During the reign of the right-believing and Christ-Loving Emperor Alexius Comnenus, successor to Nicephorus Botaneiates, a dispute arose in Constantinople among the wisest and most eloquent teachers of rhetoric regarding these three hierarchs. Some had the highest respect for the great Basil, calling him the supreme orator, surpassing all in deed and word. They considered him almost equal to the Angels because he was steadfast, cautious in forgiving sins, and a stranger to everything earthly.

Since we have written about many and diverse things, my child, moved by your ardent faith and piety, I considered it good also to write a few things about love (agape) that I have learned from the Holy Fathers who lived before me and from reading the Holy Scripture. However, fearing the height of this supernatural grace, I am overcome by awe, lest I am unable to bring the discourse to an end. All the same, warmed by the hope of your holy prayers, I shall begin the discourse. For how can I, my child, with my own strength write about such a great charisma (gift) which exceeds my strength? And with what tongue can I tell of this heavenly delight and sustenance of the Holy Angels, Prophets, Apostles, Righteous, Martyrs, Monks, and every category of those listed in the heavens?

As we analyze this major subject, we ought to look at the teaching of the holy Fathers on this important charisma (gift) which is associated with the gift of the discernment of spirits.

In some Western Christian groups, radiant health and youthful vigor are seen as proof of the vitality and validity of one's faith (this is undoubtedly the most recent incarnation of the Puritan doctrine of predestination and a sign that one is among the "elect".) According to this view, illness is to be banished at all cost and death must be pushed away as far and as long as possible.

Saint Gregory the Theologian was born near Nazianzus, a town in Great Cappadocia. His parents, Gregory and Nonna, were of noble ancestry and respected by all; however, the elder Gregory, being the child of a pagan father and a Jewish mother, was not a Christian in his younger years. He belonged to the sect of the Hypsistarii, which combined heathen and Judaic error. The blessed Nonna was the daughter of Christians and was herself an Orthodox Christian from childhood. She was reared in piety and perfectly instructed in the fear of God, which is the beginning of all wisdom. Providence allowed her to be wed to an infidel, so that "the unbelieving husband" might be "sanctified by the" believing "wife" (1 Corinthians Ch. 7) as the Apostle says. Nonna constantly exhorted her husband to accept the true faith, and what is more, fervently prayed for him. Eventually her entreaties secured God's intervention.

The contemporary debate concerning physician-assisted suicide is predicated, from the traditional Christian standpoint, first, on a belief that illness and suffering have no particular value or purpose and, second, that there is no life after death or, if there is, earthly life is not a necessary preparation or determinative for that life. Traditional Christianity, articulated in some detail by H. Tristam Englehardt in his article, "Physician-assisted suicide reconsidered: Dying as a Christian in a post-Christian age," can also be summarized in the following statement by Saint John of Kronstadt: