Charging interest (usury) is considered a sin in some religious traditions, particularly historically in Christianity and Judaism, and currently in Islam, because it was seen as exploiting the poor, profiting from suffering, and enslaving borrowers, with the Bible prohibiting it for loans to fellow Israelites in need. However, modern interpretations often distinguish between predatory "usury" and fair interest, viewing it as acceptable for business loans or as a just return for capital in modern economies, though concerns about unjust wealth accumulation persist.
To sin is to say "no" to God and God's presence by harming others, ourselves, or all of creation. Charging interest is indeed sinful when doing so takes advantage of a person in need as well as when it means investing in corporations involved in the harming of God's creatures.
The Biblical Foundation
Scripture is clear on this point: God's people are to avoid charging interest to one another. Exodus 22:25 – “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.”
Usury became normal because legal reinterpretation, economic necessity, institutional innovation, and moral reframing turned interest from a broadly condemned practice into a structured tool for allocating capital--regulated to curb abuse but accepted as essential for modern economies.
Interest is deemed riba, or an unjust, exploitative gain, and such practice is forbidden under Islamic law. In Islamic finance, riba refers to interest charged on loans or deposits. Religious practice forbids riba, even at low interest rates, as both illegal and unethical or usurious.
Reformed churches. Reformed theologian William M'Gavin opined that "the four sins that cry to heaven for vengeance; these are, wilful murder—sin of Sodom—oppression of the poor—to defraud servants of their wages" are greater in gravity than the seven deadly sins.
Even charging usurious interest rates to wealthy borrowers can be regarded as morally objectionable because it represents exploitation of market power by lenders who know that borrowers have limited or no choice but to pay the excessive rates if they want credit.
For the most part, Christians have concluded that interest is not inherently prohibited in modern societies, but that lending practices— including interest rates and collateral—must not take advantage of vulnerable people or make people destitute.
Cash use has been declining for years, but cash isn't close to going away. In 2022, there were a staggering 70 billion cash transactions, making it the third-most-common payment method. But can cash compete in this digital age?
The usual answer is something like, “It's okay to have hobbies if they aren't sinful.” For example, gotquestions.org concludes this. So yes, Christians can have hobbies, but we have to make sure they never replace Christ. That is the temptation, and we must be sure to avoid it. That's true.
Usury has always been considered a sin. But not every sort of interest-bearing loan has been considered usury. There is a long history of defining usury as a loan of subsistence as opposed to a loan of capital. Loans in the Old Testament were given to those who were destitute and poor.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 – “You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest.
There's no single #1 worst sin; it depends on the religious or moral framework, but pride is often called the root of all evil (Christianity/Islam), while the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (unforgivable sin) is considered the gravest in the Bible. Other severe sins include child abuse (Catholicism) and sins that "cry to Heaven" (like shedding innocent blood or oppressing the poor).
According to the Rambam, just as it is forbidden to lend to another Jew at interest, it is a positive mitzvah to charge interest when lending to non-Jews.
11 The first official Christian pronouncements against usury were delivered in 325 CE by the Council of Nicea, which was Christianity's first ecumenical council. Its prohibition applied, however, only to the clergy, and was viewed only as a sin against charity.
Christianity, the largest religion in the United States, experienced a 20th-century high of 91% of the total population in 1976. This declined to 73.7% by 2016 and 64% in 2022.
Many religions, including Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, conservative Protestant denominations (like Southern Baptists, some Lutherans, Methodists, Pentecostals, and Evangelicals), and Islam, generally do not support LGBTQ+ identities or same-sex sexual activity, viewing them as sinful or against religious doctrine, with views ranging from condemnation to exclusion. Other faiths like Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and some traditional Hinduism and Buddhism perspectives also often discourage or prohibit LGBTQ+ practices, though interpretations vary widely within these faiths.
In Luke 6:34-35a, Jesus tells a crowd of people, “And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.”
Modern finance tends to be highly regulated, and the government sets maximum interest rates in many countries. Charging interest above the maximum interest is known as usury, which is illegal in many countries.
The Christian church drew on biblical passages and moral and religious reasons to define usury as a sin. The Church placed a ban on the practice of usury to prevent this “evil”. In Islam, the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad led Muslims to also view usury as a crime.
Trump wants interest rates to fall sharply so the government can borrow more cheaply and Americans can pay lower borrowing costs for new homes, cars or other large purchases, as worries about high costs have soured some voters on his economic management.
The Catholic Church still forbids usury, meaning extortionate charges, providing penalties in c2354 of the Code of Canon Law, but this does not mean that all interest-taking is sinful. The Vatican itself invests in interest-bearing schemes, and requires Church administrators to do likewise.
A set of Islamic principles—based on the goal of providing economic justice for all—prohibits Muslims from paying or receiving interest during financial transactions.