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And Paul the apostle also testifies, saying: If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, certainly according to the principle of love in Christ; And if one member is honored, that is, for the purpose of pleasing God, all the 31.1200 members rejoice with it. But he who is not so disposed is clearly not loving his brother. QUESTION 170. Who are the enemies whom we were commanded to love; and how shall we love our enemies; only by good deeds towards them, or also by disposition itself; and if this is possible. RESPONSE. It is characteristic of an enemy to harm and to plot against. Therefore, everyone who in any way harms someone might be called an enemy; but especially the one who sins. For as much as it is in him, he harms in various ways, and plots against his companion or acquaintance. And since man is composed of body and soul, we should love such people according to the soul, by rebuking them, and admonishing them, and in every way leading them to repentance; and according to the body by doing good to them, when they are in need of the necessities of life. That love is in the disposition is clear to everyone. And the Lord showed and taught what is possible, having demonstrated the love of the Father and of himself in obedience unto death for enemies, not for friends, as the Apostle testifies, saying: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And He advises this very thing to us in saying: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. The good and just One would not have commanded, if He had not granted the ability; which he also revealed to be laid up by necessity in nature. Even wild beasts naturally love their benefactors. But what friend benefits us so much as our enemies? Procuring for us the blessing of the Lord who said: Blessed are you, when they persecute you, and revile you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. QUESTION 177. How ought the strong to bear the weaknesses of the weak? RESPONSE If to bear is to take away and to heal, according to what is written that, He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses, not in 31.1201 receiving these things into Himself, but in healing those who suffer; here too the way and principle of repentance will apply, through which the weak will be healed by the care of the stronger. QUESTION 178. What is, “Bear one another’s burdens;” and what law will we fulfill by doing this. RESPONSE. It is the same as what was said before. For sin is heavy, dragging the soul down to the bottom of Hades. Which we take up and take away from one another, by leading sinners to repentance. To use "to bear" instead of "to take away" is customary even for the locals, as I myself have often heard from many. And we will fulfill the law of Christ who said: I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance; and who legislated for us that, If your brother sins, go, rebuke him. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. QUESTION 179. How can someone without love acquire such faith as to move mountains, or to give all his possessions to the poor, or to give his own body to be burned. RESPONSE. If we remember the Lord saying: For they do it to be seen by men, and His response to those who said: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? to whom He says: I do not know where you are from; not because they lied, but because they misused the grace of God for their own desires, which is alien to the love of God, it is not difficult to perceive the things

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Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ Παῦλος ὁ ἀπόστολος λέγων· Ἐὰν πάσχῃ ἓν μέλος, συμπάσχει πάντα τὰ μέλη, κατὰ λόγον πάντως τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ἀγάπης· Καὶ ἐὰν δοξάζηται ἓν μέλος, κατὰ σκοπὸν δηλονότι τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν εὐαρεστήσεως, συγχαίρει πάντα 31.1200 τὰ μέλη. Ὁ δὲ μὴ οὕτως συνδιατιθέμενος φανερός ἐστι μὴ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφόν. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΟʹ. Τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ, οὓς ἀγαπᾷν προσετάχθη μεν· καὶ πῶς ἀγαπήσομεν τοὺς ἐχθρούς· ταῖς εἰς αὐτοὺς εὐεργεσίαις μόνον, ἢ καὶ αὐτῇ τῇ διαθέσει· καὶ εἰ δυνατὸν τοῦτο. