Humanity does not know everything, and individually each of us knows only a tiny fraction of what can be known. God created each of us with our own unique mind which takes in...
God created risk, in that we do not know what the future holds (Ecclesiastes 8:7). But God created us with an ability...
Faith & Co.: Banking on Hope How does the gospel change a bank’s view of people and how they should be treated, especially those of modest means? Inspired by faith that sees the...
These eight aspects of creation—especially of the creation of human beings—form the foundation of finance. Finance bridges the gaps that would otherwise...
To complete our theological analysis of finance, we need to demonstrate exactly how people can develop financial institutions that bring glory, stewardship, and justice and love from God’s created foundations. By institutions we...
God enabled humans to represent material value in media that are durable, storable and transportable. In his original creation design God made some physical elements, such as gold, to be attractive, small, and...
Intermediaries are institutions that “remanufacture” lenders’ resources into a form that is useful to borrowers. A simple example is when a bank intermediates between several depositors and one business loan borrower. Intermediaries include...
If finance is a means of care and love, doing finance through intermediaries raises a question. Can we love someone we do...
Financial instruments are promises between two or more parties with differing resource needs which are tailored to allow both parties to be prudent risk takers when the future is unknown. As argued above...
Prices in financial markets are expressed as expected rates of return on financial instruments, which in debt instrument are quoted as interest rates.[1] Why exactly would the borrower and saver agree to pay...
The question of prices raised two questions about finance as a form of love. First, can love be expressed in a market...
Another question is whether financial prices—interest in particular—are prohibited by the Bible. For centuries Christians have debated the applicability of the biblical...
To sum up our theology, we have argued that the purposes of finance are to bring glory to God, to enable humans...
Up to this point we have considered finance as God originally intended. But, we know that the Fall of humanity has marred every aspect of creation. Until Christ’s redemption of the world is...
Ideally, market-rate finance is a blessing to both borrowers and lenders. This is similar to all kinds of commerce. Producing and selling...
Financiers have a duty to lend profitably, but they are not to profit from the vulnerability of borrowers. You shall not lend them [people in difficulty] your money at interest taken in advance...
God’s intent is that finance be a form of sharing, over time, among borrowers and lenders. There is only something to share if the loan makes increased productivity possible. So borrowers and lenders...
As these situations show, in a fallen world, there are situations in which market-rate finance does not meet the needs of some...
Fidelity and Banking: An Interview With John Gage (Click Here to Read) In this interview at the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture, banker John Gage discusses how while attending theological seminary...
