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The Scourge of Usury

April 17, 2012

Scripture is quite clear on the issue of Usury, but, as Al Thompson explains, key texts have been watered down in translation. Worse, there is every reason to believe that Peter’s Apocalypse, by Christ’s leading disciple, was left out of the Holy Bible because of its stern warning about the punishment for oppressing our brethren with it.

By Al Thompson
(Abridged by Real Currencies)

I was reading the Apocalypse of Peter which appears to have been written by the Apostle Peter mentioned in the Gospels, and found this startling verse:
And into another place near by, saturated with filth, they throw men and women up to their knees.  These are they who lent money and took usury.” (Ethiopian Text)

And in another great lake, full of discharge and blood and boiling mire, stood men and women up to their knees.  These were those who lent money and demanded compound interest.(Akhim Text)

I have studied the Bible for over twenty years, and I never regarded the making of loans with interest as a sin.  But when I read this Apoclypse I was stunned.
In many reference books about Biblical literature, this Apocalypse was referred to as “Holy Scripture” in the early Christian church.  Given the power bankers have because of interest, it is very possible that the financiers of that time could not tolerate the Apocalypse of Peter to be read, otherwise, they would lose their stranglehold on the economy.

I decided to do a study on usury to see if I had overlooked something, and this is what I found:
If thou lend money to my people, that is, to the poor with thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him: ye shall not oppress him with usury.”  (Exodus 22:25 GB)

I just noticed how the King James Version watered down this verse:
If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” (Exodus 22:25 KJV)  There is a big difference in the use of the words oppress and lay upon because the word oppress is more specific in its description of the effects of usury.

Moreover, if thy brother be impoverished, and fallen in decay with thee, thou shalt relieve him, and as a stranger and sojourner, so shall he live with thee.  Thou shalt take no usury of him, nor vantage, but thou shalt fear thy God, that thy brother my live with thee.  Thou shalt not give him thy money to usury, nor lend him thy vittles for increase.” (Leviticus 25:35-37 GB)

Thou shalt not give to usury to thy brother: as usury of money, usury of meat, usury of anything that is put to usury.” (Deut. 23:19 GB)

There appears to be a conflict in teaching between the following verse in Deut 23:20 and Leviticus 25:35-37. And the wisdom of deciding which is true scripture and which is not lies within the contradiction. There isn’t any sense in attempting to harmonize the contradictions, but to simply point them out and use the weight of the evidence to arrive at a truthful conclusion.
Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury, but thou shalt not lend upon usury unto thy brother: as usury of money, usury of meat, usury of anything that is put to usury.” (Deut. 20:20 GB)

It is my opinion that this one verse is a false periscope because it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the scriptures.  In light of this contradiction, one must state the obvious, that the charging of usury was forbidden by God.
And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, and our sons as their sons: and lo, we bring into subjection our sons and our daughters, as servants, and there be of our daughters now in subjection, and there is no power in our hands: for other men have our lands and our vineyards.”  (Nehemiah 5:5 GB)

Are we all not subject to the bankers of today?  We are like the cattle grazing in the pasture getting fattened up for the slaughter.  The source of our slavery is the sins we all have committed and we refuse to correct ourselves.

Usury is sin.  Let’s continue in Nehemiah 5:6-7 :
Then I was very angry when I heard their cry and these words.  And I thought in my mind, and I rebuked the princes, and the rulers, and said unto them.  You lay burdens every one upon his brethren and I set a great assembly against them.”

Moving over to Psalms 15:4-5 we see this:
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord: he that sweareth to his own hindrance and changeth not.  He that giveth not his money unto usury, no taketh reward against the innocent: he that doeth these things shall never be moved.”

Now we will come upon Proverbs 28:8 and find out why usury is a sin.
“He that increaseth his riches by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance.”

So there it is, if usury is considered unjust gain; then it would come under the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Thus, the whole financial system of the world is built upon usury, it is Satanic, and does not serve God in anyway.  The financial system as it exists today defies the natural law of economics and there is nothing good that can come from it except its eventual and complete failure.

