Moneylending

whiteonion

Christianity is against usury. The word usury used to mean charging interest on money. The way I interpret what I have read in the bible is that a Christian person is not allowed to charge interest. Am I wrong, does Christianity accept that you charge interest on money?

PDN

whiteonion wrote: »

Christianity is against usury. The word usury used to mean charging interest on money. The way I interpret what I have read in the bible is that a Christian person is not allowed to charge interest. Am I wrong, does Christianity accept that you charge interest on money?

The Jews were forbidden to loan money at interest in the Old Testament. This was because they were all brothers, members of God's covenant people, and therefore should be willing to help each other without seeking to exploit or gain from that opportunity.

This Jewish ban on usury was maintained by Christians for centuries - though, funnily enough, not by Jews! This turned out to be a good thing, because it limited the extent of some of the very nasty anti-Semitic pogroms. Everyone knew you needed a few Jews left alive, otherwise you would have nobody to borrow money from!

The guy really responsible for opening the theological doors on money-lending was John Calvin. He pointed out that the context in which the OT passages occurred (a society where everyone was brothers) did not equate to a modern society where Christians mingle and rub shoulders with unbelievers. Also, said Calvin, the motive was important. There is a difference, argued Calvin, between a mutually beneficial arrangement of investing capital, and in gouging your brother because he was starving and would borrow at any price. It is no coincidence that Calvin was in Geneva and so his followers got a head start on practicing morally-sanctioned capitalism. That is why today we talk about the very wealthy having Swiss bank accounts instead of our rather dysfunctional Irish banks!

Manach

My own understanding base on a recollection from a history course is that this pre-dates the reformation. The relaxation of interest rules occurred in Italy from the 13thC onwards to better allow the city state merchants to deal with the risks/rewards of the re-started Meditarrean trade after the Arab invasions of the 7thC.

Fanny Cradock

PDN wrote: »

This Jewish ban on usury was maintained by Christians for centuries - though, funnily enough, not by Jews! This turned out to be a good thing, because it limited the extent of some of the very nasty anti-Semitic pogroms. Everyone knew you needed a few Jews left alive, otherwise you would have nobody to borrow money from!

Indeed! Look at poor old Shylock.