Case Study: Bankruptcy and the Bible

Case Study Your long-time friend Carl comes to you with a serious problem in his life. He is a believer, and he wants your advice. For courses he and his family make water sleep to set offherd preceding(prenominal) their means. They did this by continu every(prenominal)(prenominal)y refinancing their house and rolling their credence card and an new(prenominal)(prenominal) debt onto their home mortgage. However, now that real estate prices ar no all-night rising but actually falling, Carl shadowfult refinance any much and cant devote his monthly bills as they come due. He is in a real credit crisis. His creditors be calling him thr run throughening lawsuits, garnishments, and other unpleasant things.One of his friends at constitute said that he should file bankruptcy. He comes to you for advice from a Christian perspective. In particular, he wants to whap 1. Does the discussion forbid him to file bankruptcy? 2. Does the word of honor forbid borrowing alto vexher? If non, when is it permissible to borrow m acey? social function the words Forbids or Does non Forbid in the subject tilt of your discussion board post, depending upon your conclusion. Do not use attachments as these argon cumbersome and inhibit the discussion process. Suggested ReadingsRead and consider these and other Bible verses that relate to borrowing, lending, and lawsuits Proerbs 1714, Proverbs 203, Proverbs 258-10, 1 Corinthians 61-8, Matthew 522-26, Matthew 533-37, Matthew 538-42, Psalm 3721, Ecclesiastes 54-5, Colossians 39, Ephesians 422, Ephesians 425, Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 151-18, Psalm 3726, Psalm 1125, Proverbs 1917, Proverbs 227, Deuteronomy 246, Deuteronomy 2410-13, Deuteronomy 2417, Exodus 2225-27, Proverbs 61-5, and Proverbs 2226-27. You whitethorn also want to consult some good commentaries and other study aids on some of the verses that seem particularly relevant to you.Proverbs 1714 new-fangled planetary interlingual rendition (NIV) 14 starting line a quarrel is like breaching a dam so overleap the matter before a dispute breaks out. 3 It is to superstar(a)s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. 8 do not bring hastily to court, for what go forth you do in the end if your live puts you to shame? 9 If you take your neighbour to court, do not betray anothers confidence, 10 or the one who hears it may shame you and the charge against you pass on stand. 1 Corinthians 61-8 impudently worldwide reading material (NIV) Lawsuits Among Believers If any of you has a dispute with another, do you act to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the ecclesiastics bulk? 2 Or do you not know that the Lords populate ordain judge the world? And if you ar to judge the world, atomic upshot 18 you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we allow judge angels? How much more the things of this life 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you sweep up for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church work? 5 I articulate this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nil among you wise sufficiency to judge a dispute between believers? except instead, one brother takes another to courtand this in front of unbelievers 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely overcome already. Why not earlier be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Matthew 522-26 bleak external Version (NIV) 22 But I tell you that anyone who is huffy with a brother or sisterab will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, Raca,c is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, You fool will be in danger of the fire of hell. 3 Therefore, if you ar turnedering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in fron t of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them then come and dischargeer your gift. 25 pass matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are b stain together on the way, or your adversary may blow over you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be propel into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. Matthew 533-37 refreshing International Version (NIV) Oaths 3 Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made. 34 But I tell you, do not maintain an oath at all either by heaven, for it is Gods throne 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or b insufficiency. 37 All you need to say is simply Yes or No anything beyond this comes from the evil one. a Matthew 538-42 New International Version (NIV) oculus for Eye 38 You have heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. a 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the honest cheek, repeal to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Psalm 3721 New International Version (NIV) 21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous birth generously Ecclesiastes 54-5 New International Version (NIV) 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it.He has no pleasure in fools fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Colossians 39 New International Version (NIV) 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices Ephesi ans 422 New International Version (NIV) 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires Ephesians 425 New International Version (NIV) 25 Therefore each of you mustiness put off falsehood and speak truth in full to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.Leviticus 25 New International Version (NIV) The Sabbath yr 25 The LORD said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 Speak to the Israelites and say to them When you enter the let down I am going to give you, the set ashore itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. 3 For six years sow in your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest-tide the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yi elds during the sabbath year will be food for youfor yourself, your male and female servants, and the employ worker and acting(prenominal) resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your ancestry and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten. The form of Jubilee 8 Count off seven sabbath yearsseven time seven yearsso that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 then(prenominal) have the trumpet sounded over on the tenth day of the seventh month on the day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 0 Consecrate the ordinal year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. 11 The ordinal year shall be a jubilee for you do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. 12 For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you eat only what is taken directly from the fiel ds. 13 In this class of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property. 14 If you plow land to any of your own people or grease ones palms land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 5 You are to deprave from your own people on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And they are to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for gather crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being exchange to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but venerate your God. I am the LORD your God. 18 Follow my decrees and be sure to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. 9 Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. 20 You may ask, What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops? 21 I will send you such a stir in the sixth year that the l and will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will reside to eat from it until the harvest of the ordinal year comes in. 23 The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as extraterrestrials and strangers. 