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[[Puritan]] society in [[New England]] in the the 17th and 18th century exemplified the '''work ethic'''.

[[Puritan]] society in [[New England]] in the the 17th and 18th century exemplified the '''work ethic'''.

== Four views of the work ethic==

== Four definitions of work==

'''The first, original view of work''' was best held by [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] in their original, [[unfallen]] state.

'''The first, original definition of work''' was best known to [[Adam]] and [[Eve]] in their original, [[unfallen]] state.

But, in the fallen world, and from a naively secular perspective, work appears to be an ambiguous blend of joyous productivity and more-or-less unpleasant-but-necessary [[toil]].  

But, in the fallen world, and from a naively secular perspective, work appears to be an ambiguous blend of joyous productivity and more-or-less unpleasant-but-necessary [[toil]].  

So, while work may be defined simply as productive activity, such a definition falls short of an enlightened, humane perspective. This naively secular view of work results, over time, in an increasingly disparate socio-politico-economic system by the error of what may be called the ''"Divine Right of the Work Ethic"'', or "the rat race ethic". This is the view of work as the unqualified right to all the proceeds of one's personal efforts in a secular free-for-all of economic contract.

So, while work may be defined simply as productive activity, such a definition falls short of an enlightened, humane perspective. This naively secular view of work results, over time, in an increasingly disparate socio-politico-economic system by the error of what may be called the ''"Divine Right of the Work Ethic"'', the "rat race ethic", or the "dog-eat-dog ethic". This is the view of work in which the individual has the unqualified right to all the "proceeds of his efforts" in a secular free-for-all of economic contract.

    

    

'''This secular view of work is the second definition of work''', and those who, like [[Ayn Rand]], hold to it have either no care or no comprehension of its long-term consequences. It is against those consequences that God commanded capital punishment within His own nation for those who willfully violate the Sabbath by so much as toiling and trading for personal gain on the Sabbath.

'''This secular view of work is the second definition of work''', and those who, like [[Ayn Rand]], hold to it have either no care or no comprehension of its long-term consequences. It is against those consequences that God commanded capital punishment within His own nation for those who willfully violate the Sabbath by so much as toiling and trading for personal gain on the Sabbath.