CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. - In its ideal content it entails the complete realization of the Christian life as opposed to its beginnings, that is, the fullness of goodness in the supernatural moral order (Phil. 3:15; Col. 3:14; I Cor. 2:6; Jas. 1:4). He is called "perfect" who practices in the most excellent degree possible, according to the measure of the grace communicated to him, that complex of virtues which constitute the patrimony of Christian teaching.
The general concept of perfection is therefore shared with Aristotle's classic definition (Metaph., 5, 16) τῷ κατὰ τὸ πῦ μηδὲν ἐλλείπειν. Jesus used the word "perfect" twice: at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, revealing the fullness of the new evangelical law with respect to the old, "Be perfect as your heavenly Father..." (Mt. 5:48; cf. M.-J. Lagrange, Evangile selon si Mathieu, Paris 1921, pp. 1-18), and in the invitation he made to the rich young man: "If you wish to be perfect..." (Mt. 19:21) "one thing is lacking to you" (Mk. 10:21; Lk. 18:22).
The Christian use of the term "perfect," τέλειος, does not derive from the esoteric mysteries of pagan syncretism in which the word τετελεσμένοι was used (from τελέω to initiate, τελετή initiation); nor from the philosophical use made of it in the line of morality (cf. τελεία ἀρετή of Aristotle, Ethica Nicom., V, 1, 15), but from the use of the Old Testament. In it the Septuagint translates with τέλειον the Hebrew word tāmim which indicated perfection (Deut. 18:13; I Reg. 8:61; 11:4; Wis. 9:6) more in the sense of legal, exterior perfection than intimate, though not excluding it (cf. Fr. Platt, Perfection, in Enc. of Rel. and Eth., IX, 728 ff.).
Absolute perfection belongs to God alone, who is goodness itself. All other beings can attain only a relative, limited perfection.
The ways of presenting Christian perfection differ according to the point of reference. Thus, if one emphasizes what has been said up to this point, Christian perfection is fullness of good, and it infers in the one who possesses it all that good which befits his nature elevated by Grace in the supernatural order. Such fullness would ideally entail the absence of every sin and a conduct entirely conformed to the condition of a son of God (Eph. 5:8; I Cor. 6:19), something that cannot be realized without a special privilege. The Church holds that such a privilege was conferred on the Most Holy Virgin Mary (C. Pesch, Praelect. theol. dogm., 4th ed., Freiburg im Br. 1914, V, n. 173 ff.). Man can tend toward it by diminishing to the maximum venial sins, even semi-deliberate ones, and positively by performing in the best way the good that is commanded and counseled, according to circumstances (cf. O. Zimmermann, Lehrbuch der Aszetik, Freiburg im Br. 1929, p. 18).
Many Fathers, especially St. Gregory of Nyssa (PG 44, 1200), present Christian perfection under the aspect of "imitation of God." Since God is indeed the exemplary cause of every perfection, Sacred Scripture also presents it as the supreme norm: "Be imitators of God as most beloved children" (Eph. 5:1). Such imitation evidently cannot be other than analogical and moral. In practice it supposes a profound meditation on the attributes of God, on which to model one's own life. Thus God's foreknowledge can serve as an incitement to foresight of the last things, his Providence to taking care of the persons and things entrusted to each one, God's long-suffering in bearing with sinners invites to sentiments of mercy, etc. (cf. De divinis moribus, a work attributed to St. Thomas).
Others propose as the synthesis of Christian perfection full "conformity to the will of God," according to the adage: "Omne tulit punctum, patitur qui semper agitque quae vult quove modo vult Deus et quia vult," in the "imitation of Jesus Christ" and of the Saints. Indeed no one like Christ has expressed in himself the highest ideal of every virtue. Since Jesus is the divine Person of the Word, he acted in all things as it befits God to act in a human nature. The imitation of his examples, of his criteria, is therefore the surest way of holiness. In Sacred Scripture this truth is taught explicitly: "Ipsum audite" (Mt. 17:5; Mk. 9:6; Lk. 9:35; II Pt. 1:17), "Veni, sequere me" (Mt. 8:22; 9:9; 19:21; Mk. 2:14; 9:6; 10:21). St. Paul too invites the faithful to imitate him, as he has imitated Christ (I Cor. 4:16; Gal. 2:20). The imitation of the Saints also, that is, of those Christians who by their heroic virtues and the miracles worked by God to attest their holiness have been canonized, is helpful for the attainment of Christian perfection.
The perfection of the Christian life must be judged by the virtues, especially by charity (Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 184, a. 1). Such is the teaching of Christ (Mt. 22:35; Mk. 12:31), who said that by supernatural charity his true disciples will be recognized (Jn. 17:21). Charity indeed holds the primacy in the spiritual life (I Cor. 12:31; I Tim. 1:5), is the bond of perfection (Col. 3:14), the fullness of the law (Rom. 13:8-10), and every other virtue, if it is not accompanied by charity, is "nothing" (I Cor. 13:1-13).
Consequently the life of the faithful will be all the more perfect the more charity informs all his human acts in the most universal, actual and intense way, and the more numerous the elicited acts of the same virtue are, whether with regard to God (the primary object of dilection) or toward neighbor and oneself, loved for the love of God (secondary object: Sum. Theol., 2ᵃ-2ᵃᵉ, q. 23 a. 5; q. 25 a. 12; q. 26 a. 1-4).
Charity must be affective and effective; nevertheless Christian perfection is derived primarily from affective charity, which is that by which one loves God for himself with pure affection of benevolence and friendship (v.). The soul that loves in this manner takes delight in God and of God, in his attributes, in his infinite goodness, and unites itself to him, with a life of praise, admiration, gratitude, to the point of immersing and losing itself in him (cf. St. Francis de Sales, Traité de l'amour de Dieu, ch. 6). Effective charity, that is, the unshaken resolve to obey God, to fulfill his will in all things and to please him in everything, and the execution of it, is the effect of the former, demonstrating its genuineness (Mt. 7:15-27; Lk. 6:43-49; Jn. 14:15-21), and is a valid criterion for judging of true charity toward God.
The other theological virtues, of faith and hope, are intimately united to charity, whether by preparing it or by increasing it. They are infused into man as wayfarer to make him capable of attaining his supernatural end, which is realized through charity. The more charity increases in a soul, the more the virtues of faith and hope grow in vigor and splendor. Divine love indeed gives the soul a new knowledge and taste of heavenly things: supernatural truths, the object of faith, become almost connatural, so that the just man lives by them, preferring them to all else. At the same time the demands of divine love extend ad altiora et difficiliora and commit the faithful more on the path of renunciation and of great works of good, so that he must increase in hope in God and in abandonment to him, the only helper sufficient for every heroic undertaking (S. Schiffini, De virtutibus infusi, Freiburg im Br. 1904, nn. 219-
224, 285-91).
As regards the moral virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, with their subordinate virtues), they come to constitute Christian perfection as integral elements, both by removing the impediments that would render the exercise of charity impossible or at least difficult — charity being unable to direct to the ultimate end any acts other than those that are pleasing to God — and by bringing it about that even the other acts of human life, not elicited by the theological virtues, may fall under the sway of charity. This charity can in fact effectively inform the various human acts when they are virtuous, and orient them all toward the attainment of the ultimate end, of which they thereby become meritorious (Council of Trent, sess. VI, c. 10: Denz-U, 803, 809, 836, 842). One understands, therefore, why spiritual masters give special importance to certain virtues, such as humility, poverty, chastity, etc., even though by their intrinsic nature they are not among the highest; they are virtues that remove the greatest impediments to the exercise and triumph of divine charity in a soul. Likewise one understands why everyone must practice the theological virtues with the greatest zeal, whereas in the case of the moral virtues it is not necessary that each person attend to them equally, but a greater variety of practice is permitted, according to the various conditions of life and circumstances. The theological virtues are indeed about the end, which all must always desire as far as possible; the moral virtues, on the other hand, are about the means to this end — means that do not all have the same importance in themselves, nor the same fixity for each person (cf. J. de Guibert, op. cit. in bibl., n. 77).
The evangelical counsels too come to constitute Christian perfection, both those in the broader sense, that is, the works of supererogation (which are not commanded under precept, not even sub levi), and those in the strict sense, that is, of perfect poverty, chastity and obedience. The former (such as frequent Communion, forgiving not only one's enemies but repaying them with special favors and benefits, embracing some humiliation that could licitly have been avoided, etc.), when they are joined with fidelity in the fulfillment of the duties of one's state and of the precepts, indicate in the soul a great dominion of charity, so that in fact there is no great perfection without them. The latter, on the other hand, mark out a special way, so that their practice is not in itself necessary for the attainment of Christian perfection. Nevertheless, the observance of them places the soul on the safest and most effective path for its attainment, while it is more conformable to the examples of the Savior and of his most holy Mother (cf. Sum. Theol., 2a-2ae, q. 186 a. 7); therefore their profession forms part of the canonical state of Christian perfection recognized by the Church.
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Arnaldo M. Lanz