Monday, August 7, 2023

It is the 7th of August, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Hey, it’s Monday. Baseball is dead to me. But the mailbag is not! And I’ve got a question from Christopher in Rochester, Minnesota. Why is everything Minnesota? I’ve been there once already this year to speak, and I’m going back for Mockingbird’s regional- a number of questions from Minnesota- let me tell you something, first- your Twins get to play in the easiest division- you’re barely .500, and you get to go to the playoffs. Ugh. At least your Vikings are cursed to never win a Super Bowl. Ok- before I alienate the Minnesotans. Rochester is the home of the Mayo Clinic, which sounds delicious.

Christopher asked: “I wonder if you might address the issue of Christians and money. It seems the only time we talk about it in the church is when we have building projects, but the church has to have talked about it in more practical ways”.

Well, Christopher- you sent this a while back, and I’ve not touched it for a while because 1) it makes me uncomfortable and 2) it would be very easy for someone to start talking about this and slide into partisan politics- which is fine, but not what I do here. But… ok…

Do you know who talked a lot about money? Jesus. Do you know who wrote a lot about money? The early church, and the Medieval church, and the churches of the Reformation. And certainly, the church as it brushed against the industrial revolution. But in America today, well… uh, either its prosperity gospel (that is, Jesus wants you to be rich) or fear of upsetting those who are funding our ministries.

The church has not taught a single “economic theory,” but there have been some pretty surprising teachings.

Dig Augustine: “Those who wish to make room for the Lord must find pleasure not in private, but in common property... Redouble your charity. For, on account of the things which each one of us possesses singly, wars exist, hatreds, discords, strifes among human beings, tumults, dissensions, scandals, sins, injustices, and murders.” Wow! Not something universally held today, but not uncommon in the early church.

The early church taught against usury- that is, charging an illegal rate of interest on loans of money. For many, any rate was illegal. But as the world started getting bigger in the middle ages and trade became a necessary part of living in society, the idea of “credit” modified what was considered an “illegal” rate. And of course, when the creditor can use a fair rate to generate capital which can then help others… I get it. There’s no going backward- and so in an imperfect world, we are called to be wise.

Luther famously spoke of the three kinds of conversions- of the heart, of the mind, and of the purse. Show me where you spend your money, and I’ll tell you where your heart is. Now, this is the law- but it’s true. He wrote:

“After the devil there is no greater human enemy on earth than a miser and usurer, for he desires to be above everyone.” And ““Daily the poor are defrauded. New burdens and high prices are imposed. Everyone misuses the market in his own willful, conceited, arrogant way, as if it were his right and privilege to sell his goods as dearly as he pleases without a word of criticism.”

John Calvin wrote: “Therefore, even though the freedom of believers in external matters is not to be restricted to a fixed formula, yet it is surely subject to this law: to indulge oneself as little as possible; but, on the contrary, with unflagging effort of mind to insist upon cutting off all show of superfluous wealth.”

Both would agree- don’t go making new strict formulas and laws- live generously, and don’t let money be your master.

While church history doesn’t sing with a uniform voice on issues like private property or usury, it is rather uniform when it comes to helping the poor. And while the phrase “the preferential treatment of the poor” comes from a specific theological- I think it sums up where there has been much agreement through the years across church traditions.  Thanks for the question, Christopher, and this could come back at a later tie with a weekend edition. You can send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Psalm 78- we head to the Scottish Metrical Psalter:

¹ Attend, my people, to my law;
thereto give thou an ear;
The words that from my mouth proceed
attentively do hear.

² My mouth shall speak a parable,

and sayings dark of old;

³ The same which we have heard and known,
and us our fathers told.
⁴ We also will them not conceal

from their posterity;

Them to the generation

to come declare will we:
The praises of the Lord our God,

and his almighty strength,

The wondrous works that he hath done,

we will show forth at length.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 7th of August 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man when given an astronomical loan rate at the bank, asked, “Are usurious?” He is Christopher Gillespie

The show is written and read by a man sorry for the puns- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.