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of the things commanded; for neither did Moses disobey Jethro when he gave good counsel; and since there is no small difference among the things commanded (for some are contrary to the Lord's commandment, either corrupting it, or defiling it in many ways by the admixture of what is forbidden; others coincide with the commandment; and others, even if they do not obviously coincide, yet contribute to it, and are, as it were, a certain help to the commandment), it is necessary to remember the Apostle who said: Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good; abstain from every form of evil; and again: We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. So then, if we are commanded something that coincides with or contributes to the commandment of the Lord, we must receive it more eagerly and carefully as the will of God, fulfilling what was said: Bearing with one another in the love of Christ; but when we are commanded by someone to do something contrary to the Lord's commandment, corrupting or defiling it, then it is time to say: We must obey God rather than men; remembering the Lord who says: A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers; and the Apostle who dared for our safety even to rebuke the angels themselves, through which he says: But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. From which we are taught that, even if someone is very genuine, or exceedingly glorious, who forbids what has been commanded by the Lord, or urges to do what has been forbidden by Him, he ought to be shunned and even abhorred by everyone who loves the Lord. 31.1161 QUESTION 115. How we ought to obey one another. REPLY As servants to masters, according to what was commanded by the Lord, for Whoever would be great among you must be the last of all, and servant of all. To which He adds more compellingly: Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve; and according to what was said by the Apostle: Through the love of the Spirit serve one another. QUESTION 116. To what extent must one obey in the rule of pleasing God. REPLY. The Apostle has shown, setting before us the obedience of the Lord, who became obedient unto death, even death on a cross; and having said before: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. QUESTION 117. He who is not fully convinced in the daily commands regarding the appointed commandment, but seeks to learn a trade, from what passion does he suffer, and whether he should be tolerated. REPLY. Such a one is both stubborn and self-pleasing, and unfaithful; because he did not fear the judgment of the Lord who said: Be ready, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming. For if one expects the Lord daily and hourly, he is anxious not to pass today idly, and meddles in nothing further. But if he should be commanded to learn a trade, let him have in obedience the gain of pleasing God, and not in postponement the judgment. QUESTION 118. The one who is zealous for the commandment, yet does not what is commanded but what he himself wishes, what reward has he? REPLY. Of self-pleasing. But since the Apostle says: Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up, and more earnestly exhorting by adding, For Christ did not please himself, the self-pleasing man ought to recognize his own danger; and the same is convicted of being insubordinate as well. QUESTION 119. Whether it is permitted for each one to refuse the work entrusted to him, and to seek another. REPLY. Since obedience, as has been said before, has its measure even unto death, 31.1164 he who refuses the work entrusted to him and seeks another, first corrupts obedience and is shown not to have denied himself; then he also becomes the cause of many other evils for himself and for the rest. For also

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ἐπιτασσομένων· οὔτε γὰρ Μωσῆς παρήκουσε τοῦ Ἰοθὸρ ἀγαθὰ συμ βουλεύσαντος· τῶν δὲ ἐπιτεταγμένων διαφορᾶς οὐκ ὀλίγης οὔσης (τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἐναντίως ἔχει πρὸς τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Κυρίου, ἤτοι παραφθείροντα αὐτὴν, ἢ μολύνοντα πολλαχῶς ἐπιμιξίᾳ τοῦ κε κωλυμένου· τὰ δὲ συνεμπίπτει τῇ ἐντολῇ· τὰ δὲ, κἂν μὴ συνεμπίπτῃ κατὰ τὸ προφανὲς, ἀλλὰ συμβάλλεται, καὶ οἱονεὶ βοήθειά τίς ἐστι τῆς ἐν τολῆς), ἀναγκαῖον μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ Ἀποστόλου εἰπόντος· Προφητείας μὴ ἐξουθενεῖτε· πάντα δὲ δοκιμάζοντες, τὸ καλὸν κατέχετε· ἀπὸ παν τὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε· καὶ πάλιν· Λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες, καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαι ρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ αἰχ μαλωτίζοντες πᾶν νόημα εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὥστε ἂν μέν τι συνεμπῖπτον τῇ ἐντολῇ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἢ συμβαλλόμενον ἐπιταχθῶμεν, ὡς τοῦ Θεοῦ θέλημα σπουδαιότερον καὶ ἐπιμελέ στερον καταδέχεσθαι χρὴ, πληροῦντας τὸ εἰρη μένον· Ἀνεχόμενοι ἀλλήλων ἐν ἀγάπῃ Χριστοῦ· ὅταν δέ τι ἐναντίον τῇ τοῦ Κυρίου ἐντολῇ, παρα φθεῖρον ἢ μολῦνον αὐτὴν ἐπιταχθῶμεν παρά τινος, καιρὸς εἰπεῖν τότε· Πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ Θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις· μνημονεύοντας τοῦ Κυρίου λέγον τος· Ἀλλοτρίῳ δὲ οὐ μὴ ἀκολουθήσωσιν, ἀλλὰ φεύξονται ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐκ οἴδασι τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τὴν φωνήν· καὶ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου τολ μήσαντος ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀσφαλείας καὶ αὐ τῶν καθάψασθαι τῶν ἀγγέλων δι' ὧν φησι· Κἂν ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ, ἢ ἄγγελος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ εὐαγγελίζη ται ὑμῖν, παρ' ὃ εὐηγγελισάμεθα ὑμῖν, ἀνάθεμα ἔστω. Ἐξ ὧν παιδευόμεθα, ὅτι, κἂν πολὺ γνή σιός τις ᾖ, κἂν ὑπερβαλλόντως ἔνδοξος ὁ κω λύων τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυρίου προστεταγμένον, ἢ προ τρέπων ποιεῖν τὸ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ κεκωλυμένον, φευκτὸς ἢ καὶ βδελυκτὸς ὀφείλει εἶναι ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀγα πώντων τὸν Κύριον. 31.1161 ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΙΕʹ. Πῶς ὑπακούειν ἀλλήλοις χρή. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Ὡς δούλους δεσπόταις, κατὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Κυ ρίου προστεταγμένον, ὅτι Ὁ θέλων ἐν ὑμῖν εἶ ναι μέγας ἔστω πάντων ἔσχατος, καὶ πάντων δοῦλος. Οἷς ἐπιφέρει δυσωπητικώτερον· Ὥσπερ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθε διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι· καὶ κατὰ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀπο στόλου εἰρημένον· ∆ιὰ τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Πνεύ ματος δουλεύετε ἀλλήλοις. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΙʹ. Μέχρι πόσου ὑπακούειν δεῖ ἐν τῷ κανόνι τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔδειξε, προθεὶς ἡμῖν τὴν τοῦ Κυ ρίου ὑπακοήν, ὃς Ἐγένετο ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανά του, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ· καὶ προειπών· Τοῦτο φρονείσθω ἐν ὑμῖν. ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΙΖʹ. Ὁ μὴ πληροφορούμενος ἐν τοῖς καθ' ἡμέραν πρὸς τὴν προκειμένην ἐντολὴν ἐπιτάγμασι, τέχνην δὲ μαθεῖν ἐπιζητῶν, ποῖον πάθος νοσεῖ, καὶ εἰ χρὴ αὐτοῦ ἀνέχεσθαι. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ αὐθάδης, καὶ αὐτάρεσκός ἐστι, καὶ ἄπιστος· ὅτι οὐκ ἐφοβήθη τὸ κρῖμα τοῦ Κυρίου εἰπόντος· Γίνεσθε ἕτοιμοι, ὅτι ᾗ ὥρᾳ οὐ δοκεῖτε, ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται. Εἰ γὰρ καθ' ἡμέ ραν καὶ καθ' ὥραν προσδοκᾷ τις τὸν Κύριον, ἀγωνιᾷ πῶς τὴν σήμερον ἀργὸς μὴ παρέλθῃ, καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν περιεργάζεται. Εἰ δὲ ἐπιταχθείη μα θεῖν τέχνην, ἐν τῇ ὑπακοῇ ἐχέτω τὸ κέρδος τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως, καὶ μὴ ἐν τῇ ὑπερθέ σει τὸ κρῖμα. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΙΗʹ. Ὁ σπουδαῖος εἰς τὴν ἐντολὴν, καὶ ἐργαζόμενος οὐχ ὃ ἐπιτάσσεται, ἀλλ' ὃ αὐτὸς θέλει, ποῖον μισθὸν ἔχει. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Αὐταρεσκείας. Τοῦ δὲ Ἀποστόλου λέγοντος· Ἕκαστος ἡμῶν τῷ πλησίον ἀρεσκέτω εἰς τὸ ἀγαθὸν, πρὸς οἰκοδομὴν, καὶ περισσοτέρως δυσ ωποῦντος ἐν τῷ ἐπενεγκεῖν, Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς οὐχ ἑαυτῷ ἤρεσε, γνωρίζειν ὀφείλει τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κίνδυνον ὁ αὐτάρεσκος· ἐλέγχεται δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς καὶ ἀνυπότακτος. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΙΘʹ. Εἰ ἔξεστιν ἑκάστῳ παραιτεῖσθαι τὸ ἐγχειρισθὲν ἔργον, καὶ ἄλλο ἐπιζητεῖν. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Τῆς ὑπακοῆς, καθὼς προείρηται. μέχρι θανά 31.1164 του ἐχούσης τὸ μέτρον, ὁ τὸ ἐγχειρισθὲν παραι τούμενος, καὶ ἄλλο ἐπιζητῶν, πρῶτον μὲν τὴν ὑπακοὴν διαφθείρει, καὶ φανερός ἐστι μὴ ἀρνησά μενος ἑαυτόν· ἔπειτα καὶ ἑτέρων κακῶν πλειόνων ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς αἴτιος γίνεται. Καὶ γὰρ