that is, devoid of the Christian spirit, or of 
 evangelical piety. John in the 2d chapter of this epistle, 
 uses the same phrase. "He that saith I know him, and 
 keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not 
 in him." Elsewhere the same apostle speaks of the truth 
 as being in Christians, as dwelling in them ; and them he 
 represents as walkers in the truth. Thus he teaches us that 
 the boast of perfection indicates not superior sanctity, but 
 gross self ignorance, or intentional falsehood, and a desti- 
 tution of the genuine traits of the Christian character. In 
 chap. iii. ver. 3, he says, "and every one that hath this hope 
 
25 
 
 in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." Macknight 
 has the following note on this passage. " The apostle, as 
 Beza observes, doth not say, hath purified himself, but puri- 
 fieth himself; to show that it is a good man's constant study 
 to purify himself, because no man in this life can attain to 
 perfect purity. By this text, therefore, as well as by 1 John 
 i. S, those fanatics are condemned who imagine they are able 
 to live without sin." From the foregoing passages, it is appa- 
 rent that John taught a very different doctrine from that of 
 sinless perfection in this life. And is it credible, that he has 
 been guilty of gross self contradiction, in the course of a 
 single brief letter? 
 
 It may be said in favour of the doctrine of perfection of the 
 saints in this life, that it is honourable to Christ, and implied 
 in his all-sufficiency as the Saviour of his people. Will he 
 not, it may be asked, be all to his people that they need or 
 desire ? 
 
 We answer, that he will be all to them that he has promised, 
 but that he will do nothing for them, contrary to his own ex- 
 press declarations, and the wisdom of his general counsels. 
 We are ill qualified to judge what, except so far as he has re- 
 vealed his purpose in his word, it is wisest and best for him 
 to do. There are some things, which he will not do for his 
 people. He will not, for example, make them all of gigantic 
 stature, and Herculean strength ; nor render them immortal 
 upon the earth, nor cause them to live to the age of Methu- 
 selah, nor raise them at once, in intellect and knowledge, to 
 an equality with the angels ; nor free them, while they con- 
 tinue here, from the universally experienced pains and ills 
 of this mortal existence. To expect from him such achieve- 
 ments, betrays either infidelity, or the utmost extravagance 
 of enthusiasm. That he will ultimately accomplish the 
 entire sanctification of his people, is certain : this they are 
 bound to believe ; but to look to him without any warrant 
 from his word, for such a manifestation of his grace in this 
 world, betokens rather weakness and presumption, than suit- 
 able confidence in his faithfulness and power. When he 
 assures us that he will do for us whatever we ask, it is with 
 the express or implied condition, that our petitions are in accor- 
 dance with his purposes as made known in the scriptures. 
 Has he ever told us in the Bible, that he will, if we ask him, 
 purify us from all sin in the present world ? If not, it seems 
 opinionated pride and ignorance, rather than eminent faith 
 and holiness, to expect him, out of a regard to our wishes, thus 
 
• 26 
 
 to turn aside from the course of his ordinary gracious opera- 
 tions. Besides, so long as we continue here, we must come 
 to him as needy, as empty, as sinners. But these are not 
 the characteristics of such as are completely sanctified. They 
 have as truly entered into their rest, as any of the saints 
 with Christ in Paradise. 
 
 "But some have professed to be perfectly holy." 
 Such were not the saints, of whom we have an ac- 
 count in the scriptures. These all confessed their con- 
 tinual proneness to sin ; and depended all their life long 
 on the resources of rich, free, superabounding grace. Some, 
 indeed have claimed perfection ; but they resembled the 
 pharisee, who thanked the Lord for his moral superiority 
 over other men, much more nearly than the contrite publican, 
 who smote upon his breast, saying, " God be merciful to 
 me a sinner." The church of Rome too has claimed infalli- 
 bility. A man's favourable opinion of himself is but a poor 
 argument to show that he is either good or great. " He that 
 trusteth in his own heart is a fool." "There is," says Solo- 
 mon, " a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet 
 are not washed from their filthiness." It is the self-righteous 
 hypocrite who cries "stand by thyself, come not near to me ; 
 for I am holier than thou." "These," says God, "are a 
 smoke in my nose, a fire that burnetii all the day." Many 
 poor enthusiasts have believed themselves inspired, and ca- 
 pable of working miracles ; and some have affirmed their 
 possession of attributes strictly superhuman and divine. 
 Are the Behmenites, the French prophets, the disciples of 
 Ann Lee, and the Mormons, then, to be acknowledged as 
 the divinely illuminated messengers of God ? " Not lie that 
 commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord com- 
 mendeth." When a man professes an eminence in holiness, 
 surpassing that ascribed to any of the scripture saints, he is 
 for that reason to be distrusted ; and if he boasts of a per- 
 fection, which the Bible denies to pertain to any of the 
 human race in this world, he is to be at once regarded, with- 
 out the trouble of further examination, either as a deceiver, 
 or the subject of a morbid fanaticism. It is not for a mo- 
 ment to be deemed possible, — whatever may be his professed 
 experimental knowledge of religion, or his zeal, or the appa- 
 rent blamelessness of his life, — that he is in the right, in 
 opposition to the explicit declaration of the scriptures. " Let 
 God be true, but every man a liar." "To the law and to 
 the testimony ; if they speak not according to the word, it is 
 
27 • 
 
 because there is no light in them." At all events if one 
 come to us with a professedly new revelation, he is not 
 worthy of attention from us, until we find him performing 
 works, which are plainly and incontestably miraculous. 
 
 It is, moreover, said by Perfectionists, that the common 
 orthodox doctrine on this subject is discouraging, and leads 
 to licentiousness. 
 
 The same objection has been made to the doctrines 
 of entire depravity, regeneration by effectual grace, 
 election, justification by faith alone, the atonement of Christ, 
 and indeed the whole scheme of evangelical truth contained 
 in the Bible. Infidels too have professed to reject the sacred 
 volume, on the ground of the alleged evil tendency of many 
 of its narratives, precepts, and exhibitions of divine charac- 
 ter. Does it follow then, that the influence of the doctrines 
 of grace is bad, or that the Bible does not give us the most 
 just and consistent view of God ? Certainly not. 
 
