Good point. Protestants also say that. Although note that Christians sometimes cite Old Testament commandments as if they still applied today. Even “Be fruitful and multiply”, which was just for Adam & Eve. Also note that for many years the Catholic Church demanded obedience to the commandment not to charge interest on loans, which is an Old Testament commandment. Ironically, primarily (only?) Jews charged interest on loans.
Well, the command not to charge interest on loans in the Old testament was only within your own people: e.g. a Jew shouldn’t charge interest from a fellow Jew, but he could charge interest from non-Jews as much as he liked.
Now, the Christians view themselves as the “new chosen people”, so they couldn’t charge interest from each other, so the banking system had to be performed by Jews, who could—in clean conscience and following their religious beliefs—loan/charge interest from non-Jews(Christians).
In short, the whole “irony” is lost once you actually study the specific commandments and the historical context of the described situation.
Good point. Protestants also say that. Although note that Christians sometimes cite Old Testament commandments as if they still applied today. Even “Be fruitful and multiply”, which was just for Adam & Eve. Also note that for many years the Catholic Church demanded obedience to the commandment not to charge interest on loans, which is an Old Testament commandment. Ironically, primarily (only?) Jews charged interest on loans.
Well, the command not to charge interest on loans in the Old testament was only within your own people: e.g. a Jew shouldn’t charge interest from a fellow Jew, but he could charge interest from non-Jews as much as he liked.
Now, the Christians view themselves as the “new chosen people”, so they couldn’t charge interest from each other, so the banking system had to be performed by Jews, who could—in clean conscience and following their religious beliefs—loan/charge interest from non-Jews(Christians).
In short, the whole “irony” is lost once you actually study the specific commandments and the historical context of the described situation.