The Non-Biblical Source of Medieval Usury Prohibitions

Ecclesiastical and secular prohibitions of usury—often equated with any charging of interest on a loan—and their impact on commerce and economic progress in medieval Europe have long been recognized. In this paper we revisit one aspect of the debate, namely, the use of the ancient philosophical sources and the biblical texts by ancient and medieval writers. On the basis of a close reading of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) and a review of the secondary literature devoted to it, we argue that in the New Testament Jesus attaches no moral stigma to moneylending. It is therefore surprising that this text plays virtually no role in ancient and medieval discussions of usury, despite the probability that a first-century Jew like Jesus would have, ceteris paribus, condoned the charging of interest in certain circumstances. Furthermore, Thomas Aquinas, whose writings represent the definitive expression of the usury prohibition, nowhere cites the New Testament in his responses to arguments for a more permissive stance on usury, instead relying almost exclusively on Aristotle and the theory of money’s natural “sterility.” The usury prohibition in Christian Europe, which impeded capital accumulation and the development of broad-based financial markets, was thus the product of ancient Greek philosophical theories grafted onto ancient Hebrew laws governing intra-Jewish affairs, and not the teachings of Jesus.