Matthews & Megna, LLC
Attorneys and Counselors at Law

Phone (843) 395-8431

 3400 West Avenue
Columbia, SC 29203
Phone (803) 799-1700

Fax (803) 254-3678

We are a debt relief agency.  We help people file bankruptcy.

What does the Bible have to say about Bankruptcy?    Some believe that the Bible says that Bankruptcy is a sin.  Others have heard that the Bible condemns or forbids bankruptcy.   Some people just feel guilty about seeking to file for bankruptcy protection.  Some people feel bad that their creditors will not be paid.  So, what does the Bible say?

Scripture makes it clear that people are generally expected to pay their debts.  Leviticus 25:39.  However, the moral and legal obligation to pay debts must be balanced by the need for compassion and forgiveness.  Bankruptcy laws contemplate the "forgiveness" of debt. The Bible, likewise, contains debt forgiveness laws. Under U.S. law, a debtor may only receive a discharge of debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy once every eight (8) years.   Under Biblical law, the release of debts came at the end of seven (7) years.

Nehemiah 10:31b:

"Every seven years we will let our fields rest, and we will cancel all debts." -  Contemporary English Version

Deuteronomy 15:1-2:

"Every seven years you must announce, "The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back."  Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment. - Contemporary English Version

And in Matthew 18:21-35 and in Luke 7:36-50, Jesus told parables that used the illustration of forgiveness of a financial debt to teach about God's forgiveness and the requirement that mankind forgive. "And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both" (Luke 7:42).

    The Bible recognizes that debt is a form of slavery: "...the borrower is a slave to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7).  Thus, the debtor is a slave to the creditor and the Bible declares:

Deuteronomy 15:12-14:

"...in the seventh year you shall let [your Hebrew slave] go free from you.  And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; but you shall supply him liberally from your flock..."

    God’s law provided that the borrower/slave would keep property (a “supply from your flock”) so that the borrower/slave would not be forced to enslave themselves again just to survive.  Modern bankruptcy laws allow debtors to keep certain property when they file bankruptcy for the same reason.  This gives debtors a fresh start and discourages debtors from becoming borrower/slaves again, after the bankruptcy is over.

    In the New Testament, Jesus taught us that sin is spiritual debt.  In the Lord’s Prayer we are taught to pray "forgive us our debts [sins] as we forgive our debtors [those who sin against us]" (Matthew 6:12, Luke 11:4).   Borrowing produces a financial debt.  God sent Jesus to give us a "fresh start" by canceling all our “sin” debts through His suffering and death on the cross.  Our Bankruptcy laws, based on biblical principles, help overburdened debtors by canceling financial debt and giving them a fresh start economically.

Our examination of the Bible shows that filing for bankruptcy based upon real need is not sin. It is often the only effective means to deliver a debtor from the slavery of impossible debt and to break the cy­cle of borrowing.   Just as Jesus, by His love and mercy, gave us a fresh start and a new birth, bankruptcy can provide you with a fresh start - a new and brighter economic outlook.