In the forthcoming, free, online, Fall edition (Vol. 11 no. 2 - available Oct/Nov) of the Journal of Markets & Morality from the Acton Institute there will be a 70+ page Scholia on usury and oath-taking from Wolfgang Musculus, one of the lesser well-known German reformers. There are two relevant sections which have been translated from the 1551 and 1578 Latin editions of his Psalms Commentary with an eye towards an even earlier German edition. One of the sections is from an appendix on usury and oath-taking (which first appeared in English attached to an 1561 English translation of Musculus’ Loci Communes and again in 1578), the other section is from his Psalms commentary which has not been translated into English. This is a relatively early statement of Protestant monetary theory. I won’t spill all of the beans but in some ways it is standard Reformed exegesis against the Anabaptists. In other ways, Musculus demonstrates his intellectual and theological independence from Calvin and others on issues such as interest and usury. Just another data point evidencing that there is frequently a high amount of general agreement among the Reformed on fundamental principles of exegesis and methodology, and yet there can be diversity of opinion, even disagreement on the theological and exegetical results. Another interesting aspect of the piece is Musculus’ exegetical method and his utter lack of reticence to engage in socio-economic, political commentary. I will tell you that it is a good piece to read and think about. It will stretch a 21st century Christian’s premises about money, oaths, charity, and piety - not necessarily a bad thing given the materialistic and decadent Zeitgeist of our times.
We are currently in the final stages of editing, polishing, and formatting, and I look forward to having it out soon.
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