Perfection, (Lat. perfectum, “made out,” complete) is applied to that which wants nothing. According to some, it is divided into physical or natural, whereby a thing has all its powers and faculties; moral, or an eminent degree of goodness and piety; and metaphysical or transcendent in the possession of all the essential attributes or parts necessary to the integrity of a substance; or, in general, it is that whereby a thing has or is provided with everything belonging to its nature. Perfection is relative or absolute. A being possessed of all the qualities belonging to its species in the highest degree may be called perfect in a relative sense. But absolute perfection can only be ascribed to the Supreme Being. We have the idea of a Being infinitely perfect — and from this Descartes reasoned that such a Being really exists.
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Perfection
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
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