Post by Jonathan on Apr 16, 2019 14:27:35 GMT -5
I thought I’d discovered it all after I became a sedevacantist, a true Roman Catholic, in the fall of 2018 after whirlwind of events that started with “Archbishop” Vigano releasing a series of letters accusing “Pope” Francis of knowing about the sex abuse crisis plaguing the Conciliar Church. The second of those letters, released on September 27th, 2018, even accused “Pope” Francis of being the Antichrist. Woah! Around the same time, my then spiritual director recommended Authenticity by Thomas DuBay, which was full of obvious heresies even by Conciliar Church standards. The first paragraph contained a statement that best translated as “Satan is God.” I confronted him about this and was blown away when he defended it. Woah again! I eventually talked to the Vicar for Clergy in the Arlington “Diocese”, “Father” Paul Scalia, in my search for a new spiritual director and he adamantly defended the heresies as well! I was at a loss for what was going on in the world to be honest, and then I stumbled upon “Father” Nicholas Gruner and the Fatima Center, and “Father” Chad Ripperger. I read The Suicide of Altering the Faith in the Liturgy and The Popes Against Modern Errors. I started attending Latin mass as I was blown away by the revelations that the Novus Ordo liturgy was so botched. And then I stumbled upon NovusOrdoWatch.com and saw “Pope” John Paull II at the World Day of Prayer for Peace at Assisi in 1986. Yikes! A few weeks later I was a full blown sedevacantist as the only possible conclusion to all the mess.
The night I realized I may have never been to confession was truly frightening and I spent much of it tossing and turning, pleading with God to forgive my many sins even without the Sacrament, hoping in perfect contrition. However, that was not the worst night. The worst night was after I stumbled across Pope Benedict XIV’s encyclycial entitled “Vix Pervenit: On Usury and Other Dishonest Profits”. Let me provide the quote below that was the scariest:
The nature of the sin called usury has its proper place and origin in a loan contract. This financial contract between consenting parties demands, by its very nature, that one return to another only as much as he has received. The sin rests on the fact that sometimes the creditor desires more than he has given. Therefore he contends some gain is owed him beyond that which he loaned, but any gain which exceeds the amount he gave is illicit and usurious.
One cannot condone the sin of usury by arguing that the gain is not great or excessive, but rather moderate or small; neither can it be condoned by arguing that the borrower is rich; nor even by arguing that the money borrowed is not left idle, but is spent usefully, either to increase one’s fortune, to purchase new estates, or to engage in business transactions. The law governing loans consists necessarily in the equality of what is given and returned; once the equality has been established, whoever demands more than that violates the terms of the loan. Therefore if one receives interest, he must make restitution according to the commutative bond of justice; its function in human contracts is to assure equality for each one. This law is to be observed in a holy manner. If not observed exactly, reparation must be made.
Why was the above quote so scary? Our entire modern economy seems to be built on top of it! Credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and more. Every swipe of your credit card is likely a mortal sin as usury is catalogued with the likes of murder, robbery, and rape. Yikes indeed! And just after I thought I’d escaped I found myself truly trapped. Before lamenting further, though, let’s delve a bit into the history of usury.
Note, much of what I’m describing below can be found on Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury.
Ancient Greeks: Greek philosophers found usury “unnatural” as Aristotle describes: “Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.”
Romans: The Romans at one point banned interest on loans, though it was eventually permitted at low rates. Cato once retorted when asked "And what do you think of usury?"—"What do you think of murder?"
Other notable historical figures:
Scripture
Early Church Fathers:
Church Councils
Popes
Ok, so history backs up that the Church has always taught that taking any interest on a loan is not only wrong, but reprehensible! Even pagans and our Masonic founding fathers could see as much.
Before going on, let me stop to refute a common argument that interest today is permitted, namely that the nature of money has changed. Such foolishness! It takes only a cursory glance to recognize that money is simply a medium for exchange and has been for as long as it has existed. It’s nature is fundamentally the same regardless of the many usurious institutions that have built up around it in today’s world. The Worldpay Global Payments Report from 2018 acknowledges as much saying, “Timeless and enduring, payments serve the same ends today as they did thousands of years ago.” Even a modern institution that sponsors credit cards and other usurious forms of payment can see as much!
So what are we to do? I genuinely do not know. The same logic that leads us to become sedevacantists must also lead us to hold that usury, the taking of any interest on a loan, is a sin, and a grave one at that. It is the unchangeable teaching of the Church throughout time. I’m looking for brave Christian souls who will acknowledge this fundamental truth and help me find a solution for avoiding usury in the modern world. Please email me at jonathan.s.fulton@gmail.com or text me at (PM ME FOR TEXT NUMBER) if you’re interested in chatting.
