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OF OUR FATHER AMONG THE SAINTS BASIL, ARCHBISHOP OF CAESAREA

OF CAPPADOCIA, THE LONGER RULES ACCORDING TO QUESTION AND ANSWER. QUESTION 1. Concerning the order and sequence in the commandments of the Lord. Since

the word has given us the authority to ask, first of all we ask to be taught, if there is a certain order and sequence in the commandments of God, such that one is first, another second, and so on; or are they all interconnected, and all of equal rank in regard to their principle, so that whoever wishes has the freedom, as in a circle, to begin from wherever he wants. ANSWER. Your question is an ancient one, and long ago set forth in the Gospels, when the lawyer, approaching 31.908 the Lord, said, "Teacher, what is the first commandment in the law?" And the Lord answered: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind." "This is the first and great commandment." "And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" The Lord Himself, therefore, has imposed the order on His own commandments; having defined as first and greatest the commandment concerning love for God; and second in order, and like unto it, or rather complementary to the first and dependent upon it, that concerning loving one's neighbor; so that from what has been said, and from other such passages found in the divinely-inspired Scriptures, it is possible to learn the order and sequence in all the commandments of the Lord.

QUESTION 2. Concerning the love of God, and that the inclination and power for the

commandments of the Lord is according to nature in men. Therefore, speak to us first concerning love for God. For that we must love, we have heard; but how this might be accomplished, we seek to learn. ANSWER. Love for God is something that cannot be taught. For we have not learned from another to rejoice in the light and to desire life, nor has anyone taught us to love our parents or those who have nurtured us. Thus, or even much more so, the learning of the divine desire is not from without; but together with the constitution of the living being that is man, I say, a certain seminal principle has been implanted in us, having from within the initial impulses of affinity toward love. Which the school of God's commandments, having received, is designed to cultivate with care, and to nurture with knowledge, and to bring to perfection by the grace of God. Wherefore we too, accepting your zeal as necessary for our purpose, God granting it, and you assisting us in your prayers, shall endeavor to stir up the hidden spark of divine desire within you, according to the power given to us through the Spirit. However, it is necessary to know that this is one accomplishment; but in its power it is the effective principle and container of every commandment. For "He who loves Me," says the Lord, "will keep My commandments;" and again, "On these two commandments 31.909 hang all the Law and the Prophets." And we shall not now attempt to go through the discourse with precision (for thus we would unawares encompass the whole discourse on the commandments in this part), but as much as is suitable for us and proper to the present purpose, we will remind you concerning the love owed by us to God, first saying this, that of all the commandments given to us by God, for these we have also received the powers from Him, so that we may neither be vexed, as if something newer were being demanded of us, nor be puffed up, as if we were contributing something more than what has been given. And through these powers, rightly and fittingly

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ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΕΙΑΣ

ΚΑΠΠΑ∆ΟΚΙΑΣ ΟΡΟΙ ΚΑΤΑ ΠΛΑΤΟΣ ΚΑΤ' ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΝ ΚΑΙ ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΝ. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Αʹ. Περὶ τάξεως καὶ ἀκολουθίας τῆς ἐν ταῖς ἐντο λαῖς τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἐπειδὴ

ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος ἐξουσίαν τοῦ ἐπερωτᾷν, πρῶτον πάντων διδαχθῆναι δεόμεθα, εἰ τάξις τίς ἐστι καὶ ἀκολουθία ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥστε τὴν μὲν εἶναι πρώτην, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν, καὶ καθεξῆς· ἢ πᾶσαι ἀλλήλων ἔχονται, καὶ πᾶσαι ἀλλή λαις ὁμότιμοι πρὸς τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς λόγον τυγχάνουσιν, ὡς ἄδειαν εἶναι τῷ βουλομένῳ, καθάπερ ἐν κύ κλῳ, ἀρχὴν λαμβάνειν ὁπόθεν βούλεται. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τὸ ἐρώτημα ὑμῶν ἀρχαῖόν ἐστι, καὶ πάλαι προεκδεδομένον ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις, ἡνίκα προσελ 31.908 θὼν τῷ Κυρίῳ ὁ νομικὸς, ∆ιδάσκαλε, φησὶ, ποία πρώτη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἐστὶν ἐντολή; Καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ψυχῆς σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου, καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς διανοίας σου. Αὕτη ἐστὶ πρώτη καὶ μεγάλη ἐντολή. ∆ευτέρα δὲ ὁμοία αὕτη· Ἀγα πήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν. Αὐτὸς οὖν ἐπέθηκε ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ ἐντολαῖς τὴν τάξιν ὁ Κύριος· πρώτην μὲν καὶ μεγίστην περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπης τὴν ἐντολὴν ὁρισάμενος· δευτέραν δὲ τῇ τάξει, καὶ ὁμοίαν ἐκείνῃ, μᾶλλον δὲ συμπληρωτικὴν τῆς προτέρας, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἠρτημένην, τὴν περὶ τοῦ ἀγαπᾷν τὸν πλησίον· ὥστε ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων, καὶ ἐξ ἑτέρων δὲ τοιούτων, ἐν ταῖς θεοπνεύστοις Γραφαῖς φερομένων, τὴν ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Κυρίου τάξιν τε καὶ ἀκολουθίαν ἔστι καταμαθεῖν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Βʹ. Περὶ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπης, καὶ ὅτι κατὰ φύσιν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἡ

πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Κυρίου ῥοπὴ καὶ δύναμις. Οὐκοῦν περὶ τῆς εἰς Θεὸν ἀγάπης πρῶτον ἡμῖν διαλέχθητι. Ὅτι μὲν γὰρ χρὴ ἀγαπᾷν, ἀκηκόαμεν· πῶς δ' ἂν τοῦτο κατορθωθείη, μαθεῖν ἐπιζητοῦμεν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ἀδίδακτος μὲν ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀγάπη. Οὔτε γὰρ φωτὶ χαίρειν, καὶ ζωῆς ἀντιποιεῖσθαι παρ' ἄλλου μεμαθήκαμεν, οὔτε τὸ ἀγαπᾷν τοὺς τεκόντας ἢ θρε ψαμένους ἕτερος ἐδίδαξεν. Οὕτως οὖν, ἢ καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον τοῦ θείου πόθου οὐκ ἔξωθέν ἐστιν ἡ μάθησις· ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ τῇ συστάσει τοῦ ζώου τοῦ ἀνθρώπου φημὶ, σπερματικός τις λόγος ἡμῖν ἐγκαταβέβληται οἴκοθεν ἔχων τὰς ἀφορμὰς τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἀγαπᾷν οἰκειώσεως. Ὅνπερ τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ παραλαβὸν, γεωργεῖν μετ' ἐπιμελείας, καὶ ἐκτρέφειν μετ' ἐπιστήμης, καὶ εἰς τελείωσιν ἄγειν Θεοῦ χάριτι πέφυκεν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἡμεῖς, τὴν σπουδὴν ὑμῶν ὡς ἀναγκαίαν τῷ σκοπῷ ἀποδεξά μενοι, Θεοῦ διδόντος, καὶ ὑμῶν ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς συναντιλαμβανομένων ἡμῖν, τὸν ἐγκεκρυμμένον ὑμῖν σπινθῆρα τοῦ θείου πόθου κατὰ τὴν ἐνδεδομένην ἡμῖν διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος δύναμιν διεγεῖραι σπουδά σομεν. Εἰδέναι μέντοι χρὴ, ὅτι τοῦτο ἓν μὲν ἔστι τὸ κατόρθωμα· δυνάμει δὲ πάσης ἐνεργητικὸν καὶ πε ριεκτικόν ἐστιν ἐντολῆς. Ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν με, φησὶν ὁ Κύριος, τὰς ἐντολὰς τὰς ἐμὰς τηρήσει· καὶ πάλιν, ὅτι Ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς 31.909 ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται. Καὶ οὐχὶ νῦν δι' ἀκριβείας ἐφοδεύειν τὸν λόγον ἐπιχειρή σομεν (οὕτω γὰρ ἂν λάθοιμεν πάντα τὸν περὶ ἐντολῶν λόγον ἐπικυκλοῦντες τῷ μέρει), ἀλλ' ὅσον σύμμε τρον ἡμῖν καὶ οἰκεῖον τῷ παρόντι σκοπῷ, ὑπομνήσο μεν ὑμᾶς περὶ τῆς ὀφειλομένης τῷ Θεῷ παρ' ἡμῶν ἀγάπης, ἐκεῖνο πρότερον εἰπόντες, ὅτι πασῶν τῶν δοθεισῶν ἡμῖν ἐντολῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ, τούτων καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις παρ' αὐτοῦ προειλήφαμεν, ἵνα μήτε δυσχε ραίνωμεν, ὥς τι καινότερον ἀπαιτούμενοι, μήτε ἐπαιρώμεθα, ὡς πλέον τι τοῦ δεδομένου συνεισφερό μενοι. Καὶ διὰ τούτων τῶν δυνάμεων, ὀρθῶς μὲν καὶ προσηκόντως