Jeremiah the prophet stated:
…I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent unto me on usury: yet everyone doth curse me.”  Jeremiah 15:10

And the conclusion of the matter appears in Ezekiel Chapter 18:4-5:
Behold, all souls are mine, both the soul of the father, and also the soul of the son are mine: the soul that sinneth shall die.  But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither hat lain with a menstruous woman, Neither hath oppressed any, but hat restored the pledge to his debtor: he that hath spoiled none by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment.  And hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, but hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and hath executed true judgment between man and man,….”

Moving on, we see in Ezekiel 18:13:
Or hath given forth upon usury, or hath taken increase, shall he live?  he shall not live: seeing he hath done all these abominations, he shall die the death, and his blood shall be upon him.”

Simply stated, usury is in the same class of sin as idolatry, fornication, violence, and many other sins. A just man feeds and helps the poor.  But our whole economic existence depends upon usury which will eventually collapse itself into an extreme imbroglio.

Here’s the solution.
But if the wicked will return from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep ally my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, and shall not die.  All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him, but in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live.”  (Ezekiel 18:21-22 GB)

Continuing in verses 27 and 28 of the same chapter:
Again, when the wicked turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.  Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, and shall not die.”

And now in verse 30 we are told what to do.
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord God: return therefore, and cause others to turn away from all your transgressions: so iniquity shall not be your destruction.”

Now let’s go to verses 31 and 32:
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?  For I desire not the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: cause therefore one another to return, and live ye.”

I tremble when I think about all of the loans I took out in my lifetime; and now just finding out just how perverse the financial systems of the nations of the world are under the current system of banking.

Concluding:
It is a real “jaw-dropper” to realize that something which we do in our everyday lives (feeling completely normal) is in fact a transgression against the commandments, against the God who created us.

And it is a stunner to realize that the commandment against usury has been in the scriptures for over 3000 years.  It is no wonder the Apocalypse of Peter was removed from the Church as it was probably in complete apostasy at the time of its removal.

If any man had read the Apocalypse of Peter, how willing would he be to participate in usury?

Banking as we know it could not exist without usury.  And it certainly could not exercise such extraordinary power over the nations if there was not usury.  Few wars would be started, because any sensible government would not want to spend their hard earned resources on the military.  And it is the banking interests that facilitate the starting of wars; then funding the rebuilding and reconstruction of the conquered.

To adjust the economy to stay in line with God’s law is the only way to make it work properly.

Getting rid of the oath and usury would be a powerful correction and nothing but good things would come from it.

Related:
Interest-Free Economics
The “Catholic” Arm of Libertarianism

The Scourge of Usury on Al Thompson’s Blog

A truly inspiring article on the interest free economy of the Middle Ages

And to see how far the Banker’s henchmen will go to explain all this away, we have to look no further than Gary North. He wrote dozens of books on ‘economic commentary on the Bible’. His first statement on defending the indefensible:
“It is OK to deposit money in the bank and earn interest.”

The father of the lie rules in this world and his minions cost as little as $500 dollars per month in 1965 dollars.

18 Comments
  1. John Turmel has done a thorough review of the bible and usury:http://turmelpress.com/poembibl.htm.

    You have to be brain dead not to understand that the bible condemns usury, how could it be otherwise?

    • memehunter permalink

      I had also already covered this in “The Catholic Arm of Libertarianism” only two months ago, so I am not sure what was new in today’s article, and I agree with Marc that this was not exactly a “stunner” or a “jaw-dropper”.

      https://realcurrencies.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/thecatholic-arm-of-libertarianism/

      Here is a quote from this article:
      Although informed by “Catholic” Jesuit doctrines, Austrian economics accepts and even justifies usury, which is contrary to the following Bible verses: Psalm 15:5, Exodus 22:25, and Leviticus 25:36-37. Another Bible verse, Deuteronomy 23:20, states that “you may charge a foreigner interest, but not an Israelite”.

      • this got spammed, God only knows why.

        I don’t think this article was quite as groundbreaking as yours, but it is a comprehensive overview of biblical comments on Usury, which I think is useful for Real Currencies, also for reference purposes. Also it introduces Peter’s Apocalypse, with some fairly unknown quotes.

