[John Humphrey] Noyes organized his church as the Putney [Vermont] Corporation or Association of Perfectionists. They began to practice "complex marriage," along with Noyes' "male continence" form of birth control. "Alas for human paradoxes," continues Dr. Blake, what was emancipation from sin for the perfectionists seemed only indulgence in sin to their unbelieving neighbors! ... At the invitation of . . . Central New York perfectionists, the Putney group found a new home on a beautiful tract near Oneida in Madison County, New York. . . . the Oneida Community practiced what Noyes called "Bible Communism." . . . "the leader believed, the perfectionists were returning to the social practices of the primitive apostolic church." "The members abstained from intoxicants, tobacco, profanity, and obscenity; even meat, coffee, and tea were regarded as luxuries only occasionally to be served to vary the ordinary diet of vegetables and fruits."
[source: Grunder, Rick, Mormon Parallels: A Bibliographic Source]
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