Thursday, August 25, 2022

"Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors"

Just follow this link and go over there, and read. 

While the Jubilee is a clear command of Scripture, biblical scholars have debated how often it was actually practiced in ancient Israel. But the economic historian Michael Hudson, who has directed a decades-long study at Harvard’s Peabody Museum, argues in his book …and forgive them their debts that the notion of Jubilee wasn’t simply an ideal for ancient Israel, but rather a practical lesson learned during the Babylonian exile. Ancient Mesopotamian societies had learned from experience that crippling debt was an inevitable consequence of lending at interest (what the Bible calls “usury”). For the good of the whole, a practice of “Clean Slate” debt forgiveness emerged to keep society functioning. The children of Israel came to understand this practice as God’s design.

That's a glass of very cold, very clear water at the end of a very hot, hard day.

And if you are so inclined, offer a prayer of thanks for the Rev. William Barber.

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