WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT BANKRUPTCY?
In the U.S. Constitution, our founding fathers recognized the importance of bankruptcy and provided our government with the right to make bankruptcy laws. The federal government created the bankruptcy laws and procedures we have today that provide relief for overburdened debtors. Persons and businesses who are unable to repay their debt can get a fresh start. On most occasions, bankruptcy will discharge the debtor’s obligation to repay some or all debts.
Bankruptcy contemplates the “forgiveness” of debt. The Bible, likewise, speaks of debt forgiveness. Under U.S. law, a debtor may only receive a discharge of debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy once every eight (8) years. Under Biblical law, the release of debts came at the end of seven (7) years.
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release” (Deuteronomy 15:1-2).
The Bible emphasizes how debt can make you a slave to the money owed. Jesus died to free us from slavery to our sins, yet debt can keep us in the grip of the money owed for years – making us a slave to the debt. The Bible refers to debt as a type of bondage: “…the borrower is a slave to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). Thus, the debtor is a slave to the creditor. Interestingly, the Bible declares, at the end of the sixth year:
“…in the seventh year you shall let [your Hebrew slave] go free from you. And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; but you shall supply him liberally from your flock…” (Deuteronomy 15:12-14).
The predominant teaching of both the Old and New Testaments is that compassion, mercy and justice are to override purely economic concerns, such as loans. The compassion of the scriptures, including the setting aside of legitimate rights of lenders, was typical of economic relationships in the economy of early Judeo-Christian societies. The central theme is one of stability – a stable society with a guarantee of economic security for each family.
The current bankruptcy law, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in 2005,
- lacks any compassion for the poor,
- makes no redress to the modern-day money changers [who shamelessly peddle plastic at rates that would draw the Holy wrath of God himself],
- provides no relief to families saddled with thousands of dollars in debt,
- most importantly, severely undermines the economic and social stability of the average American family.
