I think it was just a response to the Calvinist mindset of the time, and it has been extrapolated into modern consciousness. The people of the time did not realize what they were doing or why they were doing it (and I think the same is true today, because few have any real understanding of the history of their own religion) when they thought this way. It just happened as a way of relieving the anxiety that Calvinist theology made them feel. I mean, we're talking the 1500s here. Protestantism had no real power to do much of anything in those early days. The only thing that was "by design" was to revolt against the power of the day, which was the Church. Any real power lay with the Roman Catholic Church at that time.

Check out Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the "Spirit" of Capitalism. It's dense and the language is archaic (early 20th century), but it's informative if you can weed your way through it.