 He who needs the expectation of perfect holiness in this 
 life, to stimulate his efforts in religion, is yet a stranger to 
 the ingenuous nature of that faith which is the fruit of divine 
 grace. The true Christian loves holiness, and will, there- 
 fore, strive to make advances in the divine life. Did Baxter, 
 Brainerd, Martyn and Payson labour any the less diligently 
 for Christ, because they did not expect perfect rest on this 
 side of heaven? Has any advocate of Perfectionism ever 
 surpassed those holy men in watchfulness, in fervent prayers, 
 in the most self-denying sacrifices, and in unwearied atten- 
 tion to all the demands of duty? The common doctrine 
 concerning the imperfection of the heart of the saints in this 
 world, is adapted to produce and strengthen some very im- 
 portant branches of the Christian character — particularly 
 humility, a great fear of sin, watchfulness against temptation, 
 and habitual active dependance on the leaching and power 
 of the Holy Spirit." " O," says the believer, convinced of this 
 truth, "how potent must be my corruptions; and how hope- 
 less, but for Almighty grace, my state !" It teaches, in the 
 most impressive manner, the unwearied faithfulness of the 
 Redeemer, who, inconstant and unworthy as they all are, 
 will never leave one of his ransomed people to perish. How 
 sweet, how tender the gratitude, which such a view of his 
 unceasing care cannot fail to inspire. The doctrine, at the 
 same time, serves to wean the believer from the world, where 
 he is ever to bear the burthen of sin, and dispose him to 
 seek, with the most intense desires, for the freedom, rest, and 
 
• 28 
 
 blessedness of heaven. It helps to make welcome the grave 
 and eternity. To one who knows the evils of his heart, it 
 is fitted, when clearly understood, to impart a hope, which 
 would be otherwise impossible ; since it assures him that the 
 struggles he feels within him, have been common to others, 
 who now love and adore in the unclouded vision of the 
 Lamb. He is, therefore, animated to press forward in his 
 holy warfare, till he shall drop all the sorrows of his mortal 
 state, and lay down his arms at the side of the grave. 
 
 We now proceed to state the more direct evidence of the 
 sinful imperfection of all the saints in this life. 
 
 1. The first argument is derived from the direct testimony 
 of the Bible. 
 
 Not a single text can be adduced, which, properly under- 
 stood, attributes perfection to good men in this life. On the 
 contrary, the criminal imperfection of them all is most plainly 
 asserted. Witness Eccl. vii. 20 : " For there is not a just 
 man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not." It is as 
 evident from this passage that no one on earth is perfectly 
 holy, as that any are imperfect. Prov. xx. 9: "Who can 
 say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin ?" 
 Mr. Mahan suggests, that reference is here had to a man's 
 past life. The language, however, supposes present imper- 
 fection. Should one say, " I have made my heart clean," 
 the words would imply, not that his heart had always been 
 clean, (for that which has never been impure, needs no cleans- 
 ing,) but that he had accomplished his perfect sanctification. 
 To say " I am pure from any sin," is equivalent to saying, 
 " I am free from that depravity which was once my charac- 
 ter." The passage then strongly denies the sinless perfec- 
 tion of any of the human race, in this world. 1 Kings, viii. 
 46 : " There is no man that sinneth not." Mr. Mahan con- 
 tends that this means simply, that every man is peccable, or 
 liable to sin. If so, the passage supposes that all men here 
 are in a very different state from that of the angels and saints 
 in heaven, who are in no danger of apostatizing from God, 
 Is it not natural then to conclude that there is in the hearts 
 of the saints here, something which peculiarly exposes them 
 to sin ? And what can this be but a sinful propensity ? Mr. 
 Wesley disposes of the passage in a different manner. " Doubt- 
 less," says he, " thus it was in the days of Solomon : yea, 
 and from Solomon to Christ, there was no man that sinned 
 not." But he supposes that the declaration is not applicable 
 to the times of the gospel. With such as have a suitable 
 
89 
 
 reverence for the scriptures, this method of explaining" away 
 the text requires no comment. " What," says Eliphaz, the 
 Temanite, " is man that he should be clean, and he which is 
 born of a woman that he should be righteous ?" " If I say 
 I am perfect," (or sinless,) remarks Job, "it shall also prove 
 me perverse." "How does this declaration," asks Mr. Ma- 
 han, " which Job applies to himself and to no other person, 
 prove that all other saints, and Christians even, arc imper- 
 fect?" It is sufficient to reply, that Job was one of the best 
 men of his own or any other age; that he is celebrated as 
 such in the book of Ezekiel, and that he is proposed to Chris- 
 tians in the New-Testament as a model of distinguished 
 patience. "And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou con- 
 sidered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the 
 earth, a perfect and an upright man ?" And is it no evidence 
 of perverseness in men of far inferior moral attainments, to 
 boast of their perfection? "Who," says the Psalmist, "can 
 understand his errors ? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.'' 
 Here it is intimated, that all have errors or faults, from which 
 they need to be purified by the grace of God. The New 
 Testament is no less explicit on this subject than the Old. 
 We need not here adduce the passages already quoted from 
 the first epistle of John, as they must be fresh in the reader's 
 remembrance. James iii. 2 : " For in many things we offend 
 all," or are all offended. W T e can see nothing in the connexion, 
 or in the nature of the thing, which limits this declaration 
 to any particular description of men. The apostle evidently 
 includes himself and his fellow Christians. 
 
 2. Many of the exhortations, addressed to Christians, and 
 the prayers offered in their behalf, imply that they are not at 
 present completely sanctified. They are required to make 
 advancement in piety. " Grow in grace." But where one 
 is perfect in holiness, he can "grow in grace," only by an 
 increase of his natural capacity. His whole duty is done; 
 and can he do more than his duty? " Giving all diligence, 
 add to your faith, virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to 
 knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to 
 patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and 
 to brotherly kindness, charity." Could such an exhortation, 
 with any propriety, be addressed to one whose obedience, 
 according to his capacity, was as perfect as that of Gabriel ? 
 A large portion of the precepts written to Christians in the 
 New Testament, import the necessity of improvement, of 
 progress in the divine life. "Now our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
30 
 
 himself, and God, even our Father, comfort your hearts, and 
 stablish yon in every good word and work." Would this be 
 a suitable prayer in behalf of those already stablished in 
 perfect goodness ? tC We pray exceedingly that we might see 
 your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your 
 faith." The Lord make you to increase and abound in love." 
 " The God of peace sanctify you wholly." " Now the God 
 of peace make you perfect in every.good work to do his will, 
 working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight." 
 The prayer for perfect sanctification supposes, that the bless- 
 ing has not already been obtained ; as the prayer that sin- 
 ners may be regenerated, assumes, that they are yet in an 
 unrenewed state. The foregoing passages may serve as a 
 specimen of the prayers c[ inspired men in behalf of their 
 brethren ; and, while they prove the moral imperfection of 
 those for whom they were presented, they give us no reason 
 to conclude that a full answer to them was obtained on this 
 side of the tomb. To infer the contrary, would be as un- 
 reasonable, as to infer that a sincere prayer for the deliver- 
 ance of believers from all evil, must secure its object per- 
 fectly in the present world. 
 
 3. It is the duty of all men daily to ask of God the for- 
 giveness of their sins. This is evident from the form of 
 prayer which our Lord taught his disciples, which is given 
 as a general guide to our daily devotions, and which con- 
 tains in substance the petitions needful for Christians during 
 their whole life. That the prayer, as it respects the subjects 
 which it brings into view, whether the precise form be 
 adopted or not, is designed for daily use, is manifest from 
 one of its petitions. " Give us this day our daily bread." 
 It is then added, "and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive 
 those who trespass against us." We shall all, therefore, 
 need daily to pray for pardoning mercy. But the daily 
 need of forgiveness supposes the daily commission of sins 
 to be forgiven. The daily prayer implies daily confession 
 of sin. And does Christ require us to confess offences, of 
 which we are not guilty ? The insertion of this petition 
 among the rest, was doubtless intended to remind us of the 
 sinful imperfection of all our services in the present world. 
 Mr. Mahan's evasion of this argument, that it involves the 
 supposition, that " the kingdom of God will never come, 
 and that the Christian will never be in a state in this life in 
 which he will not be subject to injuries from others," is 
 rather confirmatory, than subversive, of the inference I have 
 
31 
 
 maintained. Mr. Mahan virtually allows, then, that so long 
 as Christians are "subject to injuries from others," this 
 prayer is suitable for all believers. And arc they not still 
 "subject to injuries?" The prayer, therefore, is with pro- 
 priety used by Christians at this day ; and it remains to be 
 proved, that it will cease to be appropriate to their circum- 
 stances, so long as the sun and the moon endure. 
 
