The fabric of this world : inquiries into calling, career choice, and the design of human work
"With work consuming so many of our waking hours, many of us need help to step back from the daily grind and reflect on work's deeper meaning -- help that Lee Hardy's Fabric of This World offers. After relating his own less-than-pleasant initiation into the world of work, Hardy embarks on a historical investigation, looking first at the classical and medieval denigration of work. He moves on to show how the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers Luther and Calvin articulated the concept of calling, or vocation, giving work a new sense of religious dignity. In contrast with the modern secular tendency to either glorify or vilify work, Hardy claims, a Christian understanding of vocation regards human work as a way to participate in God's ongoing creative work and to serve others. Hardy's historical inquiry lays the groundwork for two main practical applications -- the perennial personal issue of career choice and the extremely important (but often neglected) social issue of job design. His sustained treatment of American management theory provides a noteworthy Christian perspective on work's social and structural dimension. Thoroughly researched, historically grounded, philosophically and theologically informed, and practically oriented, The Fabric of This World makes a unique contribution to the Christian literature on work and career choice."-- Back cover
Print Book, English, ©1990
W.B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich., ©1990