The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-06-18
AS TO CHRISTIAN PERFECTION.

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In recent editorial in The Christian AT
Work we resd, ''Our Saviour certainly knew,
all about human nature, and lie gave COM
mandment, BE ye therefore perfect. even as
your Heavenly Father is perfect" What
did He mean by this command? Certainly
not that we should be content with anything
less than the best highest moral character
attainable. No one Is re"dy to offend bis
own native sense BY questioning this state
ment. It must be counted as the chief cx.
cellencs remsining in our badly damaged
nature that this Standard which Christ has
here set up is our hope and not our despair.
Every lover of his kind must approve and
adopt the doctrine of Christian perfection
when rightly presented. Just here, how
ever, lies the difficulty, and the fault has
been too largely in the manner OF its setting
forth. And now it would have a larger
number of intelligent friends If it had less
number Of indiscreet champions. This i'm
preston was intensified in the mind OF the
writer by what he heard at Bible reading
lately.
The selection was Heb il. 10 and <. 49,
32 Aside from much that was of merit In
the spirit and method of the speaker. his
reading was vitiated by an exposition radi-
calIy at fault, and deformcd by more than
one conspicuous inaccuracy. .
He stated that the Epistle to the Hebrews
contained three great arguments, all the other
parts were simply illustrations and accessor-
les. The design Of these three arguments
was to teach the Hebrew Christians that it
was their privilege to pass from regeneration
to sanctiication, from holiness begun into
holiness entire, or, as in the passage under
consideration, from the Holy Place OF tue
Temple into the Most Holy Place, from the
first vail through the second vail.
Now had the claim simply been that this
great truth was incidentally taught in this
epistle, there had been no room for dissent :
but to insist that this was the burden Of the
epistle, its mastering thought, was to do Hos
lence TO all safe methods of Interpretations
was fanciful and rabinical. He eXpatiated
upon the circumstance that the high priest
laid aside his shoes upon going into the
Most Holy Place, and drew from this the
condition that the believer in seeking sancti-
f:catlon must completely dlssociate himself
from the world. The force of this special
deduction, however, is lost In the fact that
all the priests, the high priest included, re-
moved their sandals when they ofhciated in
any part Of the temple. In style border
ing on the picturesque, the important dis
coyery was made known that just at the mo-
ment when the high priest was about to make
his annual entrance into the Holy OF Holes,
Christ was expiring on Cavalry, and the vail
OF tQc teIupLe Nao lcus III Nv aAn AioLn wy w
bottom.
But certain facts here also prove trouble
some. Christ was crucified and the vail
rent on the IA NiSan. but the high priest en-
tered the Holy of Holes only on the Day Of
Atonemcnt, which was the 10 Tisri. Nisan
was the first month of the ecclesiastical year
and Tisri was the seventh month. A stub
born hiatus of SIX months forbids the a5-
sumad coincidence and this finely fashioned
fiction with its precious freight of inference
goes to pieces on the sharp rocks OF fixed
dates!
:>ne cannot resist the reflection that were
the doctrine OF Christian perfection depend
ent for its support and defense upon argu-
mcnts like this, it would have but few, il
any, adherents among the well-informed
and the well-ba anced. But happily it is
when properly understood and stated, so
scriptural and reasonable. so securely and
serenely true that it may be expected to en-
dure the strain of many such unfoldings and
Intellectual proofs as the above (tllis too
seems to be its fate), and yet at the same
time broaden its grasp upon the faith Of the
studious and candid.-[Rev. G. E. Stro-
bridge D. d.