Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
Wesley's defining doctrine — the Christian's call to entire sanctification or "perfect love" in this present life
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (Late) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | Personal |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Scripture |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
Sanctification as a process unfolding in temporal Christian life; entire sanctification as a definite divine work in time, often experientially datable.
Space
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
Ordinary embodied space; the inward space of the sanctified heart as the relevant theological subject.
Matter
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
Embodied Christian life — Wesley's practical theology integrates body, soul, and community.
Observer
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
The regenerate believer, embodied, capable of real present sanctification by grace. Plural, both active in moral life and passive in receiving grace.
Energy
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
The energy of divine love perfecting the believer's affections — the substantive content of "perfect love."
Information
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection
The believer's self-knowledge of sanctifying grace, testable by its fruits, preserved through perseverance.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The doctrine of entire sanctification has been criticised by Reformed theologians as overstating what is biblically and pastorally attainable, and by Lutheran theologians as endangering the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Internal Methodist history shows continuing debate about whether entire sanctification is instantaneous, gradual, or both — and about its phenomenology. The relation between Wesleyan perfection and Catholic-Orthodox doctrines of holiness has become a major dialogical theme in recent ecumenical scholarship (Outler, Maddox, Coppedge, Wynkoop).