 4. The same doctrine is evident from the history which 
 the Holy Ghost has given us in the scriptures, of the most 
 eminent saints in ancient times. Noah was once intoxica- 
 ted ; Abraham practised dissimulation concerning his wife ; 
 Isaac indulged sinful partiality towards Esau; Jacob some- 
 times indulged criminal distrust ; Lot was shamefully over- 
 come by temptation ; Moses spoke unadvisedly with his lips ; 
 Aaron was too accommodating to the sinful wishes of his 
 countrymen, and formed an image for idolatrous worship ; 
 David committed crimes, for which his holy soul was after- 
 wards humbled in the dust ; Solomon's old age was disgra- 
 ced by his idolatries ; Job and Jeremiah impatiently cursed 
 the day of their birth. Shall I speak of the faults of Eli, 
 and Samuel, and Jehosaphat, and Asa, and Hezekiah, and 
 Josiah ? Unpleasant as the recollection of their failings is, 
 it may be profitable, to impress upon us the necessity of 
 continual vigilance and prayer. It is important to observe, 
 that to those holy men, the remembrance of their sins was 
 grievous, and the burden of them was intolerable. 
 
 Let us look now at the saints, of whom we have an 
 account in the New Testament. Not one of them is pre- 
 sented to us with a faultless character. In the little family 
 of Christ, we observe the spirit of worldly ambition. We 
 hear the disciples inquiring among themselves, who shall be 
 greatest ; they were warm in dispute ; and carry their mu- 
 tual complaints to their meek and compassionate Lord. — 
 Who can think of the confidence of Peter, and his subse- 
 quent lapse, though so soon followed by his repentance, 
 without exclaiming, " what arc the holiest men, unaided and 
 unsustained by the grace of God !" Much as Peter's cha- 
 racter afterwards was improved, his sanctification was still 
 imperfect. " But when Peter," who was in that instance too 
 much actuated by motives of carnal policy, u was come to 
 Antioch, I," says Paul, " withstood him to the face, because 
 he was to be blamed." Thus weak in himself and liable to 
 transgress, was that great apostle, whose very name denotes 
 firmness and constancy. James, and the gentle, affectionate 
 
32 
 
 John actuated by a spirit of revenge, would fain have com- 
 manded tire to come down from heaven and consume the 
 Samaritans, who refused to receive their master. Yet Mr. 
 Mahan thinks, that John became perfectly holy in this life. 
 Because John was conscious of the sincerity of his obedi- 
 ence, it is inferred, that he was free from sin. Paul and 
 Barnabas contended and divided, with a spirit of acrimony, 
 ill befitting their eminent meekness, self-denial, and devo- 
 tion to the cause of the Redeemer. Yet in Mr, Mahan's 
 view, it is at least " doubtful," whether Paul in that in- 
 stance, deviated in the smallest degree from perfect holiness. 
 The same writer makes the apostle attest his own perfec- 
 tion in a number of passages, which simply assert the reality 
 of his faith and piety, though he expressly says, "Not as 
 though I had already attained, either were already perfect; 
 brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended : but this 
 one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, 
 and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I 
 press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of 
 God in Christ Jesus." In the apostolical epistles to the 
 churches, faults are specified and reproved, which render it 
 certain that the religion of the primitive Christians was by 
 no means such as dreaming Perfectionists claim for them- 
 selves. Thus do Bible facts on this subject, explain and 
 establish the Bible doctrine. 
 
 5. The most holy men mentioned in scripture have con- 
 fessed, and that in their best frames, their remaining sinful- 
 ness. " Against thee, thee only," says David, " have I 
 sinned." " Mine iniquities have gone over my head ; as an 
 heavy burden, they are too heavy for me." " Behold I am 
 evil," says Job, " what shall I answer thee?" Nehemiah 
 and Daniel include themselves in their confessions of the 
 sins of their people. Paul again and again renounces all 
 dependance on his own righteousness, and casts himself, 
 without reserve, on the atonement and perfect obedience of 
 the Saviour. These were among the best men that ever 
 lived; and if they felt themselves to be still imperfect, is it 
 not evident, that others who regard themselves as purified 
 from all sin, are miserably deceived ? 
 
 6. The warfare, which the scriptures teach us, exists 
 through life in the bosoms of good men, implies the imper- 
 fection of their obedience, or the continuance of evil princi- 
 ples, however mortified and weakened, in their hearts. It 
 is no where intimated, that any of the saints have arrived 
 
33 
 
 at such a state, that they have nothing more to do in oppo- 
 sing sin in their hearts. On the contrary, they are all ex- 
 horted to continual watchfulness and diligence, lest they be 
 overcome by temptation. " lie sober, be vigilant." It is 
 clearly implied in many exhortations, that Christians will be 
 obliged to fight the good fight of faith till they die. Is it 
 not plain from this, that there will always be sin in them to 
 resist ? Would it not be absurd to direct men to fight an 
 enemy already completely vanquished and destroyed ? To 
 evade this argument, shall we be told of innocent suscepti- 
 bilities to sin, which render perpetual resistance necessary ? 
 On this principle, as we have already observed, there must be 
 an inward warfare in heaven ; since men carry with them 
 their innocent mental susceptibilities into the regions of end- 
 less purity. But is there any warfare in that world ? Were 
 the saints here perfectly holy, we see no reason why they 
 should be any more troubled with internal conflicts, than 
 are the glorified spirits in heaven. 
 
 According to the more common interpretation of ortho- 
 dox divines, the apostle, in Rom. vii. is describing his own 
 experience, and that of every believer in this world. In 
 that chapter, he speaks of sin dwelling in him ; of willing 
 what he could not perform ; of finding a law, that when he 
 would do good, evil was present with him ; of delighting in 
 the law of God, after the inward man, and yet seeing ano- 
 ther law in his members warring against the law of his mind, 
 and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin in his mem- 
 bers ; and he adds the pathetic exclamation, " wretched 
 man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death ?" He speaks as if two distinct persons within him 
 were contending for the mastery ; and he rests all his hope of 
 the final victory of the good principle over its opposite, on 
 the mere grace of the Redeemer. " I thank God, through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself 
 serve the law of God, but with the ilesh the law of sin." 
 No real difficulty exists from the connexion, in supposing 
 this passage to be descriptive of the Christian experience of 
 Paul himself, and of other true saints. It has been appro- 
 priated by the best of men, as most happily expressive of 
 their own views of themselves ; while most of the opponents 
 in modern times of its application to true Christians, have 
 also had Arminian or Pelagian notions of the great doc- 
 trines of grace. The orthodox interpretation is the most 
 natural, and such as the plain, unlettered Christian, who 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 had no system to support, would be most likely to adopt. 
 Some of the phrases employed express a state of feeling, 
 which is never found in a totally depraved sinner. Can 
 such an one truly say, that he allows not the evil which he 
 commits, that he hates what he does, and that he delights 
 in the law of God after the inward man ? The Psalmist 
 represents it as one of the characteristics of a good man, 
 that " his delight is in the law of the Lord." " Lord, 
 how love I thy law !" " Delight thyself also in the Lord, 
 and he thall give thee the desires of thy heart." As for the 
 confession, " I am carnal, sold under sin," it merely ex- 
 pressed the strong sense which Paul had of the power of 
 indwelling sin, as it was manifested in the effects which he 
 noticed in the following connexion. 
 
