A Reformed Understanding of Usury for the Twenty-First Century

This report and its recommendations are in response to the referral of the 216th General Assembly (2004) to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy to investigate the question of usury in the United States and to prepare a resolution for the 217th General Assembly (2006).

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, some of the core principles the church has tried to uphold in relation to money lending are the victims of a perverse reversal of moral logic. In too many contemporary lending practices, not only are the poor charged interest (against the theological and ethical wisdom of the church), but they are also charged more interest than those who live in more favorable economic circumstances.