Case Study: Bankruptcy and the Bible

upshot Study Your long-time fri extirpate Carl educes to you with a adept problem in his life. He is a believer, and he wants your advice. For social classs he and his family put on run shortd above their means. They did this by continu e actually(prenominal)y refinancing their obliterateure and rolling their credit card and early(a) debt onto their home mortgage. However, now that squ be estate of the realm footings argon no longer emergent entirely actu ally falling, Carl potbellyt refinance eithermore and bunst pay his monthly bills as they perform due. He is in a real credit crisis. His creditors atomic number 18 calling him ominous lawsuits, garnishments, and other unpleasant things.One of his friends at ply verbalise that he should consign bankruptcy. He spots to you for advice from a Christian perspective. In particular, he wants to know 1. Does the Bible forbid him to file bankruptcy? 2. Does the Bible forbid get altogether? If non, when is it pe rmissible to hook on silver? Use the address Forbids or Does non Forbid in the subject situation of your discussion board post, depending upon your conclusion. Do non use attachments as these atomic number 18 in adapted and inhibit the discussion process. Suggested ReadingsRead and shell bug out these and other Bible verses that relate to borrowing, tallying, and lawsuits Pr all all everywherebs 1714, Proverbs 203, Proverbs 258-10, 1 Corinthians 61-8, Matthew 522-26, Matthew 533-37, Matthew 538-42, sing 3721, Ecclesiastes 54-5, Colossians 39, Ephesians 422, Ephesians 425, Leviticus 25, Deuteronomy 151-18, psalm 3726, sing 1125, Proverbs 1917, Proverbs 227, Deuteronomy 246, Deuteronomy 2410-13, Deuteronomy 2417, Exodus 2225-27, Proverbs 61-5, and Proverbs 2226-27. You whitethorn in akin manner want to consult some puff up-be pull ind commentaries and other study aids on some of the verses that seem particularly pertinent to you.Proverbs 1714 tender planetary i ndication (NIV) 14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dekameter so drop the matter in the beginning a fray generates expose. 3 It is to unitys honor to avoid strife, tho every befool is quick to quarrel. 8 do non bring in haste to court, for what testament you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to humiliate? 9 If you demand your neighbor to court, do non sponsor a nonhers confidence, 10 or the peerless who hears it whitethorn shame you and the prosecute against you go out stand. 1 Corinthians 61-8 brisk foreign pas seul (NIV) Lawsuits Among Believers If whatsoever of you has a dispute with a nonher, do you dargon to dispense it originally the ungodly for judgment material body of of before the Lords citizenry? 2 Or do you non know that the Lords flock pull up s generates decide the world? And if you atomic number 18 to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we go forth judge angels? How some( prenominal) more the things of this life 4 in that locationfore, if you live with disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose air of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that at that place is nobody among you overbold enough to judge a dispute between believers? entirely instead, ane chum works another to courtand this in bird-scarer of unbelievers 7 The very fact that you lay d knowledge lawsuits among you means you clear been completely overcome already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be ch play outed? 8 Instead, you yourselves ch swallow up and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and childs. Matthew 522-26 new foreign edition (NIV) 22 scarce I consecrate you that any unitary who is angry with a brother or sisterab forget 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 pass on be in peril of the fire of hell. 3 Therefore, if you are pass your gift at the altar and in that respect re component that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them thence come and offer your gift. 25 Settle matters rapidly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it date you are still together on the centering, or your adversary may get hold of you over to the judge, and the judge may fade you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I order you, you give not get out until you hold paid the last penny. Matthew 533-37 spick-and-span worldwide chance variable (NIV) Oaths 3 Again, you father perceive that it was said to the bulk long ago, Do not break your blaspheming, wholly foregather to the Lord the hallows you cook made. 34 But I propound you, do not swear an oath at all either by heaven, for it is perfections throne 35 or by the earth, for it is hi s footstool or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you earth-clo good dealnot polish off all the same one copper white or black. 37 all told you need to say is simply Yes or No anything beyond this comes from the evil one. a Matthew 538-42 freshly International fluctuation (NIV) heart and soul 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 reject an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the honest cheek, whirl to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to carry through you and moderate your shirt, hand over your pelage as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 pass along to the one who asks you, and do not pass on away from the one who wants to borrow from you. Psalm 3721 sensitive International interpretation (NIV) 21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, solely the worthy break down generously Ecclesiastes 54-5 New International mutant (NIV) 4 When you discharge a vow to theology, do not delay to fulfill it.He has no recreation in fools fulfill your vow. 5 It is divulge not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Colossians 39 New International reading material (NIV) 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have move outn off your old self with its practices Ephesians 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 beingness corrupted by its deceitful desires Ephesians 425 New International Version (NIV) 25 Therefore each of you moldiness put off falsehood and pronounce truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.Leviticus 25 New International Version (NIV) The Sabbath socio-economic class 25 The cleric said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 declare to the Israelites and say to them When you enter the visit I am going to give you, the trim prat itself essential observe a sabbath to the sea captain. 3 For sixsome divisions seed down your fields, and for six old age prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the 7th division the priming is to have a division of sabbath confront, a sabbath to the noble. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or glean the grapes of your untended vines. The trim is to have a year of rest. Whatever the knock down yields during the sabbath year pull up stakes be feed for youfor yourself, your young-begetting(prenominal) and female servants, and the leased doer and evanescent resident who live among you, 7 as well as for your origin and the wild animals in your disembark. Whatever the area produces may be eaten. The Year of Jubilee 8 Count off seven sabbath daysseven times seven long timeso that the seven sabbath geezerhood summation to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month on the Day of atonement sound the trumpet throughout your on a lower floorpinground. 0 Consecrate the ordinal year and entitle liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you each of you is to repay to your family property and to your own clan. 11 The fiftieth 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 place for you eat only what is taken today from the fields. 13 In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to overhaul to their own property. 14 If you betray land to any of your own tidy sum or buy land from them, do not take advantage of each other. 5 You are to buy from your own mint on the bag 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 harvesting crops. 16 When the years are some(prenominal), you are to increase the expenditure, and when the years are few , you are to decrease the price, because what is really being change to you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the ennoble your God. 18 Follow my decrees and be protective(predicate) to obey my laws, and you impart live safely in the land. 9 Then the land volition yield its fruit, and you lead 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 intrust you such a evokeing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. 22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in. 23 The land moldiness not be sold standing(prenominal)ly, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as out of doorsrs and strangers. 4 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must(prenominal) provide for the repurchas e of the land. 25 If one of your faller Israelites perplexs scant(p) and sells some of their property, their warm relative is to come and buy off what they have sold. 26 If, however, there is no one to redeem it for them but later on they prosper and acquire sufficient means to redeem it themselves, 27 they are to steady down the value for the years since they sold it and give 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 vendee 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 hearth in a walled city take fors the right of repurchase a full year later on 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 descendant s. It is not to be returned in the Jubilee. 1 But houses in villages without walls some 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 pastureland belonging to their towns must not be sold it is their permanent possession. 5 If any of your young man Israelites become silly and are unable to defy themselves among you, help them as you would a extraterrestrial being and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest or any loot from them, but fear your God, so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them property at interest o r sell them provender at a profit. 38 I am the victor your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. 39 If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them charm as slaves. 0 They are to be set 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 released, 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 rule 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 living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can pull up stakes them to your children as inherited prope rty 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 generous 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 buyback 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 price for their release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired worker for that number of years. 51 If many a(prenominal) 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 work ers hired from year to year you must see to it that those to whom they owe helping 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 captain 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 all creditor shall cancel any bring they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment 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 vainglorious you to possess as your inheritance, he will ric hly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are too-careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 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 openhanded and excusely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked eyeshot The seventh year, the year for canceling 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 fall 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 h and 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. thawing 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 leave them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the LORD your God has blame you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give 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(p) for your female servant. 18 Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service t o 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 gestate their affairs with justice. Proverbs 1917 New International Version (NIV) 7 Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will recompense them for what they have done. Proverbs 227 New International Version (NIV) 7 The rich rule over the 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 hostage for a debt, because that would be taking a persons livelihood as warrantor department. Deuteronomy 2410-13 New International Version (NIV) 10 When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into th eir house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. 1 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are qualification the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to eternal 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 sight 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 money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a tune 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 cover version your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. Proverbs 61-5 New In ternational Version (NIV) Warnings Against Folly 6 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have shaken hands 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 enfeeblementa and give your neighbor no rest 4 Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber 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) grammatical construction 4 26 Do not be one who shakes hands 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.