Gottesblog

Shortly before Luther’s death, Johann Spangenberg, an early supporter of the Reformation and pastor at Nordhausen, wrote the following in his 1545 commentary Der Apostel Geschichte: Kurtze auszlegung—Für die jungen Christen, in Frage verfasset (pg. 190): “Dear friends, do you imagine that it causes no anguish to a preacher when he learns that within his own congregation, among the very sheep entrusted to his care, there are found open blasphemers, usurers, idle swindlers, misers, adulterers, profligate drunkards, and similar scoundrels? Have you not heard what God declared to the prophet: that He will require their blood at the hands of those who failed to preach and punish their sin?” Here Spangenberg alludes to Ezekiel 3:18, 20 and 33:6, 8, where the Lord warns His shepherds that they will be severely judged if they neglect to lead their flock according to His law and truth. Notably, in this brief catalog of scandalous sins demanding pastoral attention in 1545, Spangenberg includes usury. Perhaps he was inspired by Luther’s words half a decade prior in his public admonition to brother pastors.

Throughout the past century or so, several references to usury in Luther’s works have been put forward as evidence that the reformer actually did permit certain interest rates on loans. The first such reference appears in a June 18, 1524 letter to John Frederick I, son of John the Steadfast (WA, Br 3: 305–8). The difficulty, however, is that some interpreters have thoroughly misconstrued what Luther is actually addressing in this correspondence. In the letter, Luther is speaking chiefly of Zinskauf, rather than interest-bearing loans. Moreover, what he says here is precisely what he had already affirmed in his Long Sermon on Usury, which was republished in Trade and Usury the same year that this letter was penned. The following is a translation of the pertinent section of the letter, rendered with due regard for both its context and the proper understanding of the business of rental-income purchases (pg. 307).