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ἐχθροῦ ἴδιον τὸ βλάπτειν καὶ ἐπιβουλεύειν. Πᾶς μὲν οὖν ὁ ὁπωσδήποτε βλάπτων τινὰ ἐχθρὸς ἂν λέγοιτο· ἐξαιρέτως δὲ ὁ ἁμαρτάνων. Τὸ γὰρ ὅσον ἐπ' αὐτῷ βλάπτει κατὰ διαφόρους τρόπους, καὶ ἐπιβουλεύει τῷ συνόντι ἢ συντυγχάνοντι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐκ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς συνέστηκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος, κατὰ μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν ἀγαπήσωμεν τοὺς τοιούτους, ἐλέγχοντες αὐτοὺς, καὶ νουθετοῦντες, καὶ παντὶ τρόπῳ εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν ἐνάγοντες· κατὰ δὲ τὸ σῶμα εὐεργετοῦντες αὐτοὺς, ἐπιδεομένους τῶν πρὸς τὸ ζῇν ἀναγκαίων. Ὅτι δὲ ἡ ἀγάπη ἐν διαθέσει ἐστὶ, παντὶ δῆλον. Τὸ δὲ δυνατὸν ἔδειξε καὶ ἐδίδαξεν ὁ Κύριος, τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῇ ὑπακοῇ μέχρι θανάτου ἐπιδειξάμενος ὑπὲρ ἐχθρῶν, οὐχ ὑπὲρ φίλων, ὡς μαρτυρεῖ ὁ Ἀπόστο λος λέγων· Συνίστησι δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην ὁ Θεὸς εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὅτι, ἔτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν, Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε. Καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο παραινεῖ ἐν τῷ εἰπεῖν· Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμη ταὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ, καὶ περιπατεῖτε ἐν ἀγάπῃ, καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ Θεῷ. Οὐκ ἂν δὲ προσέταξεν ὁ ἀγαθὸς καὶ δίκαιος, εἰ μὴ τὸ δυνατὸν ἐχαρίσατο· ὅπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ φύσει κατηναγκασμένως ἀποκεῖσθαι ἐφανέρωσεν. Εὐεργέτας μὲν καὶ τὰ θηρία φυσικῶς ἀγαπᾷ. Τί δὲ το σοῦτον εὐεργετεῖ ὁ φίλος, ὅσον οἱ ἐχθροί; Προξενοῦν τες ἡμῖν τὸν μακαρισμὸν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰπόντος· Μα κάριοί ἐστε, ὅταν διώξωσιν ὑμᾶς, καὶ ὀνειδίσωσι, καὶ εἴπωσι πᾶν πονηρὸν ῥῆμα καθ' ὑμῶν, ψευ δόμενοι, ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ. Χαίρετε καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε, ὅτι ὁ μισθὸς ὑμῶν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΟΖʹ. Πῶς ὀφείλουσιν οἱ δυνατοὶ τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ Εἰ τὸ βαστάζειν ἐστὶ τὸ αἴρειν καὶ θεραπεύειν, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον ὅτι, Αὐτὸς τὰς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἔλαβε, καὶ τὰς νόσους ἐβάστασεν, οὐκ ἐν 31.1201 τῷ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ὑποδέχεσθαι ταῦτα, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ τοὺς πάσχοντας θεραπεύειν· καὶ ἐνταῦθα ὁ τῆς με τανοίας τρόπος καὶ λόγος ἐφαρμόσει, δι' οὗ θερα πευθήσονται ἐκ τῆς τῶν δυνατωτέρων ἐπιμελείας οἱ ἀδύνατοι. ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΟΗʹ. Τί ἐστι τὸ, «Ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε·» καὶ ποῖον νόμον ἀναπληρώσομεν, τοῦτο ποιοῦντες. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ προειρημένῳ. Βαρεῖα γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρ τία, καθέλκουσα τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς πυθμένα ᾅδου. Ἣν αἴρομεν ἀλλήλων, καὶ περιαιροῦμεν, εἰς ἐπι στροφὴν ἄγοντες τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας. Τὸ δὲ βαστάσαι ἀντὶ τοῦ ἆραι σύνηθες καὶ τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις κεχρῆσθαι, ὡς πολλάκις παρὰ πολλῶν αὐτὸς ἤκουσα. Νόμον δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀναπληρώσομεν τοῦ εἰπόντος· Οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν· καὶ ἡμῖν νομοθετήσαντος ὅτι, Ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ὕπαγε, ἔλεγξον αὐ τόν. Ἐάν σου ἀκούσῃ, ἐκέρδησας τὸν ἀδελφόν σου ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ ΡΟΘʹ. Πῶς δύναταί τις ἄνευ ἀγάπης πίστιν κτήσασθαι τοσαύτην, ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάνειν, ἢ πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα δοῦναι πτωχοῖς, ἢ παραδοῦναι τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα, ἵνα καυθῇ. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ. Εἰ μνημονεύομεν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰπόντος· Ποιοῦσι γὰρ πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τῆς ἀποκρίσεως αὐτοῦ τῆς πρὸς τοὺς εἰπόντας· Κύριε, Κύριε, οὐ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι προεφητεύσαμεν καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν; πρὸς οὕς φησιν· Οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς πόθεν ἐστέ· οὐχ ὅτι ἐψεύσαντο, ἀλλ' ὅτι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάριτι πρὸς τὰ ἴδια θελήματα ἀπ εχρήσαντο, ὅπερ τῆς πρὸς Θεὸν ἀγάπης ἀλλότριον, οὐ δυσκόλως συνορᾷν τὰ