O empréstimo a juros em João Calvino

Abstract

The practice on interest on lent is present in everyday life. The Bible dealt with this issue, and the matter was a subject treated in the Code of Hammurabi and in the Roman Law. The loan interest, in the Middle Ages, was important to promote development, trade, marine exploration trips, and even in the Crusades. The Christian Church simultaneously condemned the practice of usury, that is, the lent on interest. But sometimes it not only authorized the practice, the Church did also benefit from it. Calvin, although personally contrary to the practice of lent on interest, realized the impossibility of its abolition and showed himself in favor of the lent on interest. Nonetheless, he separated between the loan for consumption and the loan for production, to be used to promote development. In his understanding, the loan for production was fair because the borrower, working out the money, intends to obtain a superior amount than the money taken. However, conscious that the interest affects directly the cost of living, resulting negatively to the poor, Calvin restricts and systematizes the loan on interest to aim two targets: 1) Our actions must glorify God; 2) Our benefits must affect positively the surrounding community.