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The
following is based on an article written by
nationally-recognized consumer bankruptcy attorney
O. Max Gardner III, Esq.
Forgive us our Debts as We Forgive our Debtors
Bankruptcy and the Bible
Dalton Camp proclaimed several years ago that
“having lost its value, money may no longer be the
root of all evil; credit having taken its place.”
This statement demonstrates the paradox of modern
day Christianity and debt—should the Christian
reaction be one of condemnation or one of
compassion. Since many recent respected studies have
shown that the average American family is only three
weeks away from personal bankruptcy, and new
legislation that will deny bankruptcy relief to
hundreds of thousands of American families is now
the law, it is time to revisit what the Bible
teaches us about debt.
The Bible makes it clear that people are generally
expected to pay their debts. Leviticus 25:39. No one
will--or should--advance any argument against this
general proposition. However, this moral and legal
obligation to pay just debts must be balanced by
such considerations as the need for compassion and
the call to cancel debts at periodic intervals. The
Biblical basis for such considerations is based on
the sabbatical and Jubilee years. The secular basis
arises out of the Constitutional requirement that
Congress enact uniform laws allowing businesses and
consumers to cancel and to restructure debt
obligations. This Biblical support for the legal
right to cancel debt is enforced by the even
stronger Biblical doctrine that prohibited interest
of any amount rather than just usury or excessive
interest.
Within the areas of economic justice and stability,
the Old Testament is replete with examples of
compassionate treatment of the poor, and with
preservation of the family unit. These goals were
superior to the material concerns of repayment of
debt. For instance, Deuteronomy 15:7-10 is
particularly forceful. It provides as follows: “If
there is a poor man among your brothers . . . do not
be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor
brother. Rather be open-handed and freely lend him
whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this
wicked thought: ‘The seventh year, the year for
canceling debts, is near,’ so that you show ill
toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He
may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you
will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him
and do so without a grudging heart; then because of
this the LORD your God will bless you in all your
work and in everything you put your hands to.”
The cancellation of debt in the Old Testament was
accomplished at legislated intervals. Deuteronomy
15:1-2 clearly provides for such legislative release
with the following language: “At the end of every
seven years you shall grant a release. And this is
the manner of the release: every creditor shall
release what he has lent to his neighbor, his
brother, because the Lord’s release has been
proclaimed”. Under this Biblical model, the debtors’
payment or non-payment of debts was not in question.
The debtors may or may not have been culpable for
their debts. It was a strict model with no “means
test” or detailed analysis of every debt. And, while
Old Testament lenders were admonished to be
merciful, debts were canceled every seven years
whether they liked it or not. The Old Testament
model can therefore be legitimately applied to
modern day bankruptcy laws. The principle is that,
while taken seriously, debt can be canceled to
achieve some higher purpose—such as the preservation
of the family unit. It also should be noted that
Deuteronomy 15:12-13 provides that slaves should be
freed every seven years creating an interesting
analogy between the creditor-debtor and the
master-servant relationship.
The Biblical use of the term usury corresponds to
our modern word interest rather than to the notion
of “excessive interest” to which we generally apply
the term usury today. Only a small number of us
would seriously question the morality of profiting
from a loan at normal interest rates. However, the
Talmud quotes an ancient rabbi as saying: “It is
better to sell your daughter into slavery than to
borrow money on interest.” The Lord only knows what
this same rabbi would say today if confronted with
credit cards bearing interest rates of 34.99% and
higher and with some "pay day" lenders demanding
annual rates in excess of 2,000%.
The Biblical doctrine of usury rests primarily on
three texts: Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35; and
Deuteronomy 23:19-20. Exodus and Leviticus prohibit
loans of money or food with interest to a needy
brother or sister or even a resident alien.
Deuteronomy forbids taking interest from any person.
Other Books of the Bible underline the importance of
this prohibition on interest. For example, Psalm
15:5 characterizes a righteous man as one who, among
other things, “lends his money without usury.” Both
Ezekiel 22:12 and Nehemiah 5:0-11 condemn lending
money with interest, especially to the poor. And
Ezekiel 18:13 list the taking of interest among sins
worthy of death.
The prohibition on interest is based on God’s
covenant with Israel. The rule is founded upon the
compassionate treatment of various oppressed groups:
the resident alien; the widow; the orphans; and the
poor. Exodus 22:25-27 states the law in explicit
terms: “If you lend to one of my people among you
who is needy, do not be like the money lender;
charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor’s
cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset,
because his cloak is the only covering he has for
his body. What else will he sleep on? When he cries
out to me, I will hear, for I am companionate.”
