© Copyright 2914 Bob Haines
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last week, i got interested in the subject of Usury. i once had a friend who was a Christian businessman — he restored houses and then “sold” them to people under a ‘rent to own’ agreement. the idea was that a certain percentage of people would default, he would reclaim the houses and then sell to someone else under a rent to own contract
my friend was very faithful to his “church” and also supported a particular t.v. preacher in Orlando, attended his services and donated money. not sure if he knew that the preacher drove a Roll Royce.
i told him one morning while having morning coffee, that Jesus had some things to say about matters dealing with money and riches and wondered what his take was on the subject. in fact i brought up the subject a couple other times.and he always skirted the question and, in fact, never answered me.
well, i never did, and probably will never take the time to research my thesis that modern business practices conflict with ancient prohibitions such as usury. maybe one of my friends will take the time to locate an article on the subject, per se — reconciling the ancient moral code against usury and ancient teachings with modern business practices.here’s a starter: On Usury
“It comes as news to most people to learn that practically all important ethical teachers — Moses, Aristotle, Jesus, Mohammed, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, for instance — have denounced lending at interest as usury and as morally wrong”
“The practice of lending to an enemy was “as a means of destroying him.”
Chaplain Haines 