 In Gal. v. 17, the apostle speaks of an inward spiritual 
 conflict as common to Christians. " The flesh lusteth against 
 the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are 
 contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the 
 things that ye would." By the flesh here, as is evident 
 from what follows, is intended the corrupt nature, or sinful 
 disposition of mankind. This flesh is affirmed to exist in 
 Christians, and to counteract the impulses of their new, or 
 spiritual nature. The combatants being thus in the field, 
 the contest can never be intermitted, till the foe is finally 
 routed and destroyed. 
 
 7. The temper, represented in the scriptures as necessary 
 to acceptable prayer, implies, on the part of the offerers, the 
 consciousness of remaining sin. None are permitted to 
 mention their own goodness as the meritorious ground of 
 acceptance. Humility and penitence are indispensable to a 
 right approach to the throne of grace. We read of one, 
 who, without any confession of sin, boasted before God of 
 his good deeds ; but we are assured by the supreme judge, 
 that this man found no favour with his maker. Observe 
 Daniel's prayer. After confessing his own sin, as well as 
 the sin of his people, he said, " We do not present our sup- 
 plications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great 
 mercies. Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, hearken 
 and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, my God ; for thy 
 city and thy people are called by thy name." Observe the 
 prayer of the Psalmist. " Enter not into judgment with 
 thy servant ; for in thy sight shall no man living be justi- 
 fied." Observe the prayer of Isaiah. "Behold thou art 
 wroth, for we have sinned ; in thy ways is continuance, and 
 
35 
 
 we shall be saved. For we arc all as an unclean thing, and 
 all our righteousnesses arc as filthy rags ; and we all do fade 
 as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us 
 away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that 
 stirrcth up himself to take hold of thee; for thou hast hid 
 thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our 
 iniquities. But now, Lord, thou art our Father ; we are 
 the clay, and thou our potter ; and we all are the work of 
 thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, Lord, neither remem- 
 ber iniquity forever ; behold, see, we beseech thee, we are 
 all thy people." Here we see the church relinquishing all 
 confidence in herself, in her strength, in her goodness, taking 
 to herself everlasting shame, and reposing all her hope in 
 the sovereign mercy and gracious covenant of her God. In 
 the spirit of this passage, Jeremiah prays, " Though our 
 iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake." 
 Of that penitent submission, which prostrates the pride of 
 the heart, and all the powers of the soul before the divine 
 Majesty, we are most impressively taught the necessity in 
 the parable of the publican and pharisee. He, whose prayer 
 was graciously accepted, had no good actions to enumerate, 
 no apology to offer for his transgressions. His only plea 
 was mercy, through the great propitiation provided for the 
 guilty and the lost. The pharisee, on the other hand seem- 
 ed to regard himself as perfect. See the repenting prodigal. 
 He tells of no good that he has done. He speaks not even 
 of his compunction, his sorrow, his long and painful journey, 
 to regain the parental mansion, and sue for an abused 
 parent's love. No, with shame and weeping, he cries, 
 " Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and 
 am not worthy to be called thy son." The current lan- 
 guage of the Bible accords with these examples. The Lord 
 fills the poor with good things, but he sends the rich empty 
 away. " He will regard the prayer of the destitute ; he will 
 not despise their prayer." But what have such promises 
 to do, with those who'believe that they have already attained 
 to perfection ? Are they poor, destitute in their own eyes ? 
 What, they who have only to be thankful for the forgive- 
 ness of what is past, and to be satisfied with their present 
 purity and worthiness ? This is pharisaism, this is arrogance, 
 indeed, if any thing can deserve the name. " Thou sayesl , 
 I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of noth- 
 ing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, 
 and poor, and blind, and naked." 
 
S 
 
 30 
 
 S. The same doctrine is confirmed by the testimony of 
 those in later times, who have given the best evidence of 
 eminent meekness, humility and a disinterested consecration 
 of themselves to the service and cause of God. In the con- 
 fessions and writings of the great Augustine, the power of 
 indwelling sin is acknowledged, with a strength and pun- 
 gency of expression, which prove the depth of his convic- 
 tion, and the intenseness of his penitential sorrow. The 
 ardent and intrepid Luther is full of this most humilia- 
 ting subject, that he may drive the church from every 
 other refuge, to the atoning sacrifice and the immaculate 
 righteousness of her Redeemer. Baxter, Owen, Flavel, 
 Charnock, Bates, Howe, Bunyan, and a host of their godly- 
 contemporaries, unite in their acknowledgments of the ex- 
 ceeding potency of remaining sin in the hearts of the best 
 of God's people. Who has not observed the strong lan- 
 guage of Edwards, Brainerd, and Payson, as they confessed 
 and mourned over the sins that were mixed with, and de- 
 filed their holiest services ? John Newton, Winter, Scott, 
 Martyn, and indeed most of those who have seemed emi- 
 nently spiritual, have been full and constant in expressing 
 their conviction of the criminal imperfection of their best 
 works, the strength of their innate corruptions, and their 
 entire dependance on the power and sovereign grace of God 
 to direct and uphold them. And if these were not real 
 saints, who, in modern times are entitled to the appellation ? 
 Are they, who profess to depend on their good life for 
 acceptance with God, while they oppose, calumniate and 
 hold up to ridicule the peculiar doctrines of the gospel ? 
 Are those zealots, proud, censorious and dogmatical, who 
 boast of their perfect deliverance from sin ? " By their 
 fruits ye shall know them ; do men gather grapes of thorns, 
 or figs of thistles ?" 
 
 On this subject, the great and good Wilberforce says : 
 "To put the question concerning the natural depravity of man 
 to the severest test ; rake the best of the human species, the 
 watchful, diligent, self-denying Christian, and let him decide 
 the controversy ; and that, not by inferences drawn from the 
 practices of a thoughtless and dissolute world, but by an 
 appeal to his personal experience ; go with him to his closet, 
 ask him his opinion of the corruption of the heart ; and he 
 will tell you, that he is deeply sensible of its power, for that 
 he has learned it from much self-examination, and long 
 acquaintance with the workings of his own mind. He will 
 
:;; 
 
 tell you, that every day strengthens this conviction ; yea, 
 that hourly he sees fresh reason to deplore his want of sim- 
 plicity in intention, his infirmity of purpose, his low views, 
 his selfish unworthy desires, his backwardness to set about 
 his duty, his languor and coldness in performing it ; that he 
 finds himself obliged continually to confess that he feels 
 within him two opposite principles, and that he cannot do 
 the things that he would. He cries out in the language of 
 the excellent Hooker, " the little fruit which we have in holi- 
 ness, it is, God knoweth, corrupt and unsound ; we put no 
 confidence at all in it, we challenge nothing in the world 
 for it, we dare not call God to reckoning, as if we had him in 
 our debt books ; our continual suit to him is, and must be, to 
 bear with our infirmities, and pardon our offences." 
 
