Dying to the world without abandoning it
Is he enough of a pagan to die for the world, and enough of a Christian to die to it?
The change from dying for the world to dying to it invokes the Christian language of renunciation. The closest verbal parallel is Paul's declaration that through Christ's cross ‘the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world’ (Galatians 6:14–15, KJV). John supplies a related paradox: the grain must die to bear fruit, and the disciple must surrender his attachment to life in this world to preserve eternal life (John 12:24–26). These are scriptural parallels, not a demonstrable quotation from one particular verse or translation.
‘World’ need not mean the same thing on both sides of Chesterton's question. In his exposition of Galatians 6:14, John Chrysostom distinguishes the physical heavens and earth from worldly prestige, wealth and display; dying to the latter releases the Christian from their attraction. His discussion of the following verse nevertheless anticipates the renewal of creation itself (Homily 6 on Galatians, comments on verses 14–16). Renunciation can therefore concern corrupt attachments rather than hatred of existence.
The word ‘pagan’ assigns love of the world one half of the rhetorical contrast; it does not establish that Christianity lacks sacrificial love for the world. John's Gospel itself places divine love for the world beside the Son's saving mission (John 3:16–17). Chesterton's question asks whether one person can sustain both attitudes. It is a demand for reform without either complacency or despair, not an instruction to destroy creation: the chapter later describes fighting the world's evils under the flag of existence itself.
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