A modern sect in New England, who believe that every individual action is either wholly sinful or wholly righteous, and that every being in the universe, at any given time, is either entirely holy or entirely wicked. Consequently, they unblushingly maintain that they themselves are free from sin. In support of this doctrine, they say that Christ dwells in and controls believers, and thus secures their perfect holiness; that the body of Christ, which is the church, is nourished and guided by the life and wisdom of its Head. Hence they condemn the greatest portion of the religion in the world named Christianity, as the work of Antichrist. "All the essential features of Judaism," they say, "and of its successor, Popery, may be distinctly traced in nearly every form of Protestantism; and although we rejoice in the blessings which the reformation has given us, we regard it as rightly named the reformation, it being an improvement of Antichrist, not a restoration of Christianity." This last opinion, which has some foundation in truth, has been long held, variously modified, in different parts of the Christian world.

An unsuccessful attempt was made to propagate the views of this sect through the medium of a paper published at New Haven, Conn., entitled the Perfectionist.

Methodists' Views Of Perfection.

"The highest perfection which man can attain, while the soul dwells in the body, does not exclude ignorance, and error, and a thousand other infirmities. Now, from wrong judgments, wrong words and actions will often necessarily flow; and in some cases, wrong affections, also, may spring from the same source. I may judge wrong of you; I may think more or less highly of you than I ought to think; and this mistake in my judgment may not only occasion something wrong in my behavior, but it may have a still deeper effect; it may occasion something wrong in my affection. From a wrong apprehension, I may love and esteem you either more or less than I ought. Nor can I be freed from a liableness to such a mistake while I remain in a corruptible body. A thousand infirmities, in consequence of this, will attend my spirit, till it returns to God, who gave it; and, in numberless instances, it comes short of doing the will of God, as Adam did in paradise. Hence the best of men may say from the heart,

"Every moment, Lord, I need
The merit of thy death,"

for innumerable violations of the Adamic, as well as the angelic law. It is well, therefore, for us, that we are not now under these, but under the law of love. "Love is [now] the fulfilling of the law," which is given to fallen man. This is now, with respect to us, "the perfect law." But even against this, through the present weakness of our understanding, we are continually liable to transgress. Therefore every man living needs the blood of atonement; or he could not stand before God.

"What is, then, the perfection of which man is capable while he dwells in a corruptible body? It is the complying with that kind command, 'My son, give me thy heart.' It is the 'loving the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind.' This is the sum of Christian perfection: it is all comprised in that one word, love. The first branch of it is the love of God; and, as he that loves God loves his brother also, it is inseparably connected with the second, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;' thou shalt love every man as thy own soul, as Christ loved us. 'On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets:' these contain the whole of Christian perfection.

"Another view of this is given us in those words of the great apostle, 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.' For, although this immediately and directly refers to the humility of our Lord, yet it may be taken in a far more extensive sense, so as to include the whole disposition of his mind, all his affections, all his tempers, both toward God and man. Now, it is certain that, as there was no evil affection in him, so no good affection or temper was wanting; so that 'whatsoever things are holy, whatsoever things are lovely,' are all included in 'the mind that was in Christ Jesus.'

"St. Paul, when writing to the Galatians, places perfection in yet another view. It is the one undivided fruit of the Spirit, which he describes thus: 'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, [so the word should be translated here,] meekness, temperance.' What a glorious constellation of grace is here! Now, suppose all these things to be knit together in one, to be united together in the soul of a believer, -- this is Christian perfection.

How To Be Sought.

"'But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified, saved from sin, and perfected in love?' It is a divine evidence and conviction, first, that God hath promised it in the holy Scripture. Till we are thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step farther. And one would imagine there needed not one word more to satisfy a reasonable man of this than the ancient promise, 'Then will I circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' How clearly does this express the being perfected in love! -- how strongly imply the being saved from all sin! For as long as love takes up the whole heart, what room is there for sin therein?

"It is a divine evidence and conviction, secondly, that what God hath promised he is able to perform. Admitting, therefore, that 'with men it is impossible' 'to bring a clean thing out of an unclean,' to purify the heart from all sin, and to fill it with all holiness, -- yet this creates no difficulty in the case, seeing 'with God all things are possible.' And surely no one ever imagined it was possible to any power less than that of the Almighty! But if God speaks, it shall be done. God saith, 'Let there be light; and there [is] light.'

"It is, thirdly, a divine evidence and conviction that he is able and willing to do it now. And why not? Is not a moment to him the same as a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish whatever is his will. And he cannot want to stay for any more worthiness or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honor. We may, therefore, boldly say, at any point of time, 'Now is the day of salvation!' 'To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' 'Behold, all things are now ready; come unto the marriage.'

"To this confidence that God is both able and willing to sanctify us now, there needs to be added one thing more -- a divine evidence and conviction that he doeth it. In that hour it is done: God says to the inmost soul, 'According to thy faith be it unto thee.' Then the soul is pure from every spot of sin; it is clean 'from all unrighteousness.' The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, 'If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'

" 'But does God work this great work in the soul gradually, or instantaneously?' Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some: I mean, in this sense, they do not advert to the particular moment wherein sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God, that it should be done instantaneously; that the Lord should destroy sin 'by the breath of his mouth,' in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. And so he generally does -- a plain fact, of which there is evidence enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. Thou, therefore, look for it every moment." -- See Wesley's Sermons, vols. i. and ii.

Oberlin Views Of Sanctification.

In the fall of 1836, during an interesting revival of religion in Oberlin, Ohio, the minds of many became deeply interested in the inquiry, "Can we live holy lives? and, if we can, how?" At first, fears were entertained that some would run into the errors of the Perfectionists; but, finally, after much prayer and investigation, they adopted the following views of sanctification: --

"1. That entire obedience to the moral law constitutes entire sanctification or holiness.

"2. That all moral agents are able to render this obedience.

"3. That because all moral agents are able to render this obedience, they are bound to do so.

"4. That sufficient grace for the actual attainment of this state is abundantly in the gospel, and that nothing prevents any Christian from making this attainment in this life, but a neglect to avail himself of the proffered grace of Christ.

"5. That all are bound to aim at and pray for this attainment in this life, and that aiming at this state is indispensable to Christian character.

"6. That obedience to the moral law, or a state of entire sanctification, is in such a sense attainable, as to make it an object of rational pursuit, with the expectation of attaining it.

"7. That the philosophy of the mind, the commandments of God, the promises and provisions of the gospel, and the attainments of Paul and many others, should be presented, to induce men to aim at a state of entire sanctification, with the expectation of attaining it."

Since these views were embraced at Oberlin, they have been extensively circulated by many books and pamphlets, and a paper, entitled the Oberlin Evangelist. By many Christians and ministers of different denominations these views have been received; but by others they are opposed.