Loving the world without becoming worldly
somehow one must love the world without being worldly
John 3:16–17 and 1 John 2:15–17 place love for the world beside refusal of worldliness, a distinction already pertinent earlier in this chapter.
Augustine makes the distinction explicit in his second homily on 1 John. In §§11–12 he calls created things good, but warns against treating them as one's ultimate happiness while abandoning their maker. His example is a bride who prizes her wedding ring above her bridegroom. He also explains that 'world' can designate the created fabric or its inhabitants and their loves. This is a close theological precedent for Chesterton's distinction: attachment to creation need not become submission to everything presently done within it. Augustine's emphasis is nevertheless different: he orders love toward the Creator, whereas Chesterton stresses how loyalty permits reform. The comparison establishes affinity, not Chesterton's use of this homily. Augustine, Homily 2 on First John, §§11–12, inspected in H. Browne's translation as printed in NPNF I.7 (1888), revised for New Advent.
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