Expert: Andrew Foley - 7/4/2009

Question
I understand that many protestant denominations believe in a doctrine of perfectionism.  Could you explain what the Catholics believe regarding perfectionism?  I was told by a protestant minister that I must become as perfect as Jesus was in order to go to heaven!!!  I find this prepostrous!!


Answer
Hello and thanks for writing. Although I'm not especially well-versed on this issue, I'll give it a shot. Yes, you're right that a lot of Protestant denominations, especially those in the Wesleyan/Pentecostal tradition, say that is possible for a Christian to achieve perfect holiness and be consciously sinless in this life (although the possibility of involuntary sin is admitted). These groups contend that after the born-again experience or after the experience of receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (2 experiences which are usually, in their theology, normative for Christians), the Christian is infused with a grace that cleanses him from all temptation or inclination to sin. The experience of becoming a Christian has literally made him a new man- a Christian Superman really. I too find this teaching preposterous.

I would imagine that it creates a lot of spiritual and emotional turmoil in churches where it is preached. I would think that the Christian there who sins or feels temptation would begin to doubt the authenticity of his conversion experience and end up doubting their salvation, thus living a life of neurotic uncertainty. I would think that people who have done a good job of hiding their sins or who lie about not feeling tempted are pretty successful in setting themselves up as a sort of spiritual aristocracy over the "unregenerate sinners" who haven't been "perfected" like them. However, our own observations and common sense tells us that this conception of perfectionism preached by these pastors is just not true in real life.

Many people, such as St. Paul, have had conversion experiences. Of those people, many have a spiritual fervor for a certain period of time but eventually backslide or just come down to the moral or spiritual average. Some few do achieve lifelong holiness, but of those people, I am unaware of any who have experienced_instantaneous_ and_perfect_holiness, as this doctrine teaches. Our conviction or conversion may be instantaneous, but holiness is a process and is rarely if ever unaccompanied by some stumbles along the way.

And what does the Bible say? Well, Jesus does tell us to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect (MT 5:48). And there are a slew of verses enjoining us to be perfect or holy. But are these to be understood as the doctrine of perfectionism? I think that would be a very tortured
interpretation. The Bible also speaks in many places about man's innate tendency to sin and the natural corruption of the human heart. One example is Galatians 5:17: "The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." So we are told that we are sinful by nature, but that we are to be perfect. How is this to be reconciled?

Well, we can believe the perfection doctrine, but to do so we would have to resort to semantic self-deception and say that those Bible verses referring to the sinful nature of the flesh or the deceitfulness of the heart merely refer to "unsaved" people or something like that. I find no Biblical, historical or logical warrant for such an interpretation. The New Testament is full of exhortations- to Christians- to flee from temptation, avoid sin and repent of sin. The various churches are not told "Well, as Christians you're perfected, so have a nice day!" Paul himself, in numerous places (e.g. Phil. 3:11) admits that he is unsure about his own salvation and "hopes" that he may may not be ashamed when he stands before Christ. Does that sound like something a "perfected" man would say? Yet Paul was one of the Church's greatest saints. History as well tells us that the holiest saints have sinned and endured not only temptation, but doubt. From those admissions, are we to believe that people who died for the Faith in the Roman arena or who spent their lives washing the wounds of lepers, all for the love of Christ, were not real Christians or were not saved, just because they were fallible humans? Hardly. One very holy priest I know of said that the first thing he will say when he is judged before the throne is "Mercy!". I find that a properly humble attitude to take.

However, Catholics do believe in a sort of perfectionism, or at least the necessity of persevering after holiness. Jesus wouldn't have told us to be perfect if it were impossible. Perfection is a specific goal of those monastic orders pledged to chastity (1 Cor. 7:25), poverty (MT 19:21) and love/ charity (1 Cor 13:1-13).  They cut themselves off from the temptations of the world and totally devote their lives to prayer and living the Gospel. And ordinary Catholics believe, or at least they should, that Jesus' sayings about being perfect are not suggestions, or promises, but a command. However, the Catholic and Protestant understanding of perfection is different because we do not believe the same things about the means of salvation or the nature of humanity.

Catholics do not believe that Faith Alone saves. The Bible agrees in more verses than can be mentioned here: (e.g. James 2:14-26). Salvation is a harmonious cooperation of Faith and Works. Therefore, even though the flesh inclines toward sin, it doesn't mean that it is irredeemably evil. If we don't believe in a fatalistic predestination, then we must have room for free will. And if we have free will, we have to believe that this flesh, as defective as it is, has some capacity to do good, with the help of God's grace. We know that all have sinned and fallen short but that doesn't mean we should not strive towards perfection, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling, as Paul said. The righteous_want_to do God's will. We know that we will sin (1 John 1:8), which cuts us off from God. However, confessing our sins (1 John 1:9) purifies us. If Jesus told us we must be perfect, then we can't afford not to be! However, if we do fall, we can always get back on track through the purification of Confession. Souls tainted with mortal sin (1 JN 5:16-17) are damned, so in the sense that Confession purifies us, it is there we are made "perfect". The Lives of the Saints are a powerful help to Catholics in our personal struggles towards perfectionism. Although they were all sinners, we can see in their lives that love for Christ can impel a Christian to as near a state of spiritual and moral perfection as is possible.

The difference in the Catholic idea of perfection is that we maintain some role in it for our free will. We believe that our actions matter. And because we do that, we recognize that attaining holiness is a tough, long process, aided by Grace, not a sudden zap of perfection from above. We also recognize that it is probably impossible in most people to ever achieve complete sinlessness for long periods at a time, although we must desire it and strive for it. And if we fall, the forgiveness of sins in Confession makes us perfect again.

It seems to me that this doctrine of Perfectionism is a direct outgrowth of basic Protestant beliefs. Protestantism posits that we are completely sinful, corrupt and couldn't do good even if we wanted to. Therefore, the only way to be saved is by the Grace of God, through faith (an unmerited gift to the elect). Good works, or holiness, are therefore a natural product of that grace, not anything we did by our own will or could attribute to our own merit. Many Protestants are happy to leave it at that-  they have faith, God saved them through no work or merit of their own, the Law is abolished and that's the end of the story. That belief often leads to moral laxity and even antinomianism. (For instance, that guy who shot up an aerobics class in Pittsburgh recently claimed that he would still go to heaven because he had faith). However, a lot of Protestants deeply yearn to_do_God's will, and are well aware of the Bible verses about holiness, but because Protestant doctrine precludes any sort of ability in humanity to do good on our own, any sort of holiness has to be attributed completely to God. And if it came from God, it has to be perfect and instantaneous. Where is there room for free will in this system?  Along the same line, because Protestants do not believe in Purgatory, but know that nothing unclean can enter into the presence of God (Rev. 21:27), their theological system dictates that we must be made pure on this earth.

I know my explanation could have been written better, but I hope you've gotten something out of it.