Usury in Christendom: The Mortal Sin that Was and Now is Not

Another important work from Hoffman exposing ' Christianity LITE ' which is a mockery of what it claims to be . Get it while you are still able. The times are a changin' .......

The sin of usury cannot be defined as merely charging interest on loans. This is something which the Church gained a better and better grasp of as the full character and potential of capitalism developed. It's one thing for a better off person to charge a poor person interest on a loan to bridge a gap in their subsistence income; it's another entirely to lend to a person or business entity, money for the purpose of investing in a wealth creating venture. When you reach a point in economic development where saved money is generally invested in wealth creating ventures, then to avoid loss to themselves, all lenders have to charge interest. Your Dad might not mind making a loss on your behalf, but not most other people. Furthermore, the New Testament is aware of this difference in these two types of lending, as can be seen in Jesus' parable about the master who chastises his servant for burying money the master leaves in his safekeeping instead of profitably using it. In a wealth creating context, lenders need to charge interest on loans, otherwise the borrower could use the lender to make money at the lender's expense. Then the borrower would be culpable of usury rather than the lender. The Church did correctly figure thus out. She didn't relax the rules on usury but sharpened up her perception of what usury really was, taking context into account.

Though usury might be the necessary evil, the book clearly shows that humanity due to no clear theory behind HOW exactly usury and sin and appropriate penalty is is causally connected in exact terms, by trying to ban it completely via applying short term threats and moral principles from Bible has failed to reign it in.It is a fascinating and said story how humanity once again fell into trap of debt increase cycle and will suffer its consequences again. Since we are approaching regular CO2 and temperature maximum, the cost for this last 12500 year sins will be Noahs type flooding again, decimating human population that has increased due to life in future via exponential increase in debt.Now the Nature will return Humans back to the mean... which is linear development lying far below even BC levels of life. It is so frustrating that people are not learning from their mistakes and fall into the trap of these cycles again, and Nature needs to apply corrective action. It should not be too difficult with current experimental and theoretical facts about Nature and usury cycles to create one theory, quantitative, of thought, language,logic, mathematics, physics and morality, with direct, causal and measurable link between human behavior and Cosmic results.And it should not even be too complex. Information and entropy link is there, creation of matter from ideal eternal being or ideas is almost there, superstructure of mathematics- language and rational or good thought is almost there. The secret of life is not a real secret anymore if one opens his mind and understands far from equilibrium-> thermal engine character of life where it can only exist when difference between heater (source of entropy) and cooler ( source of information) is higher then some background ever present radiation- CMB. Or when cooler itself is colder then background temperature, initially, and via accumulation of entropy increases in temperature until its gets hotter then CMB..which means death.It should not be too difficult to put it in numbers and models if people could understand how Universe is a whole, both matter and ideas, with ideas being primary.

This is a very important book of Church history. When you read history or study the Christian Church, what stands out is its long run of decline and weakness. Further we also find that doctrinally, the Church has been engaged in a protracted struggle with modernity on a whole host of issues including the authority of the Bible, the role of women in the Church, same-sex marriage, evolution vs creation and many other topics. Time and again, the Church compromises on its doctrine and teaching based on the Bible.What this book by Mr. Hoffman shows is that long before the 1900s, the Church struggled with the Biblical prohibition on usury (earning interest on loans) in a campaign lasting nearly 1500 years. Finally, the Church compromised on this doctrine in the 1500s so the Catholic Church could set up its own bank(s) to loan money. What followed was the horrible Protestant Reformation and the wholesale slaughter of many that involved and the long slow decline of morals in the Church and wider world. Before the first struggled in recent times against evolution or ordination of women, the battle had already been lost.Hoffman’s research shows where the Church - Catholic, Protestant and all modern denominations - went wrong and how we must reform our doctrine. Not only this, he shows how most of the economic ills of the present day spring forth from this terrible sin of usury and how capitalism has been allowed to throw off this important Biblical restraint.

As Hoffman correctly writes: "For most of the first 1500 years of Christianity usury, the lending of money at interest, was unanimously condemned by the Fathers of the Early Church, and by popes, councils and saints, as a damnable sin equivalent to robbery and even murder." Understanding Early Church condemnations requires understanding how the Jubilee (forgiving debts every 50 years) protected people from being enslaved in debt.Readers are encouraged to read Vigilant Christian I: The New World Order and for specific advice on navigating the monetary system, Vigilant Christian V: Perfect Money Planning.Peace be with you

I was aware that usury/interest is Pure evil, but did not realize the catholic extent of objection down thru the ages. Great Book! Everyone should get out of Debt & Stay out of Debt, PERIOD!

This is well researched, and shocking that someone would have the time to gather all the historical facts and quotes on Usury. I especially liked the part about Ayn Rand and have always felt she needs to be put in her place with cult followers. About six years ago I signed up for a payday loan. I paid it off, and it kept me in business. Then about three years ago I had a 20% in six months interest loan, and used that capital to expand my business. I am now debt free. I wonder in a society who would loan people money who need it? An interest free society seems ideal, and I for sure want to see Western Culture go that way. I just wonder who or how would good enterprises survive without loans? How could we restructure our society to loan money to people who need it, QUICKLY? How would people become doctors and scientists to come up with solutions to our medical problems? Credit unions have low interest loans, only 2% for car notes right now. It seems like a system if we can't borrow money, then we can not get ahead. Who wants to loan people money for no interest? There needs to be some sort of reform in society, but the book did not offer many solutions or executions on how to implement this. In the old days people paid cash for cars, but they were only $2,000 and $3,000 and lacked safety features. Now cars are $25,000+ because of complex safety features and computers. Should everyone walk until they save enough? I know my car payment with 5% interest is less than the repair bills I had at mechanic shops when I was driving $1,000 cars.Something needs to be done, and I think the FICO system is messed up. It was a refreshing read, and I think the church should preach more on anti usury.