I’ve been reading Leland Ryken’s book, Work and Leisure. In it, he defends the Puritans. Way to go!
It’s pretty interesting if you get into it. Here’s a clip:
The Reformers began by rejecting the medieval division of work into sacred and secular. To this they added the doctrine of vocation or calling, by which they meant that God called people to tasks in the world. The result of this was to make all work done for God’s glory sacred. The dignity of common work never stood higher than at this moment in history. This holy worldliness also found a place for industriousness as a lifestyle and profit as a motive for work, although the Reformers did preach a sense of moderation in lifestyle. All of this affirmation of work and earthly endeavor of course presupposed a spiritual context in which the godly life was valued supremely and in which no work was divorced from the idea of service to God and others…
