Pastoral Banking Practice – A Christian-ethical and pastoral perspective on financing, credit and moneylending

Abstract

Financing of human activity through borrowing from third parties is widespread in the Western world. Such financing may give rise to several questions of moral and ethical character. The ethical underpinnings of such banking activity are somewhat unclear and not uniform among the involved actors. Christian thinkers have been divided as to what moral norms should apply and, traditionally, the matter has been discussed mostly in connection with the level of interest charged by the lender to the borrower. In this article, banking is illuminated from different angles, including questions regarding the moral defensibility of lending and borrowing, the taking and posting of collateral, third party guarantees and the level of interest that may be charged. A new banking system is proposed, whereby banking is given a constructive and participatory societal place in concert with sound Christian-ethical and pastoral principles. This new banking paradigm is named Pastoral Banking Practice (PBP) to emphasise its Christian-ethical and pastoral foundations.