Replacement Theology and Poor Hermeneutics
Distorted the Concept of Usury Enslaving the West
Usury is the “loaning of money for interest” {Jewish Moneylending. My Jewish Learning} though today the concept has changed, “the loaning of money for exorbitant interest,” in order to allow reasonable interest on loans or else no one would lend any money. God, through Moses, instructed Jews to not charge interest on loans to other Jews but they could charge interest on loans to Gentiles {strangers} or goyim {Hebrew} (De 23:20). Hermeneutics is the art and science of biblical interpretation to understand God’s wisdom contained in the Bible. Replacement theology is the concept that God has transferred His promises to the Jews to the Church because the Jews executed Christ. The Roman Catholic Church (RCC), ignorant of Jewish culture, poor hermeneutics and erroneous theology banned any usury between Christians during its medieval control of Europe. We still live with the results today.
The Jews under the Mosaic Law were forbidden to collect usury {interest} on loans to fellow Jews. They frequently ignored this provision during their history and obtained inheritance lands from those who could not pay and were forced into permanent slavery, working for the moneylender to pay the ever mounting interest on their loans. In addition, during the Jubilee all loans were to be forgiven and any lands obtained were to return to the original owner so they would have an inheritance. This also was often ignored (Sabbatical Year and Jubilee. Jewish Encyclopedia.). When the Romans evicted the Jews from Jerusalem and Judah (A.D. 135) they renamed the province Palestine for the Philistines who used to live in the land (The banishment of the Jews from Jerusalem in 135 AD began what movement? Answers.). Jews were forced to emigrate or die. Through the centuries Jews settled in North Africa, Spain (Sephardic Jews) as well as the Caspian Sea region and up through Russia, and Central and Western Europe (Ashkenazi Jews). During these same years Christianity spread throughout the same regions before being ousted out of North Africa and Spain by aggressive Islam invasions. After Constantine the church at Rome became a state church exerting its influence over all Christian churches eventually becoming the RCC in Europe and the Greek Orthodox Church in the East, Constantinople.
Church doctrine preached that Christians had replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people; thus, all the promises given to the Jews passed to the Church: Replacement Theology was born. However, this assessment was born out of allegorical hermeneutical interpretation which gave whatever meaning you wanted. Since Jews did not want to be converted and lived in semi-isolation there arose enmity between these two groups {Christendom and Judaism}. In fact, the Bible does not teach Replacement Theology when using the normative hermeneutical method {non-allegorical}. However, the damage was done as it became official RCC policy. Thus, most Mosaic Laws were now applied to Christians to include the prohibition on usury; i.e., Christians were not allowed to obtain interest from loans to Christians. There was little thought to understand why God included this provision and general ignorance of historical Jewish culture and practice. The prohibition against usury was two-fold. The first was to prevent the rise of a small wealthy influential group to control the majority of the people through credit. The other purpose was to force God’s people to interact with surrounding nations via commerce to spread God’s salvation plan preparing the Gentiles for when Christ would come. However, Christendom never sought to understand the reasoning for God’s provisions; they blindly followed them as simple do’s and do not’s enforcing their own brand of law. In colloquial terms, the RCC kind of made it up as they went along with little thought of unintended consequences.
During the Medieval period, kingdoms were expanding, wars were fought and the modern nation-state was beginning to come into existence during the Renaissance period. Just as energy is to physics, so also are finances to kingdoms and nations. The early kingdoms needed finances but had limited means of developing wealth which meant they also could not develop unless they could obtain the monies necessary to fund their power demands. Herein is how the usury doctrine threatened to thwart European development. There was a solution. While the Jews could not lend to Jews with usury and Christians could lend to Christians with usury; they could lend to each other with usury. Unfortunately, the Gentile kingdoms had little wealth and while the RCC was accruing wealth it did not share with political kingdoms unless they got a share of power pie. Severe laws against Jews prevented them from entering many professions; however, they could become moneylenders to these forming kingdoms. This alliance was fraught with perils for both sides.
As the demand for finances grew
Moneylenders morphed into banks
Whoever controls the gold makes the rules is not always true {Commercial Golden Rule}. As Jews lent monies to kingdoms they became very powerful, though still isolated. When individuals and kingdoms could not or would not repay their loans they often brought false accusations against powerful Jews and either took their wealth or killed them and took their wealth. this was how modern Spain became the first nation-state after throwing off Muslim rule (Modern Jewish History: The Spanish Expulsion (1492). Jewish Virtual Library). This cycle was frequently repeated becoming the basis for Russian progroms {Havoc} as well as atrocities throughout Central and Eastern Europe where the majority of Ashkenazi Jews lived. These cyclic atrocities also became the basis for anti-Semitism. However, small conclaves of financial Jews survived and morphed from moneylenders into the newly formed banks. Since banks were seen as institutions they became safe from periodic anti-Semitic attacks. As the power behind the power of the nation-state their influence is astronomical and their position nearly unassailable. However, their Jewish influences are still felt today as anti-Semitism was used by Jewish Zionists to lobby for and finally obtain a homeland though at the expense of its non-Jewish inhabitants. Thus, today’s Middle East terrorism grew out of Christendom’s poor hermeneutical understanding of a minor provision of the Mosaic Law. But there is one other unintended consequence.
Centralized Banking Control Has One End
Power at the expense of liberty via Credit
Just as the poor Jews were virtually enslaved by credit {borrowing funds and interest} so were nations beholding to their moneylenders and later their central banking systems. Controlling finances is the surest means of enslaving a population so all their wealth becomes the government’s wealth only to become the central bank’s wealth. The monetary systems in use today are based on debt {fiat money} with the not-so-hidden tax called inflation. As people rely more heavily on debt to maintain a certain standard of living they become more enslaved to the financial institutions and government subsidies which forces the government to rely more heavily on fiat money {debt} which only gives the financial institutions greater power. As financial institutions become increasingly less nationalistic and more globally centralized we also see governments agitating for regional governing entities {European Union} which have as their agenda a globalization of all peoples under one governing agency throughly dependent on a single financial entity.
The 20th century saw the failure of the use of force to achieve this goal though it cost many millions of lives. As the 20th century grew to a close a parallel development showed promise of achieving the goal of centralized control with the consent of those being enslaved based on Gramsci’s philosophy of working through government handouts, education, scientisms, philosophies and entertainment (The Socialist-Capitalist Alliance: the Fabian Society, the Frankfurt School, and Big Business: Part II. Council of European Canadians.).
This is how Satan is working in the World today. Modern man has rejected God, God has allowed those who rejected His truth to go their own way and their way is slavery based on degradation {freedom} and violence (Ro 1:18-32). Even Christians who used to be wary of centralized governmental power embrace and promote the burgeoning power of centralized governments, even on international regional levels. Christians must discern this movement, not to stop it for God has allowed it; but, to reject its influence and continue to take the Light of the Gospel into the Darkness of the World so that others can be saved.