Counsels of perfection

views updated

Counsels of perfection. Certain injunctions of Jesus taken in Christian tradition (in contrast to ‘commandments’) as a standard of perfection for only a few disciples (cf. Matthew 19. 21). They are specifically: poverty, the renunciation of property; chastity, abstinence from sexual relations; and obedience, the submission of the will in all things to a superior. These three form the basis for the monastic life.

More From encyclopedia.com