Economics 101: Guard the Value of Money – The Law of God and Public Policy

Economics 101: Guard the Value of Money
The Law of God and Public Policy

The Law of God forbids manipulating the value of currency.

“…you shall take five shekels per head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs).… Numbers 3:47

The Law of God thus intended to guard the economy it outlines against inflation and deflation of the currency by requiring that all trade should be in proper currency of precious metal according to a fixed weight and universal standard. Currency was not the only—and perhaps not even the most common—medium of transaction. There was undoubtedly more bartering than actual exchanging of currency in the economy of ancient Israel, but even that, as we shall see, was regulated according to fixed standards.

A just economy requires a stable currency—money, the value of which can be relied on in every transaction, generation after generation. It is therefore unjust, according to God’s Law, to enact policies that manipulate the value of currency on nothing more than the fiat declaration of the powers-that-be. Printing money just because we “need more money” is not a policy the Law of God would condone. Nor is basing an economy on paper money thus circulated without proper backing.

The Law of God requires, for a just economy, the conservation of wealth, and the proper stewardship of all property, that policies should be enacted which preserve the value of the currency, according to fixed and reliable standards of weight and measure. Any policies which threaten the stability of currency should be carefully controlled if not outright opposed.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.