George Whitefield: Christian Perfectionist?

Abstract

This article will demonstrate that during the years 1739 and 1740, Whitefield's theological utterances on the subject of perfection, far from being monochrome, were actually characterised by a pronounced multi-vocality. On the one hand, Whitefield was unsurprisingly vocal in his opposition to the Arminian conception of perfection espoused by Wesley. Whitefield actively sought to reclaim and reapply this key piece of terminology in terms compatible with his Calvinistic convictions, thus challenging Wesley's unilateral claim to theological copyright on the language of perfection. But on the other hand, and contrary to Wesley's fears that Calvinist soteriology inevitably encouraged antinomianism and also discouraged the pursuit of holiness, Whitefield was equally vocal in his opposition towards what he styled the in-soothing doctrines espoused by one of his most strident critics of the day, Dr Joseph Trapp (1679-1747).