        Although I can understand you would not be so surprised by the Bible’s position on Usury, I also thought it interesting to hear from somebody suddenly waking up from the banker’s mind control: clearly far from all Christians realize how bad the Bible considers Usury to be, even not a well versed bible student as Al Thompson.

        The fact that North actually can say what he says about Interest without getting kicked out of Church head first, hiding the truth in a 20 volume tome of his ongoing blathering, confirms that, while perhaps a little superfluous for the initiated, driving the message home does serve a purpose……..

    • True, but Real Currencies aims to be comprehensive in its appreciation of the problem. Thank you very much for the link, I’ve added it to the Resource page.

  2. Angela Martello permalink

    Al,

    There could be any or many other reasons that the Church decided to exclude Peter’s Apocalypse from the Holy Bible apart from this verse on Usury.

    The Church has always taught against usury. (Practice is another matter). Here are three documents to show the traditional rejection of usury as sin:
    Lyons II – 1274 Constitutions – 26. On usury; Council of Vienne 1311-1312 Usury is a sin DECREES; Encyclical of Pope Benedict XIV, 1745. On Usury and other Dishonest Profit – Vix Pervenit. They are freely available on internet

    I hope this will be helpful,

    Angela Martello

  3. The Torah,The Bible, The Koran, the Gita and most religions condem usury, but they have all lost their moral worth.
    Lets move forth with IFL

  4. George permalink

    What an excellent post.

  5. These verses from The KJV no less may also help:

    James 5:1-7 (KJV) Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.

    I have read elsewhere on the web that their gold is decaying and degrading in their vaults – how does gold do that?

  6. anon permalink

    you might be interested in Winston Shrout’s webinar on the evolution of Common Law into Admiralty practice and the Maxims of Law in commerce and their origin in the KJV. http://www.wssic.com/seminar

    • I wouldn’t rely on Winston for any reliable interpretations of The KJV. Yes he has some useful information but then goes off on fanciful blasphemous tangents about Yashua Anointed and Mary Magdalene. Tread with care my friend and don’t forget he’s the son of Mormon parents.

  7. Anthony,
    What is your take on the NT comment by Jesus telling a parable his followers about the lazy man that buried his Lord’s gold, yet was condemned for not only working to increase it, but to put it on loan for interest @?

    • This is uncomfortable for me. Of course it’s a parable about spiritual growth. We cannot allow the seeds of wisdom to wither away by burying them or treasuring them for their own sake. We need to reach out, make it more and grow.

      Clearly, interest on wisdom is not the same thing as usury on currency. Jesus warns us we can only serve one master.

      Jesus undoubtedly speaks Truth when He says that he who has nothing, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.

      He also says the rich have less chance of entering the Lord’s Kingdom than a Camel has going the eye of the needle. He that serves Mammon shall be rich in Gold and poor in spirit. In the final days, his Gold will become even more and his spirit even less. For those who are rich in the spirit but poor in Gold, they will become poorer in a material sense, while even richer in a Spiritual one.

      Two other explanations may be:
      – Jesus condones Usury and this blog is entirely wrong.
      – The Bible has been manipulated by the Money Changers to sow doubt.

      We’ll have to reserve judgement and pray for guidance………….it’s nasty but not unusual.

    • Usury was not a sin if Israel charged her neighbours/enemies usury. Usury was a weapon that Israel used against the Canaanites with God’s blessing in order to destroy them financially. Ironically those same Canaanites in shape of the Canaanite Jews today have turned the usury weapon on Israel i.e. primarily Britain – her Commonwealth and The USA. Israel also includes other North Western European nations.

    • You could argue that Jesus wanted the man to teach how a coin could be used as an instrument for settling debt with no one charging usury on it. And then how a piece of paper could be used instead of gold. That would have been very productive.

    • Never work too hard in understanding Jesus. Use Occam’s razor. Who was the one handing out the money? Not Jesus, a rich man. Of course a rich man would talk like that. The story is merely believable, and therefore makes the point all the better. It is not endorsing usury, it is condemning being timorous.

  8. Paul Miles permalink

    Quote “I have studied the Bible for over twenty years, and I never regarded the making of loans with interest as a sin.”

    Says it all.

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