Scripture reference but it is so
irrelevant that it would seem Wilson was wiser in omitting Scripture
reference altogether. 1 Cor. 8:13, "Wherefore, if meat make my brother
to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth, lest I make my
brother to offend."

The only explanation the writer ever saw or heard of, that was
seriously made was this: "If using my brother's money without interest
offends him, then I will never while the world standeth accept his
money without interest lest I make my brother to offend." If this is
the intended application then it may be further applied. If using a
brother's money at six per cent. offends him then I will surely give
him ten per cent. lest I cause my brother offence. Could there be a
more absurd application of a Scripture passage?

The later theologians have seldom mentioned usury and none have
discussed it at any length, and no divine to our knowledge has
undertaken a defence. The "Systematic Theology" of Dr. Charles Hodge
is perhaps the most elaborate and exhaustive. He does not more than
refer to usury; he does not even mention it by name. But in his
discussion of the violation of the eighth commandment, he ridicules
the idea that "a thing is worth what it is worth to the man who
demands it." He says: "If this be so, then if a man perishing from
thirst is willing to give his whole estate for a glass of water it is
right to exact that price; or if a man in danger of drowning should
offer a thousand dollars for a rope, we might refuse to throw it to
him for a less reward. Such conduct every man feels is worthy of
execration."

He closes the discussion of the eighth commandment with this
significant and emphatic sentence: "Many who have stood well in
society and even in the church will be astonished at the last day to
find the word 'Thieves' written after their names in the great book of
judgment."

2. "To prohibit usury is revolutionary."

Revolutions are not necessarily evil. They have been justified in all
the ages to overthrow tyranny and oppression and to secure freedom and
establish justice. Oppressors and evil-doers in power have ever been
anxious to maintain the "statu quo": that is, to be let alone. The
"Man of Galilee" is the prince of revolutionists. He has overthrown
and turned down the civilizations of the world and has brought in his
own, called by his name, Christian civilization. His followers were
revolutionists. The idolatrous craftsmen of Ephesus,