Borrowing and Lending: Is there anything Christian about either?

Abstract

Fundamental to Christian development activity is the question of money, and how those who would follow Jesus Christ use it. In recent years, one of the more creative applications of money to needs in the developing world has been the establishment of various capital funds (alternative banks, if you will), from which those marginalized from established banking structures can borrow capital. While the activities of these micro-enterprise organizations have been widely applauded, even their existence raises questions of a biblical and theological nature. At the heart of such questions lie the ethics of lending and borrowing, a subject about which the Jewish and Christian scriptures have much to say.