Should Christians charge interest?

GinnyTosken

Interspersed amidst the text of The Five Gospels are short cameo essays about topics related to subject matter at hand. One that caught my eye is called “Hard Sayings Softened”:

Hard sayings are frequently softened in the process of transmission to adapt them to the conditions of daily living.
Luke 6:30a Give to everyone who begs from you
Matt 5:42a Give to one who begs from you
The admonition to give something to every beggar who asks is a global injunction. If followed literally, it would leave the agent destitute in a matter of days. Of course, Jesus was not interested in the letter of such injunctions, but in its horizon: for him that kind of indifference to one’s possessions was part of God’s imperial rule. Nevertheless, the Christian community soon began to feel the pinch. . . .

After reading this, I began pondering how Jehovah’s Witnesses insist that some admonition in the New Testament be followed literally (e.g. Acts 15:20 “abstain from blood) yet completely ignore others (e.g. “if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her”). [As a side note, with all the Society’s stress on dress and grooming, I’ve wondered if there were any articles written in the 1920s about the evils of bobbing one’s hair.]

I specifically began wondering about the Society’s charging interest on loans to brothers, especially for the building of Kingdom Halls. Granted, the interest is by no means exorbitant (6% last I heard), yet according to Jesus’ own words in the New World Translation, a Christian should not charge interest: “Continue . . . to lend without interest, not hoping for anything back.” (Luke 6:35)

The Koran states that loans must not collect interest, and Muslims actually follow this directive.

Yet financing mosques and community centers isn't easy because the teachings of the Koran forbid Muslims from accepting or providing interest-bearing loans.

In fact, the $600,000 mosque that opened in Villa Park last year was completely financed through cash donations, said Abdul Hammed Dogar, board member of the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park.
from: http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-36189,FF.html

Considering this, I am curious as to why Jehovah’s Witnesses and most Christians do not apply this Biblical injunction.

I looked in Aid to Bible Understanding under “Interest.” The article says:

. . . By contrast God’s law to Israel prohibited making loans on interest to needy fellow Israelites. No one was to profit from another’s financial reverses. (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36, 37; Deut. 23 :19) . . .
Whereas upright Israelites obeyed God’s law about making interest-free loans (Ps. 15:5; Ezek. 18:5, 8, 17), lending on interest apparently became common and brought hardships on needy debtors. (Neh. 5:1-11; Isa. 24:2; Ezek. 18:13; 22:12) Jesus Christ, though, upheld God’s law in this regard and gave it an even broader application, saying: “Continue . . . to lend without interest, not hoping for anything back.” (Luke 6:34, 35) It would therefore be improper to withhold assistance from one who because of continued adversity and through no fault of his own might be unable to repay a debt. But when actual need is not involved, there would be no objection to a person’s charging interest on a loan. Jesus himself, by having the wicked slave in one of his illustrations censured for failing to deposit his master’s money with the bankers so as to draw interest, implied that receiving interest from invested capital is proper.—Matt. 25:26, 27; Luke 19: 22, 23.

The Aid books specifies “loans on interest to needy fellow Israelites, but Deut. 23:19 makes no such distinction:

You shall not charge interest on loans to another Israelite, interest on money, interest on provisions, interest on anything that is lent. On loan to a foreigner you may charge interest, but on loans to another Israelite you may not charge interest . . . (RSV)

I don’t quite understand the Society’s stance. I would think brothers building Kingdom Halls would be considered fellow Israelites. These brothers do not want to build a Kingdom Hall as an investment for personal gain, and if they had the money, why would they ask the Society? Does this not constitute a real need? Is a Kingdom Hall considered a luxury?

Does the Society ever offer interest-free loans to the brothers for any reason? I know that they accept loans to themselves interest-free for three years to fund special projects. Why is it that the Society does not follow Jesus’ words about interest nor the example of the first century Christian congregation who “had all things in common” and “sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need”? (Acts 2:44, 45)

Ginny

Uncanny

Nice post, Ginny.

You have thoroughly exposed the hypocritical double standard used by the Watchtower Society when it comes to THEM lending money to others.
By charging interest on loans to their fellow brothers they not only make a mockery of another love-based Jesus Christ teaching, they keep selling out everything they supposedly stand for.