 9. The Bible teaches us to look for the accomplishment 
 of our perfect conformity to God, as a part of that peculiar 
 and glorious reward which is reserved for a future life. " I 
 shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness." " It 
 doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know that, 
 when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see 
 him as he is." Is not the implication clear and unanswerable, 
 that our moral assimilation to Christ will not be completed, 
 till we awake in eternity, and behold him in his unveiled 
 glory ? But according to the scheme of the Perfectionists, 
 that which makes Heaven most attractive to the pious heart, 
 may be fully enjoyed upon earth ; we may be as sinless, 
 and, according to our capacity, as much conformed to the 
 Redeemer here as are any of the saints in his immediate 
 presence before the throne. Why then, should Christians 
 so eagerly, as the Bible represents them do, fix the eyes of 
 their faith and desire on the celestial Paradise ? Why do 
 they so joyfully anticipate the second coming of their victo- 
 rious Prince and deliverer ? We are assured, that " the 
 spirits of just men made perfect " are collected together in 
 " the city of the living God, l lie heavenly Jerusalem." Why 
 arc we not told, that their dwelling-place is upon earth, as 
 well as in the distant country beyond the tomb ? 
 
 10. God deals with the best of his people here, as in a 
 state of imperfection. They are subject to the discipline of 
 affliction. The voice of divine providence, as well as of the 
 word to them, is, " arise ye, for this is not your rest ; for it 
 is polluted." It is plainly a doctrine of scripture, that man- 
 kind suffer only because they are sinners. Sickness, pain, 
 disappointments, and the other calamities of life, are, in 
 
38 
 
 innumerable passages, represented as divine judgments, 
 or expressions of God's righteous displeasure against the 
 wickedness of the world. " When thou with rebukes dost 
 correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume 
 away like a moth." " There is no soundness in my flesh, 
 because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my 
 bones, because of my sin." " For we are consumed by 
 thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled." " Where- 
 fore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment 
 of his sins ?" Our blessed Lord was exposed to suffering, 
 in the capacity of our substitute. Had he not acted in this 
 character, his life would have been as happy, as it was inno- 
 cent and holy. " The Lord laid upon him the iniquity of 
 us all ;" and therefore he was bruised, tortured, and put to 
 death upon the accursed tree. His was a peculiar case, 
 unparalleled in the history of our world ; the result of an 
 expedient of the divine government, to save the guilty, in 
 consistency with the demands of righteousness, and the 
 maintenance of the honor of God. The sufferings of no 
 other person are strictly vicarious, or avail to the removal 
 of the divine anger against transgressors. 
 
 With respect to Christians, however distinguished by their 
 attainments in piety, afflictions are affirmed to be fatherly 
 chastisements, and proofs of the paternal faithfulness of 
 their covenant God. " If his children forsake my law, and 
 walk not in my judgments ; if they break my statutes, and 
 keep not my commandments; then will I visit their trans- 
 gression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Never- 
 theless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, 
 nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." From this passage it is 
 plain, that believers are never visited with the " rod," and 
 with " stripes," except on account of their " transgression " 
 and their "iniquity." "Whom the Lord loveth he chas- 
 teneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye 
 endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for 
 what son is he whom the father chastcneth not ? But if ye 
 be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then arc 
 ye bastards and not sons." None of God's children then, 
 in this world, can wholly escape chastisement ; and the 
 reason is, they all need correction. " As many as I love," 
 said Christ, "I rebuke and chasten." He told his disci- 
 ples, that " in the world," they should " have tribulation." 
 "We must," said Paul, "through much tribulation enter 
 into the kingdom of God." " For we that are in this 
 
39 
 
 tabernacle do groan, being burdened." " For they verily 
 for a few days chastened us, after their own pleasure : but 
 he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holi- 
 ness." The plain doctrine of the apostle here is, that after 
 believers have become fully partakers of the divine holi- 
 ness, the end designed to be answered by God's chastisement, 
 will have been accomplished. The undeniable inference, 
 therefore, is, that then their sufferings will cease. And this 
 is what we should have reason to expect. Is it credible 
 that a wise and merciful parent will inflict needless pain on 
 his own children ? Mr. Malum himself virtually admits the 
 force of this reasoning. " The rod," he says, " properly ap- 
 plied, brings the child into a state in which the rod is no more 
 needed. So of the rod in the hand of our heavenly Father. 
 Its object is to render us partakers of his holiness. Till this 
 end is accomplished, the rod will be used. When this end 
 is accomplished, it will no longer be needed."* But we 
 have already seen, that all God's people here are, to a 
 greater or less degree, the subjects of affliction. Will Mr. 
 Mahan pretend, that they who claim to be perfect, are less 
 liable, than other professors of religion, to the common 
 natural evils of this life ? If not, their claim, according to 
 the principle, allowed by himself, can have no good foun- 
 dation. 
 
 Will it be said, that believers suffer according to general 
 laws ? Be it so ; but by whom, I ask, were those gene- 
 ral laws established, and were they not formed by their 
 author, in view of all the wants which would ever take 
 place under their operation ? Besides, who does not know 
 that the scriptures, in numerous instances, ascribe all the 
 calamities which befal creatures, to the sovereign appoint- 
 ment and direct agency of that being, on whom are depen- 
 dent all the laws of nature, and all the results to which they 
 give birth ? A few passages to this effect have already 
 been quoted. It is apparent from these, and many other 
 texts, that the hand of God is as much to be acknowledged 
 in the evils we suffer, as in those events that are strictly 
 miraculous, and which occur without the intervention of 
 means, or second causes. Since then, affliction is ordained 
 on account of sin, the perfectly obedient ought to be as 
 exempt from affliction, as are any of the saints in heaven. 
 Every bereavement therefore, that the Perfectionist sus- 
 
 * Christian Perfection, p. C6. 
 
40 
 
 tains, every pain he feels, demonstrates the falseness of his 
 creed. Were he what he professes to be, this poor, dying 
 world would be a most unsuitable residence for him ; and 
 he would, without doubt, ascend at once to join his kindred 
 in the skies, and swell the shouts of their praise. The 
 entire system of divine providence here proceeds upon the 
 assumption, that the whole human race are so depraved, as 
 to need perpetual restraints, and the intermingling of pain- 
 ful inflictions with the attractive influences of mercy. 
 
 We have now to show the great practical importance of 
 correct views of this subject. 
 
