A lesson in theology

Submitted by Richard Burd (United States), Jul 30, 2002 at 16:50

First of all, Orthodox (and other observant) Jews do not lend money to each other with interest because such transactions are forbidden by the Torah, the Five Books of Moses . A Jew can borrow money with interest only from a Gentile. In contrast, the Christians define Biblical interest as "usury," i.e. exessive ammounts of interest, however St. Paul (see Galatians Ch. 3) liberated Christians from having to obey the Mitzvot of the Torah and require they follow only Jesus's teachings. So in sum, Christians don't have to follow the interest rules or any other legalistic rules of the Torah (unless the Pope tells them to [and he did] at which point the reformation enters the picture) , and the Jews have plenty of Gentiles to borrow money from.

What Islam really needs is an Imam to do to the Koran what Julius Wellhausen did for the Bible. Until such a figure emerges, we won't likely see Islam adapt to the modern world, nor will any laws of the Koran be modified or updated... If they are, such change would undermine Islam's claims to exclusiveness as the true faith. Without truth & value there can be nothing sacred; without the sacred, you can't have religion. Islam is no exception.

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