But then, you don't build a billion dollar religious corporation by being benevolent towards the flock and/or lending "without interest, not hoping for anything back."

Uncanny

Jang

Hi Ginny. The Jews don't charge interest on loans to other Jews either. They are permitted to charge
interest from outsiders though.

I think your observation about the WTS keepign the blood thing so strictly and falling down on
'charity' to their brethren was interesting. It reminded me of Jesus' statement to the Pharisees when
he told them they strained the gnats and swallowed the camels.

JanG

VeniceIT

Yup, good point.

although I belive they were dropping the rate down to 3% on the KH loans. Must have been affecting their taxes somehow!

Venice

logical

If a christian wishes to treat others as he would like to be treated, im sure the lending christian would prefer not to have interest slapped on a loan if he borrowed.

I agree with the Koran for once on loans.

We all know why the WTS dont help out the flock. Because they are EVIL. They are from Satan.

Loans are for people who do not have the money. Charging interest gets them more in debt. This is stupid. And have you noticed, how the RICHER you are, the LOWER the APR is? That is messed up.

logical

JanG

You could apply all the woes to the Scribes & Pharisees, to the Scribe & Pharisee class of today, the WTS.

Same tactics from Satan... the JW's are always talking about Satan's tactics remaining the same, they fail to see they are stuck in them.

GinnyTosken

The intent of this post wasn't to solely bash JWs. I don't know of any Christian religion that condemns either charging interest or paying it. This puzzles me.

One of the primary rules of the researchers in the Jesus Seminar is "Beware of finding a Jesus entirely congenial to you." It is very easy for those who claim to follow Jesus to pick out the sayings of Jesus they like and gloss over those that are more difficult.

I'd just like to see some consistency, especially from those "Christians" who use the Bible as a weapon to condemn others. In my JW days, it was repeated over and over that we must follow the example of the first century Christians. That was supposed to be true Christianity, before the apostasy set in. Other fundamentalist religions still harp on this, using Paul's words to condemn homosexuality and as proof that women should be in submission. Yet here something Jesus himself said about interest is generally ignored as not practical for this day and age.

The WTS's excuses for ignoring this are flimsy. In any other matter, they would look for a principle in the Mosaic law and would then check to see if that principle was applied by the first Christians. The matter of interest is clear cut. Under the law, Israelites were commanded not to charge interest to other Israelites. Jesus said not to charge interest.

The WTS excuses themselves based on Jesus' mentioning bankers and interest in a parable. Jesus also said, "No one can enter a powerful man's house to steal his belongings unless he first ties him up. Only then does he loot his house." (Mark 3:27) Using the WTS's reasoning, does Jesus' mention of this imply that stealing and looting are proper?

Ginny

patio34

Ginny, good reasoning. Also, that it is for all Christian religions. But since the WTS makes the most noise (for us anyway) they fall under the most scrutiny.

But, it continues to amaze me, how much I didn't think about what we were indoctrinated with. Talk about lack of critical thinking skills!

But that's why they keep people so busy with 5 meetings a week, door-to-door, personal study. When do you have the time to investigate? Plus, no free discussion. Keep these thoughts to yourself.

When first deciding to leave, it was to have guilt-free time to really read up on evolution, history, etc. Then, it was an easy step. Plus, having 'Waiting' let me know about this board. What a help it's been!

Patio

Yerusalyim

Well, interesting topic. Some would say this doesn't apply to business transactions, but rather to loaning some one in need some money. Undecided on that issue. I don't have enough money to loan at interest. I borrowed money from my folks and insisted on paying them 6% interest.

Hmmmm, seems to me that the WTBTS was charging interest to the local congregations for Building KH's curious.

Yeru

YERUSALYIM
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Shakespere: Hamlet

SixofNine

Call me pagan, babe, but Ginny, I charge you with being interesting!

patio,

But, it continues to amaze me, how much I didn't think about what we were indoctrinated with. Talk about lack of critical thinking skills!

Ain't it da troof! I recommend daily flagellation, as a reminder, and as self penance.

Should Christians charge interest?

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