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by D. Cameron Murchison Jr.

Consider this imaginary interchange between two Presbyterians.
“Is usury a sin?”
“I’m not sure, but anything that sounds that offensive sure ought to be!”
“Well, don’t be put off by the sound of the word. It just means charging interest on loans.”
“That, a sin? I don’t think so!”

Changing Understandings
It was broadly accepted that traditional Christian prohibitions against usury (charging any interest whatsoever on loans) had to be reformulated as capitalist economies began to emerge. As early as the Reformation era, the church’s traditional insistence about usury as a sin began to shift. The transition has been so thorough that it is inconceivable to most of us living in the United States today that interest would not be charged when money is borrowed.

One effect of these developments has been a shift in the meaning of the term “usury.” Whereas it originally was the term for any interest charged for the use of someone else’s money, it has come to mean a particular kind of interest—interest that is excessively high. Thus, the rates of interest that may be charged—for example, for credit card loans—are regulated in various ways by state and federal government. The laws accomplishing this regulation are frequently spoken of as “usury laws.”

D. Cameron Murchison, Jr. is the dean of faculty/executive vice president and professor of ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decaur, Georgia.

How much is too much for interest? What is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) doing to educate its members about usury, and help them avoid it? Find out in the September/October 2005 issue of Horizons.

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