Jesus had said to give without expectation of return, but it seemed unrealistic to expect most Christians to do that. And even if they did, what sort of ongoing relationships would that create? St. Basil took the radical position. God had given us all things in common, and he had specifically instructed the rich to give their possessions to the poor. The communism of the Apostles—who pooled all their wealth and took freely what they needed—was thus the only proper model for a truly Christian society.105 Few of the other Christian Fathers were willing to take things this far. True, they
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