13. Karl Barth,
Church Dogmatics, E.T 1956, III, part 2, p. 62. Luther emphasizes in his
Large Catechism that to rest on the holy day does not simply mean to
“sit behind the stove and do no rough work, or deck ourselves with a wreath and put on our best clothes, but that we occupy ourselves with God’s Word, and exercise ourselves therein” (
Concordia or Book of Concord. The Symbols of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1957, p. 175).
14. Thomas Aquinas,
Sum ma Theologica, Part Il-Il, Q. 122, 4, 1.
15. John Murray,
Principles of Conduct, 1957, pp. 33-34 writes:
“The reason for the cycle of labour and rest is that God himself followed this sequence. The governing principle of this ethic is not merely the will of God but conformity to the pattern of divine procedure. In this particular Adam was to be a son of the Father in heaven.” Nicola Negretti (n. 3), p. 168, similarly remarks:
“The origin, the meaning and the dynamic of the human work-rest are found in the creative divine work-rest. Not only, but the human work-rest expresses, continues and actualizes the creative divine work-rest.” Also Rousas John Rushdoony,
The Institutes of Biblical Law, 1973, p. 146, notes,
“The Sabbath gives purpose to man’s life, in that it makes labor meaningful and purposive: it links it to a joyful consummation.” (86.2)