 Some have said, that, if the doctrine we have maintained 
 be true, it is not worthy of being contended for, especially 
 at the risk of peace ; and it has been sometimes intimated, 
 that the contrary scheme, though erroneous, may excite 
 Christians more powerfully than the truth would do, to the 
 indefatigable pursuit of holiness. This notion directly con- 
 tradicts the Bible. There we learn, that believers are sanc- 
 tified through the truth ; and we are urged to " buy the 
 truth, and sell it not." No portion of revealed truth can be 
 of little consequence ; since we are told, on the best authori- 
 ty, that " all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
 profitable." The common doctrine here defended therefore, 
 provided that it be scriptural, cannot be of small importance, 
 in its relation to truth and duty. Nor has it been received 
 as of small importance, by either its enlightened friends, or 
 its enemies. Great stress was laid upon it by Augustine 
 and the reformers ; and it has been deemed of vital moment, 
 by the most distinguished later theologians in our own 
 country, and in Europe. While it has been held by the 
 orthodox, it has been strongly opposed by the wildest and 
 most erratic of the opposers of evangelical doctrines. This 
 fact indicates clearly the tendency of the different schemes 
 on this subject. In every well-instructed and well-balanced 
 mind, the scriptural doctrine of the imperfection of good 
 men in this life stands not as an isolated truth, but as an 
 inseparable part of a system of religious belief, experience 
 and practice. 
 
 The Perfectionist if consistent with himself, must have 
 different apprehensions of God, from those which are pos- 
 sessed by the advocates of orthodoxy. Where is the Perfec- 
 tionist who has clear and correct views of the universality, 
 defmiteness, and immutability of the divine purposes ? Can 
 an instance be found of such an one, who does not confound 
 
41 
 
 the decrees of God with his commands ; thus virtually un- 
 dermining the stability of the divine government, and taking 
 away the foundation of our confidence, in the ultimate pre- 
 valence of truth and holiness over error and wickedness ? 
 Besides, as holiness is the same in all beings, he, who re- 
 gards himself as perfectly sanctified, must believe that he 
 is, in proportion to his capacity, as pure and as good as 
 his Creator. How far below the representations of the Bible 
 must be such a man's views of the righteousness and moral 
 glory of the adorable Supreme ? 
 
 Perfectionism explains away, or virtually repeals God's 
 holy and unchangeable law. In some instances, its advo- 
 cates directly affirm, that the obligations of the law have 
 been abrogated, with respect to ail believers ; and that Christ 
 has so fulfilled its demands, that his people are not, in any 
 sense, answerable for their delinquencies. They are said to 
 cease from their works, and to "roll the responsibility of 
 their future and eternal obedience upon the everlasting 
 arm."* In order to maintain the dogma of personal per- 
 fection, it is necessary to make it consist in something far 
 short of the consummate virtue required in the word of 
 God. Hence real sins are called weaknesses, frailties, or 
 innocent constitutional temptations. Concupiscence is redu- 
 ced to the blameless, though, when they become excessive, 
 somewhat dangerous cravings of physical appetite. Supreme 
 self-love is declared to be an essential characteristic of intel- 
 ligent moral agency, against which there is no law; which 
 is the spring of all virtue as well as of vice, and to which 
 no more blame can be attached than to the pulsations of the 
 heart, or the vibrations of a pendulum. Affections, as such, 
 have no character ; they are but the innocent susceptibilities 
 of our nature, and their most violent workings are innocent, 
 except so far as they are produced or modified by a pre- 
 vious deliberate act of the will. In all other cases, they are 
 passive emotions, like the involuntary impressions made 
 upon the brain by the bodily senses. It follows, on this 
 principle, that love to God and hatred of him, are equally 
 indifferent things ; and that they become praiseworthy or 
 criminal, solely in consequence of their connexion with some 
 previous purpose of the mind. It must hence be inferred, 
 that when God commands us to love him, he does not mean 
 what he says; but that he is to be understood as simply 
 
 * Literary and Theological Review, Vol. i. p. 55S. 
 6 
 
42 
 
 requiring us to do what we can to approve of his charac- 
 ter, and yield obedience to his commands. Thus his law, 
 in its high and spiritual import, is frittered down to an ac- 
 commodation to the taste, or moral inability of mankind. 
 Observe the language of Mr. Finney. " It is objected," 
 says he, " that this doctrine lowers the standard of holiness 
 to a level with our own experience. It is not denied that 
 in some instances this may have been true. Nor can it be 
 denied, that the standard of Christian perfection has been 
 elevated much above the demands of the law in its applica- 
 tion to human beings in our present state of existence. It 
 seems to have been forgotten, that the inquiry is, what does 
 the law demand — not of angels, and what would be entire 
 sanctification in them ; nor of Adam, previously to the fall, 
 when his powers of body and mind were all in a state of 
 perfect health ; not what will the law demand of us in a 
 future state of existence ; not what the law may demand of 
 the church in some future period of its history on earth, 
 when the human constitution, by the universal prevalence 
 of correct and thorough temperance principles, may have 
 acquired its pristine health and powers ; but the question is, 
 what does the law of God require of Christians of the pre- 
 sent generation; of Christians in all respects in our circum- 
 stances, with all the ignorance and debility of body and 
 mind which have resulted from intemperance and the abuse 
 of the human constitution through so many generations ?" 
 
 " The law levels its claims to us as we are, and a just 
 exposition of it, as I have already said, under all the present 
 circumstances of our being, is indispensable to a right appre- 
 hension of what constitutes entire sanctification."* 
 
 Perfectionism often and directly leads to the most gross, 
 palpable and blasphemous forms of Antinomianism. It has 
 been conjoined with the horrible notion, that to the Chris- 
 tian all actions are alike ; that sin in his case ceases to be 
 sin ; that his doings, however perverse, are not his own, but 
 are the works of Jesus Christ himself, whose will impels 
 his perfect ones in all they think, say and do. Hence some 
 of the Perfectionists have talked of themselves as divine ; as 
 incarnations of the Deity, possessing at once the righteous- 
 ness, strength and infallibility of the Redeemer. By many, 
 the utility and necessity of all divine ordinances are denied, 
 as fit only for the uninstructed and carnal, who have not 
 
 • Oberlin Evangelist, Vol. ii. p. 50, 
 
43 
 
 yet entered into their rest. In the writings of even the more 
 sober Perfectionists of this day, expressions are found which 
 seem to contain the germ of these extravagant and impious 
 pretensions. 
 
 It is scarcely needful to remark, that the belief in perfection- 
 ism cannot stand in connexion with clear scriptural appre- 
 hensions of the total moral corruption of unregenerate men. 
 Hence, whatever words the defenders of this scheme have 
 used, they have universally, so far as we know, denied the 
 essential difference, as it respects the spring and nature of their 
 exercises, between saints and impenitent sinners. The gov- 
 erning motive, namely, self-love, or the desire of happiness, 
 however it may vary in its results, is represented to be the 
 same in both classes, or, at the most, any change effected in 
 this respect, is to be attributed simply to the operation of 
 principles, which, though stimulated perhaps by a divine 
 influence, are yet common to both. With such philosophy, 
 to speak of any as totally depraved, is to use words without 
 meaning ; or to adopt a phraseology, fitted to bewilder and 
 mislead those who are incapable of reducing doctrines to 
 their legitimate and primary elements. The history of Per- 
 fectionism shows indeed, that most of its advocates have 
 renounced the use of evangelical language on this subject ; 
 and have maintained, either that men are naturally no more 
 inclined to evil than good, or that a portion of the divine 
 moral image has been imparted to the whole human race. 
 
