Editing Debt (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of money}}
{{see also|Interest#History}}
According to historian [[Paul Johnson (writer)|Paul Johnson]], the lending of "food money" was commonplace in [[Middle East]]ern civilizations as early as 5000 BC.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Religions like Judaism and Christianity for example, demand that debt be forgiven on a regular basis, in order to prevent systemic inequities between groups in society, or anyone becoming a specialist in holding debt and coercing repayment. An example is the Biblical [[Jubilee (Biblical)|Jubilee year]], described in the [[Book of Leviticus]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Hudson|first=Michael|date=2018 |title=...and Forgive Them Their Debts: Lending, Foreclosure and Redemption From Bronze Age Finance to the Jubilee Year|url=https://archive.org/details/andforgivethemth00mich|url-access= registration|publisher=Islet|isbn=978-3981826029|author-link=Michael Hudson (economist)}}</ref> Similarly, in [[Deuteronomy]] chapter 15 and verse 1 states that debts be forgiven after seven years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jubilee USA: Debt Cancellation: A Biblical Norm|url=https://www.jubileeusa.org/faith/faith-and-worship-resources/debt-cancellation-a-biblical-norm.html|access-date=2020-09-22|website=www.jubileeusa.org|archive-date=3 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003014907/https://www.jubileeusa.org/faith/faith-and-worship-resources/debt-cancellation-a-biblical-norm.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This is because biblically debt is seen as the responsibility of both the creditor and the debtor. Traditional Christian teaching holds that a lifestyle of debt should not be normative; the [[Emmanuel Association]], a [[Methodist]] denomination in the [[conservative holiness movement]], for example, teaches: "We are to refrain from entering into debt when we have no reasonable plan to pay. We are to be careful to meet all financial engagements promptly when due, if at all possible, remembering that we are to 'Provide things honest in the sight of all men' and to 'owe no man any thing, but to love one another' (Romans 12:17; 13:8)."<ref name="Emmanuel2002">{{cite book |title=Guidebook of the Emmanuel Association of Churches |date=2002 |publisher=[[Emmanuel Association]] |location=[[Logansport, Indiana|Logansport]] |pages=13–14|language=English}}</ref>