Calvin dealt with the absolute prohibition upon lending money at interest (usury), for example, by arguing that it was merely an accommodation to the specific needs of a primitive society. Since there was no similarity between such a society and Geneva;interest is merely rent paid on capital, after all; he allowed lenders to charge a variable rate of interest. - Alister McGrath, Calvin and the Christian Calling, First Things 94 (June/July 1999): 31-35.
interest is merely rent paid on capital, after all;Is this not a way of dismissing God's word by redefinition?
ReplyDeleteMay I suggest that we revisit the economics of the Mosaic covenant to learn what we might do better under the new covenant rather than simply dismiss it as a divine accommodation to a primitive age?
Modern usury provides "security" to the lender at the cost of insecurity to the borrower. Where is the modern equivalent of the "Jubilee" principle?