Perfectionists

Perfectionists (known also as the "Oneida Community," "Bible Communists." and "Free Lovers") are a sect founded in America in 1838 by one John H. Noyes. He came to the conclusion that the Church as such hardly outlasted apostolic times, and that with the Second Advent, which he placed in the year 70, it came to an end, and that from that time forward it consisted in different times and places, of such people only, independent of priesthood or visible membership, as carried out the apostolic ideal. He conceived the idea of founding a visible church upon similar lines, the chief features of which were to be community of goods and freedom from all rules and laws, and from human ties of country, marriage, and family, since each member, by strength of the indwelling Spirit, would be a law to himself. The community eventually reintroduced marriage and family life, and modified its community of goods so far as to resolve itself into the Oneida Joint Stock Company, each member sharing in the profits. The community settled itself at Oneida Creek, New York, in 1847, and has a considerable iron and silk industry, and is noted for the Oneida trap for fur-bunting, which has driven most competitors out of the field.