The Ethics of Borrowing in the Vision of Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Recognizing the vulnerabilities of debtors, C. H. Spurgeon, through his rich imagination, wanted to offer a model of good practice that rejects any lending that is not fully covered by the borrower's financial possibilities or material assets. In doing so, he sought to draw attention to the risks that those who resort to such practices run and the inappropriateness of excuses for those who can no longer pay the debts they have incurred. Spurgeon argues that financial ignorance and immaturity cost enormously when one resorts to borrowing. On the other hand, this paper will investigate Spurgeon's openness to forms of borrowing that do not involve any further cost except gratitude or thanksgiving. The analysis will focus on how he approached God's grace given to humanity, but also on His great work in creation or in our fellow man, in which he considered that we find an inexhaustible source of resources that one can borrow without fear of having something to lose.