 Perfectionism has been commonly, as it is naturally, con- 
 nected with a want of reverence for the Bible. Mr. Wesley 
 reproves those, who infer from the conduct of the apostles, 
 that some are entirely free from sin in this life, in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " Will you argue thus, if two of the apostles 
 once committed sin, then all other Christians in all ages, do 
 and must commit sin as long as they live ? Nay, God for- 
 bid we should thus speak." Again. " What if the holiest 
 of the ancient Jews did sometimes commit sin ? We cannot 
 infer from hence that all Christians do and must sin as long 
 as they live."* Thus scripture examples are made to prove 
 nothing against the doctrine of perfection. Mr. Mahan 
 contends that the passages in the Old Testament, which 
 assert the imperfection of good men, ought not to be addu- 
 ced as evidence that none under the gospel are perfectly 
 holy. His words are, " Whatever is said of the character of 
 
 * Wesley's Plain Account of Christian Perfection, pp. 19, CO. 
 
44 
 
 saints, under the old dispensation, cannot be applied to 
 Christians under the new, unless such application was 
 manifestly intended by the sacred writer." Speaking of the 
 declaration in Eccl. viii. 20, he says, " It was made with 
 reference to men in the state then present, and not with refe- 
 rence to their condition under an entirely different dispensa- 
 tion."* Thus easily does he dispose of passages, which con- 
 tradict his view. Many have supposed the prophets and primi- 
 tive Christians to have been unenlightened and carnal, com- 
 pared with themselves. Many Perfectionists have substituted 
 impulses, or the inward light, for the teaching of the word ; 
 and have spoken in disparaging terms of the latter, as com- 
 pared with the internal illumination, of which they boast. In 
 exemplification of this remark, we might refer the reader to 
 the votaries of ancient Quakerism, Shakerism, and Mystics 
 and Q,uietists of every description. And no wonder, that 
 they who are perfect, undervalue that volume which con- 
 demns their creed, and which was written by men who con- 
 fessed themselves to be sinners. -What! the perfect conde- 
 scend to be taught by those who are imperfect. It is absurd 
 in the extreme. Besides, it is natural to suppose, that they 
 who are perfectly holy, should read the word of God, rather 
 on the tablet of their own minds, than on the perishing pages 
 of a book, printed by human hands. It has accordingly 
 been no uncommon occurrence, for those who imagined 
 themselves to have attained to the highest degree of sancti- 
 fication, to abandon the reading of the scriptures, and trust 
 to the supposed illapses and movings of the Spirit within 
 them. And what is this but a species of infidelity, under the 
 guise of a superior sanctity and devotion? "Search the 
 scriptures," says Jesus Christ, "for in them ye think ye have 
 eternal life; and they are they which testify of me." 
 
 We see, then, why it is, that Perfectionism has so gene- 
 rally led to the wildest enthusiasm. Notwithstanding the 
 warnings of some of its more intelligent and sober champi- 
 ons,! it has been very extensively connected with confidence 
 in impressions, visions, and unaccountable voices, to the 
 practical rejection of that word of truth, light and power 
 
 * Mahan on Christian Perfection, p. 67. 
 
 | Wesley's Plain Account, pp. 1 19, 120, where are some sound and impor- 
 tant remarks on this subject. The Oberlin professors have written against 
 some of these extravagances, yet they maintain opinions which lead to the most 
 pernicious enthusiasm, and their paper, it is said, is read and admired by some 
 of the most fanatical of the Perfectionists in the western country. 
 
45 
 
 which speaks from heaven. Many of its disciples have pro- 
 fessed to be literally inspired ; and with the pretext of obey- 
 ing divine instruction, have committed the most disgraceful 
 excesses. 
 
 It is also the parent and the offspring of monkish austeri- 
 ties, inasmuch as it readily and almost necessarily attributes 
 the source of sin to the body, or the animal appetites, which, 
 though not wrong in themselves, will yet become the certain 
 occasion of transgression, unless they be kept in subjection 
 by the strictest regimen, and a kind of unceasing penance. 
 Most of the Romish recluses, who inflicted the severest cas- 
 tigation upon themselves, and endeavored to drive out sin 
 by voluntary hunger, cold and nakedness, professed by these 
 means to be seeking, or actually enjoying the blessing of 
 unstained purity, and unalloyed communion with God. 
 Some of the Protestant preachers and believers of the doc- 
 trine in our own country, seem to be verging towards the 
 same superstition ; and to imagine that such abstinence and 
 dietetics as they inculcate, connected with a general recep- 
 tion of their creed, would, in the course of a few generations, 
 almost entirely extirpate sin and its consequences from our 
 world. What less can Mr. Finney mean when he says, "Is 
 it not true, my brethren, that the mind is, in this state of 
 existence, dependent upon the physical organization for all 
 its developements — and that every transgression of physical 
 law tends strongly to a violation of moral law?" Again. 
 "I am now fully convinced, that the flesh has more to do 
 with the backsliding of the church, than either the world or 
 the devil. Every man has a body, and every man's body, 
 in this age of the world, is more or less impaired by intem- 
 perance of one kind or another. Almost every person, 
 whether he is aware of it or not, is in a greater or less de^ 
 gree a dyspeptic, and suffering under some form of disease 
 arising out of intemperance. And I would humbly ask, is it 
 understood and proclaimed by ministers, that a person can 
 no more expect healthy manifestations of mind in a fit of 
 dyspepsia than in a fit of intoxication ? Is it understood 
 and preached to the church, that every violation of the physi- 
 cal laws of the body, as certainly and as necessarily prevents 
 healthy and holy developements, in proportion to the extent 
 of the infraction of physical law, as does the use of alcohol? 
 I am convinced that the temperance reformation has just 
 begun, and that the total abstinence principle, in regard to 
 a great many other subjects besides alcohol, must prevail 
 
46 
 
 before the church can prosper to any considerable extent."* 
 To such an absurd extreme does this leader of Perfectionism 
 carry his notions respecting the connexion between the body 
 and the soul ; and so clearly does he lay down principles of 
 temperance, which are rather Pythagorean, Gnostical, or 
 Papal, than conformable to the precepts and maxims of pure 
 Christianity. 
 
 Correct views of this subject are important, on account 
 of their necessary connexion with the great system of truth 
 and duty, revealed in the scriptures. A number of errors 
 springing from Perfectionism, as the waters from a fountain, 
 have already been noticed. As a general fact, the Perfec- 
 tionist is a Pelagian in his views of native depravity, decrees, 
 election, the divine agency in regeneration, and gratuitous 
 justification ; and he denounces the doctrines of Paul, ac- 
 cording to their plain import, as they are taught in his epis- 
 tles to the Romans and the Ephesians, as injurious to the 
 interests of holiness, and in the highest degree dishonorable 
 to God. Experience has proved that Perfectionism pecu- 
 liarly prepares the ground, where it is cultivated and flour- 
 ishes, for an abundant crop of infidelity, and the most odious 
 forms of delusion and imposture. 
 
