Is the Greek banking crisis really over, or have they just kicked the can down the street? Does the new bailout bring real hope or just delay the day of reckoning? Clifford Hill believes biblical principles hold the answer...

The problems facing Greece raise much wider issues that affect all of Europe because there are biblical principles that should have been applied: and if they had been applied the whole situation would have been very different.

All the nations in Europe have a Christian heritage. Their shared belief system based upon the Bible should have enabled a common approach to financial dealings. It is because the European nations have abandoned their Christian foundations and lost their biblical heritage that they are in such trouble today."

Lending and Borrowing in Scripture

The Bible sets out clear rules for lending money. "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or temporary resident, so that he can continue to live among you. Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God so that your countryman may continue to live among you. You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God" (Lev 25:35).

Surely that could not be clearer? Within the family of Israel, despite all the differences of tribes and clans, there had to be just one rule for everyone. If anyone became in need of help, through illness, accident, or a bad harvest, or even through mismanagement of resources, he and his family had to be helped by the rest of the community. There were no exceptions to this. They were one family of people with a shared belief in God and a shared covenant relationship with God, which created a shared relationship with each other. Therefore they had mutual obligations within the family of Israel.

Those who had resources were to help those who were in need. If they cared for one another in this way they would all prosper and they would enjoy a healthy society where no one was exploited and the whole nation benefited. Indeed, the exploitation of the poor and needy by the rich and powerful was forbidden.

No Blame

The regulation given to Israel in Leviticus 25 does not lay blame on how someone became poor. It simply states "If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself" then he must be helped. That becomes a sacred obligation because it is an out-working of the covenant relationship within the nation of Israel, because of her relationship with God.

Our biblical heritage should guide Europe's thinking, so that when one nation becomes poor that nation should be lent money by the other nations of Europe without interest. There would, of course, be an obligation to repay the amount loaned. The biblical principle is stated in Psalm 37:21 "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously".

The bailout that was reached last month was the worst possible solution for the people of Greece and only makes them poorer. Already they have 60% unemployment among their young people. This deal, with its increased austerity, will make things worse, driving people into hopelessness and despair. It is a cruel exercise of power of which Germany and France are the chief perpetrators.

Historically both these nations have a record of trying to dominate Europe and rule their neighbours.

• Napoleon was defeated 200 years ago at the 1815 Battle of Waterloo
• Bismarck tried and failed to conquer Europe by force of arms in 1870
• The Kaiser tried the same tactic in 1914 with the resultant deaths of millions of men
• Hitler tried to enslave the rest of Europe in 1939 with disastrous results

Have the Germans and the French really learned that power should be used to promote the common good; not to oppress others, especially their brothers and sisters in the Christian faith? However, we live in post-Christian Europe where biblical values have been abandoned and even the Church relies on interest on its investments!

Different Theological Interpretations

Ironically, although usury (money-lending at interest) was forbidden among the Jewish community, the Bible does not forbid lending to those outside that community. The teaching of Jesus was "And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked" (Luke 6:34-35).

The Catholic Church interpreted this to mean that those who lend should not expect anything in return – not even the original loan. This discouraged any lending. Consequently, the Jews became the money lenders for the Christian community across Europe in the Middle Ages. The Protestant Church similarly forbade usury, but Calvin argued that lending at low interest should be allowed and that the prohibition should be against 'extortionate' interest.

Protestant Work Ethic

His influence extended to German sociologist Max Weber – one of the fathers of Sociology - who noted the distinction between the culture of northern European and southern European nations. In his analysis he noted that the most powerful influence was religion – the differences between Protestantism on the one hand and Roman Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy on the other. He noted that Catholic and Orthodox beliefs were largely controlled by priests who had great influence over the people.

By contrast, the Protestant nations followed the teaching of the Apostle Paul that each individual believer should work out their own salvation by seeking a personal relationship with God, to whom they are primarily responsible for the stewardship of the spiritual gifts and physical resources they have been given. Weber believed that it was this fundamental difference in religious belief within Christianity that accounted for the difference in national culture between Europe's northern and southern nations.

German sociologist Max Weber argued that religion has powerfully shaped European culture, creating a divide between the northern Protestant nations on the one hand, and the southern Catholic and Orthodox nations on the other."

He noted that the northern nations were driven by what he called the "Protestant Work Ethic" which promoted industrialisation and the maximisation of resources, and included an aesthetic element which prevented them from simply consuming the profits of their labour. They ploughed the surplus back into their business enterprises which became increasingly profitable; whereas people in the southern nations of Europe were not driven by such ambition and were simply content to live life from day-to-day.

This cultural difference still exists in Europe today, particularly among the older generation. Many Greeks remember the Nazis' brutal treatment during the Second World War and that legacy sours the relationship between Greece and Germanythe two countries. Young people are much more influenced by the secular humanist ideology that is circulating freely across Europe and the Western nations. They do not share the faith of their parents or grandparents so they live with a different world-view which is less nationalistic. They accept a different set of values and are not even aware of the biblical values that laid the foundations of all the nation-states of Europe.

Road to Financial Bondage

The traditional north-south European religious divide, as Weber showed, still underpins the Greek crisis as German efficiency is contrasted with perceived Greek fecklessness.
The Germans look upon the Greeks as inferior and lazy people who should be treated harshly and made to conform to northern European standards. The German press day after day vilifies the Greeks. They are determined to impose their Protestant Work Ethic culture upon the people whom they once physically enslaved.

Angela Merkel and her fellow politicians have certainly learned that military might is not the best way of achieving their objectives, but the principle of oppression and the brutal exercise of power leading to enslavement (in this case financial bondage) is the same.

The traditional north-south divide still underpins the Greek crisis, as German efficiency is contrasted with perceived Greek fecklessness."

Biblical principles governing finance show that to profit from the enslavement of others is the worst of crimes! But this is what the euro nations are doing to Greece – they are virtually enslaving them! What they don't realise is that they are creating a situation that will bring disaster, not just upon Greece, but upon the whole of Europe. Unrighteousness has a day of reckoning! Europe is stoking up a mountain of debt in Greece that will become a volcano which will eventually erupt and pour its lava across Europe because the whole system is built upon unrighteousness, exploitation, and enslavement.

Justice in Right Relationships

God has built into his Creation principles of justice. When they are ignored they bring disaster upon those who defy the truth that it is right relationships which bring prosperity and well-being. Michael Schluter in his book After Capitalism – Rethinking Economic Relationships says that the current financial crisis is a result of a sustained culture of debt which is based upon 'reward without responsibilities', 'investment without involvement' and 'profit without participation'.¹

In all our dealings, whether of a financial or social nature, the most important thing is our relationship with others. Ezekiel, the Prophet of the exile in Babylon, taught the people about the importance of right relationships with God and with each other. Ezekiel 18:16-18 says that the righteous man: "does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them. He keeps God's laws and follows his decrees."

These are the biblical principles which establish righteous financial policies based upon just and merciful relationships which the nations of Europe should be following. This would ensure justice for the poor in times of hardship and shared prosperity. These biblical principles are already there in the Christian heritage of Europe which has been largely abandoned in the age of secularism that has swept the Continent. The only real hope for the future prosperity of Europe is to reassert the principles of righteousness in our biblical heritage.

References

1 Jubilee Centre, Cambridge, 2012, p24.