Bernard Groethuysen - Worldly Quotes

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The worldly-minded... were unable to see why God should not give men their due if men, on their part, fulfilled their obligations.... A new man had emerged. He was demanding his rights; he was conscious of his importance. As he was before men, so would he be before God. What he had acquired materially or morally was his own, his very own, and neither king nor God might dispute his possession with him. He loved his God as he loved his king, but on condition that both respected his rights.

Bernard Groethuysen
They want to find an imaginary mean between cupidity and charity, says Arnaud, as though our love could end and rest in any object other than God, this being charity, or in the creature, this being cupidity. In this imaginary mean the new man had now established himself, and spent the greater part of his life; it was his spiritual homeland on earth. There he created habits for himself and made laws; he felt at ease and found ways of being virtuous and useful to his neighbors. God would not be angry with him for acting according to his own rules. Thus the worldly man was able to live perfectly well without thinking of a God who had formerly wanted everything done for his sake alone.

Bernard Groethuysen
Such, then, was the God of the worldly-minded, who would be grateful that he had organized the things of this world so that everything was in accordance with laws which they could understand, and that he did not interfere in their decisions when, as prudent and reasonable men, they wished to order their own destinies.

Bernard Groethuysen