Whether It Is Lawful to Borrow Money Under a Condition of Usury?
Objection 1: It would seem that it is not lawful to borrow money
under a condition of usury. For the Apostle says (Rom. 1:32) that
they "are worthy of death . . . not only they that do" these sins,
"but they also that consent to them that do them." Now he that
borrows money under a condition of usury consents in the sin of the
usurer, and gives him an occasion of sin. Therefore he sins also.
Obj. 2: Further, for no temporal advantage ought one to give another
an occasion of committing a sin: for this pertains to active scandal,
which is always sinful, as stated above (Q. 43, A. 2). Now he that
seeks to borrow from a usurer gives him an occasion of sin. Therefore
he is not to be excused on account of any temporal advantage.
Obj. 3: Further, it seems no less necessary sometimes to deposit
one's money with a usurer than to borrow from him. Now it seems
altogether unlawful to deposit one's money with a usurer, even as it
would be unlawful to deposit one's sword with a madman, a maiden with
a libertine, or food with a glutton. Neither therefore is it lawful
to borrow from a usurer.
_On the contrary,_ He that suffers injury does not sin, according to
the Philosopher (Ethic. v, 11), wherefore justice is not a mean
between two vices, as stated in the same book (ch. 5). Now a usurer
sins by doing an injury to the person who borrows from him under a
condition of usury. Therefore he that accepts a loan under a
condition of usury does not sin.
_I answer that,_ It is by no means lawful to induce a man to sin, yet
it is lawful to make use of another's sin for a good end, since even
God uses all sin for some good, since He draws some good from every
evil as stated in the Enchiridion (xi). Hence when Publicola asked
whether it were lawful to make use of an oath taken by a man swearing
by false gods (which is a manifest sin, for he gives Divine honor to
them) Augustine (Ep. xlvii) answered that he who uses, not for a bad
but for a good purpose, the oath of a man that swears by false gods,
is a party, not to his sin of swearing by demons, but to his good
compact whereby he kept his word. If however he were to induce him to
swear by false gods, he would sin.
Accordingly we must also answer to the question in point that it is
by no means lawful to induce a man to lend under a condition of
usury: yet it is lawful to borrow for usury from a man who is ready
to do so and is a usurer by profession; provided the borrower have a
good end in view, such as the relief of his own or another's need.
Thus too it is lawful for a man who has fallen among thieves to point
out his property to them (which they sin in taking) in order to save
his life, after the example of the ten men who said to Ismahel (Jer.
41:8): "Kill us not: for we have stores in the field."
Reply Obj. 1: He who borrows for usury does not consent to the
usurer's sin but makes use of it. Nor is it the usurer's acceptance
of usury that pleases him, but his lending, which is good.
Reply Obj. 2: He who borrows for usury gives the usurer an occasion,
not for taking usury, but for lending; it is the usurer who finds an
occasion of sin in the malice of his heart. Hence there is passive
scandal on his part, while there is no active scandal on the part of
the person who seeks to borrow. Nor is this passive scandal a reason
why the other person should desist from borrowing if he is in need,
since this passive scandal arises not from weakness or ignorance but
from malice.
Reply Obj. 3: If one were to entrust one's money to a usurer lacking
other means of practising usury; or with the intention of making a
greater profit from his money by reason of the usury, one would be
giving a sinner matter for sin, so that one would be a participator
in his guilt. If, on the other hand, the usurer to whom one entrusts
one's money has other means of practising usury, there is no sin in
entrusting it to him that it may be in safer keeping, since this is
to use a sinner for a good purpose.
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