Debt, Spirituality, and the Marketplace

Undergraduate / Graduate

Debt and the forgiveness of debts are central to the mystery of Christianity, as medieval theologians like Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas made clear. This course considers the medieval response to the problem of debt within its doctrinal, commercial, and institutional context. Themes include the role of slavery, money, markets, and usury in the development of the medieval economy; the response of heretics and friars like the Franciscans and Dominicans to this economy; and the language of debt as it appears in liturgy and prayer. A primary goal of the course is to reconsider the relationship between the economic and spiritual power of debt, the ways in which debt enables and enslaves, and the reason for the petition in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," as necessary for salvation. Course requirements will include intensive reading in primary sources and relevant scholarship, as well as a final research paper.