To Florus 4.22

He therefore commands us not to love the world or the things in it, and says that God’s love cannot be present in lovers of this age. But in saying that love must be withdrawn from the world, he does not mean us to understand that its creator is someone other than the true God. Rather, he wants the faithful to recognize that no desires of the present life should be preferred to virtues. Their minds must not become so occupied with acquiring wealth or pursuing pleasures that they are drawn away from the vigor of Christian philosophy, which is the true philosophy. “For everything in the world is the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not from the Father but from the world. The world passes away, and its desire; but whoever does God’s will remains forever” (1 John 2:16–17). By the name “world,” then, he indicated the conduct of people who suppose there is nothing after this life, and the various displays and luxuries of mortals.