The freedom of any thing from foreign admixture; but more particularly it signifies the temper directly opposite to criminal sensualities, or the ascendency of irregular passions. (
See CHASTITY.) Purity implies, 1. A fixed habitual abhorrence of all forbidden indulgences of the flesh.
2. All past impurities, either of heart or life, will be reflected on with shame and sorrow.
3. The heart will be freed, in a great measure, from impure and irregular desires.
4. It will discover itself by a cautious fear of the least degree of impurity.
5. It implies a careful and habitual guard against every thing which tends to pollute the mind.
See Evan's Sermons on the Christian Temper, ser. 23; and Watts's Sermons, ser. 27.
Despite a stated reliance on the plain meaning of the Bible and the dictates of common sense, Buck's Theological Dictionary, first published in London in 1802, seeks to provide a textual basis for the evangelical community. By combining brief essays on orthodox belief and practice with historical entries on various denominations, Buck provided an interpretive lens that allowed antebellum Protestants to see Christianity's almost two millennia as their own history.Wikipedia
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