Description
Financial Crisis and The Faith: where is God in all this?
by John Lovatt
To accompany Michael Smith’s article on The Financial Crisis and the Crisis of
Conscience, John adds a theological contribution. He advocates ‘Christ-like banking’
and suggests a return to more personal banking and a consciousness of the presence
of Christ in our damaged economic world. Is a return to an age of Faith forthcoming?
We can look on our world today, and see the consequences of greed and recklessness, especially in the banking world. We can reflect that modern banking was founded by devout Christians, who were trusted to look after our money simply because they were Christians – reliable, sober, and not greedy. They lent money based on a personal relationship with the borrower, and wise judgements of character and ability to repay, seen as an aspect of love for one’s neighbour and for God. What went wrong?
We can deplore the loss of Faith since those days, and call for a return to an age of Faith, where greed among bankers will not be tolerated, where one’s word is once again one’s bond, and where concern for the poor implies accepting the risk of lending to them, balanced by care not to overburden them with debt.
It would indeed be a cause for rejoicing, and would bring the…