The night I realized I may have never been to confession was truly frightening and I spent much of it tossing and turning, pleading with God to forgive my many sins even without the Sacrament, hoping in perfect contrition. However, that was not the worst night. The worst night was after I stumbled across Pope Benedict XIV’s encyclycial entitled “Vix Pervenit: On Usury and Other Dishonest Profits”. Let me provide the quote below that was the scariest:
The nature of the sin called usury has its proper place and origin in a loan contract. This financial contract between consenting parties demands, by its very nature, that one return to another only as much as he has received. The sin rests on the fact that sometimes the creditor desires more than he has given. Therefore he contends some gain is owed him beyond that which he loaned, but any gain which exceeds the amount he gave is illicit and usurious.
One cannot condone the sin of usury by arguing that the gain is not great or excessive, but rather moderate or small; neither can it be condoned by arguing that the borrower is rich; nor even by arguing that the money borrowed is not left idle, but is spent usefully, either to increase one’s fortune, to purchase new estates, or to engage in business transactions. The law governing loans consists necessarily in the equality of what is given and returned; once the equality has been established, whoever demands more than that violates the terms of the loan. Therefore if one receives interest, he must make restitution according to the commutative bond of justice; its function in human contracts is to assure equality for each one. This law is to be observed in a holy manner. If not observed exactly, reparation must be made.
Why was the above quote so scary? Our entire modern economy seems to be built on top of it! Credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and more. Every swipe of your credit card is likely a mortal sin as usury is catalogued with the likes of murder, robbery, and rape. Yikes indeed! And just after I thought I’d escaped I found myself truly trapped. Before lamenting further, though, let’s delve a bit into the history of usury.
Note, much of what I’m describing below can be found on Wikipedia at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury.
Ancient Greeks: Greek philosophers found usury “unnatural” as Aristotle describes: “Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.”
Romans: The Romans at one point banned interest on loans, though it was eventually permitted at low rates. Cato once retorted when asked "And what do you think of usury?"—"What do you think of murder?"
Other notable historical figures:
- John Adams: “Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan. Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and I shall die abhorring.”
- Thomas Jefferson: “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”
Scripture
- Deuteronomy 23:19 Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest.
- Ezekial 18:13: That giveth upon usury, and that taketh an increase: shall such a one live? he shall not live. Seeing he hath done all these detestable things, he shall surely die, his blood shall be upon him.
Early Church Fathers:
- St. Ambrose: “Whatever exceeds the amount owed is usury.”
- St. Augustine: “If thou hast lent thy money on usury to man, that is, if thou hast given the loan of thy money to one, from whom thou dost expect to receive something more than thou hast given, not in money only, but any thing, whether it be wheat, or wine, or oil, or whatever else you please, if you expect to receive more than you have given, you are an usurer, and in this particular are not deserving of praise, but of censure.”
Church Councils
- First Council of Nicea in 325 forbade clergy from engaging in usury (taking any interest whatsoever on a loan) of any kind.
- Lateran III in 1179 decreed that persons who accepted interest on loans could receive neither the sacraments nor Christian burial.
Popes
- Pope Clement V made the belief in the right to usury a heresy in 1311, and abolished all secular legislation which allowed it
- Pope Sixtus V condemned the practice of charging interest as "detestable to God and man, damned by the sacred canons, and contrary to Christian charity."
- And of course Benedict XIV condemned usury in Vix Pervenit
Ok, so history backs up that the Church has always taught that taking any interest on a loan is not only wrong, but reprehensible! Even pagans and our Masonic founding fathers could see as much.
Before going on, let me stop to refute a common argument that interest today is permitted, namely that the nature of money has changed. Such foolishness! It takes only a cursory glance to recognize that money is simply a medium for exchange and has been for as long as it has existed. It’s nature is fundamentally the same regardless of the many usurious institutions that have built up around it in today’s world. The Worldpay Global Payments Report from 2018 acknowledges as much saying, “Timeless and enduring, payments serve the same ends today as they did thousands of years ago.” Even a modern institution that sponsors credit cards and other usurious forms of payment can see as much!
So what are we to do? I genuinely do not know. The same logic that leads us to become sedevacantists must also lead us to hold that usury, the taking of any interest on a loan, is a sin, and a grave one at that. It is the unchangeable teaching of the Church throughout time. I’m looking for brave Christian souls who will acknowledge this fundamental truth and help me find a solution for avoiding usury in the modern world. Please email me at jonathan.s.fulton@gmail.com or text me at (PM ME FOR TEXT NUMBER) if you’re interested in chatting.