Comments on: Should Christians Lend Money and Charge Interest?

By: Craig

Craig — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 19:58:13 +0000

Marilyn,
Thanks for your comment.

Parables are hard to pin down so you can take too much from the content of the parable. For example, in Mathew 24:51 the master comes home and cuts a person to pieces. It would seem inappropriate to say that person represents God and God will cut people to pieces. Instead, the items in parables often represent something else in order to express a truth about the Kingdom of God.

By: Marilyn Arnold

Marilyn Arnold — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 22:55:24 +0000

Don’t forget the parable of the talents that Jesus told. The servant who hid his talent in the ground was rebuked by the master for not putting the money to the exchangers to earn usury. Nowhere in the telling of this story does Jesus condemn the practice of investing money for interest. He could have. That would have been a good place to teach that lesson, if he so desired. Matthew 25 is where this parable is found.

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:00:04 +0000

Paul,
Thanks for your comment. I am not American and know very little about American history so I cannot comment regarding the lending role of England and America.
In the Bible, Israel was not permitted to lend to its own people with interested, but it could lend to others.
My opinion is that if lending is a service (determined by the rate and the conditions of the loan) it is not wrong for Christians to lend to each other. The beauty is that if someone disagrees they can lend to others at 0% and there is nothing wrong with that.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:00:21 +0000

I still do not understand why you are justifying lending at interest. This is the reason that our country, America, separated from England. England did not approve of the colonies creating their own currency and using it amongst themselves with NO interest. England basically said “NO!” and told us that we had to now use their currency printed by their own Federal Reserve INSTANTLY throwing the colonies into debt.

Was this fair? No. Do you see why this is immoral even on a non-Christian basis? The funny thing is that our country is now under the same powerful men that we fought off from England.

You may justify lending at interest because you would like to pick and choose what applies in the Bible because of relation to the time that it was applied to, or that it simply applies universally because it does not associate it’s core concept with the concept of time.

Either way, enabling the behaviour is in essence OKing it to be done on many different levels. Although you may not rip someone off, that is not security that another may, or even worse. If an action has the great potential to be misconstrued, warped, and even justified, it creates more future problems than anything.

Do we really want to teach our kids that this behavior is OK?

By: tony

tony — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:02:18 +0000

Hello Craig…I’m planning to enter P2P but i’m so confused because im so afraid that it might be immoral for me to enter that kind of business. I just want to ask, how much is the exact percentage I can give to the borrower of my money. This will help me a lot. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you so much.

By: Craig

Craig — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:05:27 +0000

@Michael
Thanks for you comment. It would be hard for me to lend money to a brother in-law. Ultimately, the question is what helps him more. Typically, people borrow from family because the bank won’t lend them money. I’m wondering if it would really be helping them by lending him money when the bank doesn’t even think he is fit to borrow.
That said, in the past I have lent money to my immediate family. The interest was always better than what either of us could get from the bank. However, I doubt I would do that again.
If I understand correctly Jews also still do not charge interest to each other. In the end the question is – is charging interest a matter of morality? In my case, I don’t think it is immoral to charge an appropriate level of interest.

By: Michael R. Cooke

Michael R. Cooke — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:55:36 +0000

If a brother in-law borrows money, do you charge interest? You might, but because there’s a relationship the important thing is helping the person, the thought of personal gain vis interest runs counter to the generous impulse.

Now, in P2P lending we’re speaking of people you have no background of relatedness to.

I’m not a Christian personally, but I was raised to be one and I believe it is not Christian to accept interest because you are to love all as you love your brother.

That said, the secular reality of lending always accompanying interest means that it is never ever wrong and perfectly legal to charge modest interest on any loan.

But if you are Christian charging interest, understand Muslims hold the moral high ground. They never charge interest for loans, it is clear to them it is forbidden. I lived in Queens recently and many of the local shops were Muslim owned. Loving interest free loans are responsible for every one of those successful shops. And in that neighbourhood where were Christian run shops? There are Christians there, but conventional loaning practices demand interest and substantial collateral…..

By: Yard Sales: My Social Event

Yard Sales: My Social Event — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 19:19:43 +0000

[...] Should Christians Lend Money and Charge Interest at Money Help for Christians [...]

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:02:43 +0000

@The Digerati Life Thanks so much for your comment. I’m honored to know you took the time to read this post and leave a comment.

By: The Digerati Life

The Digerati Life — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:19:34 +0000

Great post! I am a Christian and agree with your conclusions wholeheartedly. It's an encouraging view of lending that I appreciate. .-= The Digerati Life´s last blog ..Secured Credit Cards To Boost Your Credit =-.