Puritanism Term Analysis

What is really reprehensible is resting on one’s possessions, enjoyment of wealth with its consequences of idleness and the lusts of the flesh, and particularly distraction from striving for a “holy” life. And it is only because possessions bring with them the danger of this resting that they are dubious. […] according to god’s unambiguously revealed will, it is only action, not idleness and indulgence, that serves to increase his glory. Wasting time is therefore the most serious of all sins.

Above and beyond this, however, work is the end purpose of life commanded by God. The Pauline principle “He who will not work, shall not eat,” applies absolutely and to everyone. Unwillingness to work is a symptom of the absence of the state of grace.

To want to be poor, it was often argued, was the same as wanting to be ill; it was to be condemned as seeking justification [salvation] by works, detrimental to the glory of God. Most of all, begging by one who is capable of work is not only sinful sloth, but is also […] contrary to charity.