 As to the practical fruits of this error, may we not be 
 permitted to ask, without subjecting ourselves to the impu- 
 tation of uncharitableness, do we not see enough of them at 
 Oberlin itself, represented by its admirers as the very focus 
 of all moral light and of holiness, to justify the severest 
 crimination? What mean the constantdenunciations against 
 the church ; against orthodox and faithful ministers ; and 
 against all who dare to resist the dangerous innovations, 
 which go forth, like swarms of locusts, from that seat of 
 superficial learning, and of bold, reckless speculation ? What 
 mean the complaints which we hear from the west, of the 
 disorganizing spirit and conduct of the students and preach- 
 ers from that seminary ; the divisions they have created, and 
 sought to create, in once powerful churches ; and the reso- 
 lutions condemnatory of their proceedings, adopted by eccle- 
 siastical bodies, formerly believed to be sufficiently favora- 
 ble to the extraordinary opinions and measures, which have 
 characterized the theological revolution of the last fifteen or 
 twenty years ? What mean the violent acts of some of the 
 
 • Oberlin Evangelist, as quoted in the April number of the Princeton Re- 
 view, pp. 243, 244. 
 
47 
 
 professedly perfect ones, blindfolding, menacing, and unmer- 
 cifully beating a youthful offender, accused of attempting to 
 corrupt one of the female members of the school ; and that, 
 after they had themselves deceived him, and seduced his 
 mind, by a feigned correspondence, and other acts of dis- 
 simulation, not unworthy of the disciples of Loyala ? What 
 mean the published apologies for those disgraceful acts, 
 under the eye, and with the sanction of the fathers of the 
 heresy ? What mean the apparent conceit, arrogance, dog- 
 matism and radicalism of not a few of the ill-instructed 
 young men, who are sent out from Oberlin, to preach down 
 dead professors of religion, and dead ministers, and orthodox 
 creeds and catechisms, and to proselyte the world to the 
 kind of sanctity taught by the faculty of that institution ? 
 But we forbear. It is, we are persuaded, but to know Oberlin 
 thoroughly, to be convinced of the utter falseness of all its 
 pretensions to uncommon spiritual mortification and holi- 
 ness. Perfectionism, indeed, can never bear a rigid and 
 impartial scrutiny, as to its visible effects, any more than as 
 to the radical principles which produce them. Its grapes, 
 however beautiful in the eye of the distant or cursory spec- 
 tator, are still the grapes of Sodom ; and its clusters are the 
 clusters of Gomorrah. In proportion to the developements 
 which are made, new evidence is afforded, that this heresy, 
 however diversified, or modified by circumstances, is every 
 where the same in its essential features, and in its tendency ; 
 arrayed alike against evangelical doctrine and order ; foster- 
 ing fanaticism and spiritual pride ; and, whether it nomi- 
 nally acknowledge or reject the ordinances of the gospel, 
 taking away the grounds which support them, and robbing 
 them of the salutary influence, which in their legitimate use, 
 they are adapted and designed to exert. 
 
 It is time to draw these extended remarks to a close. 
 
 Reader ! the progress of this doctrine, the indifference of 
 many professedly evangelical men with regard to its diffu- 
 sion, and the disposition manifested by not a few to apolo- 
 gize for its propagation, are indications most unpropitious 
 to the cause of humble, meek, spiritual Christianity. Per- 
 fectionism, with whatever professions "of love, tenderness, 
 and devotion," it may be accompanied, is not the progeny 
 of light, but of darkness; and as truly as Universalism or 
 Socinianism, it should be viewed and treated by ministers 
 and churches, as a fundamental error. Tending as it does 
 to sap the foundations of all true religion and genuine mo- 
 
48 
 
 rality, apostacy to it should be regarded as an evidence 
 either of a peculiar species of monomania, a profound igno- 
 rance of the meaning of the terms employed, or of the want 
 of that humility, without which all pretensions to piety are 
 vain. 
 
 Be jealous of any system of mental philosophy, the prin- 
 ciples of which naturally lead to the adoption of this great 
 error, so contrary to the word of God, and the conscious 
 experience of the most eminent believers. It is worthy of 
 very serious inquiry, (if indeed there be any room to doubt 
 on the subject,) whether some modern speculations concern- 
 ing moral agency, and the divine influence in the produc- 
 tion of holiness, have not contributed largely to the exis- 
 tence and progress of the peculiar form of this error, which 
 has within the last few years, swept, like a simoom, over 
 some of the fairest portions of our Zion. Guard, with con- 
 stant vigilance, the citadel of truth at its very vestibule. 
 
 Christian reader ! " Be not carried about with divers and 
 strange doctrines ; for it is a good thing that the heart be 
 established with grace, not with meats, which have not 
 profited them, that have been occupied therein." 
 
 This subject urges upon you most impressively the duty 
 of a humble walk with God. Is it true, that sin mixes with 
 and pollutes all your doings — your most disinterested chari- 
 ties, your holiest prayers, your most grateful praises ? Is it 
 true, that you will daily, hourly, every moment, need a fresh 
 pardon, and the aid of all-conquering grace, till your feet 
 shall stand on the shores of the celestial Canaan, with the 
 harp of God in your hand, and the wreath of immortality 
 encircling your brows ? The dust then surely becomes you. 
 There lie, and confess your sins, and acknowledge the jus- 
 tice of your condemnation, and weep with ingenuous sor- 
 row, and beg for mercy. 
 
 Unite, with fervent prayer, untiring watchfulness and 
 diligence. To this, your innumerable inward foes, ever 
 ready for the assault, seem continually, vehemently, irresis- 
 tibly, to urge you. In such a situation, can you sleep ? 
 Awake, for the powers of hell are near, and are eagerly 
 pressing on to circumvent and destroy you. " Wherefore, 
 take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be 
 able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to 
 stand." 
 
 Let not the reality of your continual imperfection be your 
 
49 
 
 excuse ; but rather let it excite you to more ardent exertions 
 to reach the crown of life. 
 
 Be satisfied with nothing less than perpetual progress in 
 holiness. You have but commenced the war ; there remain- 
 ed! yet much land to be possessed ; go on from victory to 
 victory, till not an inch of the promised territory shall con- 
 tinue in possession of the enemies of your Lord. 
 
 Persevere for a few days, and you will gain the perfect 
 purity and bliss, after which your glowing heart aspires. 
 No sound of clashing arms, no opposing hosts, are in heaven. 
 Its quietude is never invaded by anxiety, or fear. Its holi- 
 ness is untarnished as its pure light, and enduring as its 
 years. Triumphant termination of conflicts and of wars ! 
 Hasten, then blessed day, so long desired by the holy crea- 
 tion. 
 
 Adore the grace and faithfulness of your redeeming God. 
 He has not only forgiven the sins of your unregenerate 
 days, but he has borne with your renewed provocations 
 since your conversion — your ingratitude, your coldness, 
 your worldliness, your self-seeking, your manifold abuses of 
 his love. Nor will he leave unfinished the work which he 
 has begun. He will guide you by his counsel, and after- 
 wards receive you to glory. Thus will he keep, bless, save, 
 all the armies of the ransomed, to the praise of his glorious 
 grace forever. What patience, what condescension, what 
 unfainting, boundless love ! " that men would praise the 
 Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the chil- 
 dren of men." 
 
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