Asceticism precedes the mystical union of the soul with God. There is also a paradox in the Christian's attitude to the world. The Christian is urged to shun the world as something dangerous and bad, yet save the world as something good and worthwhile. This ambiguity toward the world is already discernible in the behavior and teaching of Christ who did not pray for the world which is already judged, yet loved the world enough to die in order to save it. In living out this paradox, the Christian is advised to be in the world but not of the world.
Worldliness is opposed to holiness.
At the root of these Christian paradoxes is Christ himself. In himself Christ was a sign of contradiction. Christ was not just a man. He was also God. In the beginning was the Word . . .