4 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must set aside for the redemption of the land. 25 If one of your cuss Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their adjacent relative is to come and surrender what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to liquidate it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to determine the nourish for the years since they sold it and refund the balance to the one to whom they sold it they can then go back to their own property. 8 But if they do not acquire the means to repay, what was sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and they can then go back to their property. 29 Anyone who sells a house in a walled city go ons the right of redemption a full year after its sale. During that time the seller may redeem it. 30 If it is not redeemed before a full year has passed, the house in the walled city shall belong permanently to the buyer and the buyers descendants. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 1 But houses in villages without walls around them are to be considered as belonging to the open country. They can be redeemed, and they are to be returned in the Jubilee. 32 The Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the Levitical towns, which they possess. 33 So the property of the Levites is redeemablethat is, a house sold in any town they holdand is to be returned in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their property among the Israelites. 34 But the lea belonging to their towns must not be sol d it is their permanent possession. 5 If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to tolerate themselves among you, help them as you would a stranger and stranger, so they can keep up to live among you. 36 Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of nirvana and to be your God. 39 If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves. 0 They are to be treated as hired workers or temporary residents among you they are to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then they and their children are to be lossd, and they will go back to their own clans and to the property of their ancestors. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not overshadow over them ruthlessly, but fear your God. 44 Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you from them you may buy slaves. 5 You may also buy some of the temporary residents sustenance among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can pass on them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly. 47 If a foreigner residing among you becomes rich and any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to the foreigner or to a member of the foreigners clan, 48 they retain the right of redemption after they have sold themselves.One of their relatives may redeem them 49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in their clan may redeem them. Or if they prosper, they may redeem themselves. 50 They and their buyer are to count the time from the year they sold themselves up to the Year of Jubilee. The p rice for their release is to be run aground on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many years remain, they must pay for their redemption a larger share of the price paid for them. 52 If only a few years remain until the Year of Jubilee, they are to compute that and pay for their redemption accordingly. 3 They are to be treated as workers hired from year to year you must see to it that those to whom they owe service do not rule over them ruthlessly. 54 Even if someone is not redeemed in any of these ways, they and their children are to be released in the Year of Jubilee, 55 for the Israelites belong to me as servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 151-18 New International Version (NIV) The Year for Canceling Debts 15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done Every creditor shall cancel any contribute they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not st rike defrayal from anyone among their own people, because the LORDs time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. 4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly signalise you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the LORD your God will signalise you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from no(prenominal). You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. 7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be heavy(p) and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought The seventh year, the year for can celing debts, is near, so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing.They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. Freeing Servants 12 If any of your peopleHebrew men or womensell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free. 3 And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. 14 Supply them munificently from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the LORD your God has fiendish you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is wherefore I gi ve you this command today. 16 But if your servant says to you, I do not want to leave you, because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, 17 then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life.Do the same for your female servant. 18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. Psalm 3726 New International Version (NIV) 26 They are always generous and lend freely their children will be a blessing. a Psalm 1125 New International Version (NIV) 5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who broadcast their affairs with justice. Proverbs 1917 New International Version (NIV) 7 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 227 New International Version (NIV) 7 The rich rule over t he poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. Deuteronomy 246 New International Version (NIV) 6 Do not take a pair of millstonesnot even the upper oneas security for a debt, because that would be taking a persons livelihood as security. Deuteronomy 2410-13 New International Version (NIV) 10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. 1 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. 13 Return their affect by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the potful of the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 2417 New International Version (NIV) 17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Exodus 2225-27 New International Version (NIV) 5 If you lend mo ney to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a patronage deal charge no interest. 26 If you take your neighbors cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, 27 because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they shout out out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Proverbs 61-5 New International Version (NIV) Warnings Against Folly 6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken transfer in pledge for a stranger, 2 you have been trapped by what you said, nsnared by the words of your mouth. 3 So do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbors hands Goto the point of exhaustiona and give your neighbor no rest 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no stay to your eyelids. 5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. Proverbs 2226-27 New International Version (NIV) expression 4 26 Do not be one who shakes h ands in pledge or puts up security for debts 27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.