This historical analysis investigates the contributions of John Wesley's doctrine of entire sanctification, with its attendant emphasis on Christian perfection, to the value base of American professional social work. Major questions asked were: how catalytic was this doctrine in the drive for nineteenth-century social reform, especially in reforms headed by women; how specifically did it influence the founding and direction of early social work; what happened to these Wesleyan values as social reform moved from a spiritually-grounded movement into a secularized one; and what lessons are embedded in that history for current practice? Findings confirmed Wesleyan perfectionism's significant impact on social work's ethical foundation through America's Puritan-Enlightenment-Wesleyan synthesis; through the Benevolent Empire it spawned; and through the activities of its female adherents, notably the Methodist Diaconate. Tensions between these Wesleyan ideals and the positivistic utilitarian values that displaced them in social work's drive for professionalization remain today
