I wasn't sure whether to post this on here or my other blog, as it encompasses both Biblical material and current economic events; so, if either of these subjects do not interest you, you may want to turn away now.
Thomas Piketty, the 'superstar' economist famous for his recent book on inequality, was the latest commentator to point out a particularly cruel irony regarding current events in the Eurozone - namely that Germany, while refusing to entertain the possibility of pruning (let alone cancelling) the debt owed to it by Greece, in fact never repaid the vast liabilities that it accrued following the Second World War. Those debts were essentially cancelled by the Allies because they were so obviously counterproductive ('odious' is the technical term, I believe) for all parties involved - such a cumbersome debt burden would prevent the German economy from recovering anytime in the foreseeable future, which would in turn not only prevent the country from ever repaying its debts, but also duplicate the very recessionary climate that facilitated Hitler's rise to power. The same dilemma is clearly at play in Greece today - while far-right parties are waiting in the wings for a chance to pounce, even the IMF admitted in a leaked document that Greece would not be able to repay its debts even in its 'best case scenario'. Thus, as many commentators (not least Yanis Varoufakis, Syriza's recently-resigned finance member) have pointed out, the 'conditionalities' currently being imposed on Greece, which including beyond-draconian austerity measures that can only have the effect of further strangulating the economy, are incomprehensible from any rational perspective.
All of this is well-known. What I find especially interesting, however, is that Jesus Himself captured this situation quite accurately in his Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, recorded for us in verses 21-35 of Matthew 18, which are transcribed below.
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (or, the Greek Debt Crisis)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything'. The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back'. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
"When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant', he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Thomas Piketty, the 'superstar' economist famous for his recent book on inequality, was the latest commentator to point out a particularly cruel irony regarding current events in the Eurozone - namely that Germany, while refusing to entertain the possibility of pruning (let alone cancelling) the debt owed to it by Greece, in fact never repaid the vast liabilities that it accrued following the Second World War. Those debts were essentially cancelled by the Allies because they were so obviously counterproductive ('odious' is the technical term, I believe) for all parties involved - such a cumbersome debt burden would prevent the German economy from recovering anytime in the foreseeable future, which would in turn not only prevent the country from ever repaying its debts, but also duplicate the very recessionary climate that facilitated Hitler's rise to power. The same dilemma is clearly at play in Greece today - while far-right parties are waiting in the wings for a chance to pounce, even the IMF admitted in a leaked document that Greece would not be able to repay its debts even in its 'best case scenario'. Thus, as many commentators (not least Yanis Varoufakis, Syriza's recently-resigned finance member) have pointed out, the 'conditionalities' currently being imposed on Greece, which including beyond-draconian austerity measures that can only have the effect of further strangulating the economy, are incomprehensible from any rational perspective.
All of this is well-known. What I find especially interesting, however, is that Jesus Himself captured this situation quite accurately in his Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, recorded for us in verses 21-35 of Matthew 18, which are transcribed below.
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (or, the Greek Debt Crisis)
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. At this the servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything'. The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back'. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
"When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant', he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
