91. The neighbour, however, is not only the man in the singular number, but also man in the plural number; for a smaller or greater society, one's country, the Church, the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself above all, is also the neighbour. They are the neighbour, to whom good ought to be done out of love. They also are the ascending degrees of the neighbour: for a society consisting of many is a neighbour in a higher degree than an individual person; one's country is so in a still higher degree; the Church in a higher degree still; and, in a still higher degree, the kingdom of the Lord; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbour. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.