Leviticus 25:35-37 provides that “If one of your
countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support
himself among you, help him as you would an alien or
a temporary resident, so that he can continue to
live among you. Do not take interest of any kind
from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman
may continue to live among you. You must not lend
him money at interest or sell him food at profit.”
Finally, Deuteronomy 23:19-20 provides: “Do not
charge your brother interest, whether on money or
food or anything else that may earn interest.”
Jesus clearly had these Biblical principles in mind
when he admonished the “money changers” and removed
them from God’s house, the sacred Temple. In John
2:14 Jesus “poured out the changers of money and
overthrew the tables”. Jesus, in fact, was always
true to the principles underlying usury and debt
forgiveness and the notion of the importance of
placing love and compassion above greed and wealth.
In Luke 6:34-35 Jesus said: “And if you lend to
those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is
that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to
receive as much again. But love your enemies and, do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and
your reward will be great, and you will be sons of
the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and
the selfish.” The followers of Jesus were to be
concerned with the welfare of others, even when met
with hatred and abuse.
The consistent teaching of both the Old and New
Testaments is that compassion, mercy and justice are
to override purely economic concerns, such as loans.
Religious people are to be gracious to all, even
debtors. Jesus said that God does cause the rain to
fall on the just and the unjust and in Mark 10:25 he
said that “[i]t is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter in
to the kingdom of God”. And in Luke 16:9 he said: “I
tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be
welcomed into eternal dwellings.”, and to “forgive
and ye shall be forgiven” Luke 6:37.
The compassion of the scriptures, including the
setting aside of legitimate rights of lenders, was
typical of economic relationships in the economy of
early Judeo-Christian societies. The central theme
is one of stability—a stable society with a
guarantee of economic security to each family.
Wealth was viewed as a blessing from God
(Deuteronomy 8:11-18, 28). This blessing resulted
from obedience and was based on God’s compassion.
The tithing for the poor, the gleaning laws, the
year of the Jubilee, were all tangible ways that
Israelites could show compassion for each other and
honor God by following His law. Beyond
income-maintenance programs, the Biblical Law
provided a permanent mechanism—such as the
Sabbatical year and Jubilee—to ensure that temporary
misfortune barred no family from full participation
in economic life.
The current bankruptcy law passed by Congress and
signed into law by the President in 2005 lacks any
compassion for the poor, makes no redress to the
modern day money changers who shamelessly peddle
plastic at rates that would draw the Holy wrath of
God himself, provides no relief but only additional
misery to the families saddled with thousands of
dollars in medical bills, and most importantly
severely undermines the economic and social
stability of the average American family. These
Americans are like the farmers of the Old Testament
who proclaimed to King Nehemiah “We have had to
borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and
vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and
blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as
good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and
daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have
already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because
our fields and our vineyards belong to others”.
Nehemiah 5:3-5. Nehemiah responded to his people and
ordered to “let the extracting of usury stop! Give
back to them immediately their fields, vineyards,
olive groves, and houses and also the usury you are
charging them…”. Nehemiah 5:11. It is time for our
elected Representatives in Washington to follow the
example of the Holy Scriptures and to respond in
kind by repealing the current Bankruptcy Bill and by
not taking away power from the powerless and
eliminating relief for the suffering.
Based on an article by O. Max Gardner III, Esquire
maxgardner@maxgardner.com |
 Profile:
O. Max Gardner, III, Author: Mr. Gardner received his
undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill in 1969 and graduated with high honors from the UNC School of
Law in 1974. Among others, he was a member of the Law Review,
President of the Student Bar Foundation and elected to the Order of
the Coif. Following graduation, he served as law clerk to the Hon.
William H. Bobbitt, the late Chief Justice of the North Carolina
Supreme Court, and to the Hon. William Copeland, an Associate
Justice.
He opened a law practice in Shelby, NC in 1977 and currently limits
his practice to consumer bankruptcy issues and related law.
Gardner was named the Outstanding Consumer Lawyer of 2004 by the
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers (NACBA) and was
elected a Member of the North Carolina Legal Elite by Business North
Carolina in December of 2004. He is a long-time member of NACBA and
NACA and a frequent national speaker on bankruptcy law and consumer
representation.
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