“From a Christian perspective, one could consider the acceptance and spread of fiat money as a grave sin—a reflection of the flawed state of humanity, separated from God, and leading a misguided life. Fiat money stands for deceit, false testimony, and the insidious plundering of some by others.” — Thorsten Polleit
Modern financial systems—built on fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and inflation — violate God’s law, eroding stewardship and enslaving our neighbors through deceitful wealth transfers and dependence on these systems to provide our need for finance. Following the exposition of the Westminster Divines, this article seeks to expose these systems as sins prohibited by the 8th Commandment and contrasts these systems with the duties imposed by the same commandment. By tracing money’s manipulation from central banks to market speculation, we uncover a system at odds with biblical principles.
Yet hope remains: the Infinite Banking Concept © (IBC) offers a practical path to reclaim control, give generously, and find peace, aligning our finances with God’s Word. Join us to explore why Christians must reject the ways of Wall Street and Jekyll Island and embrace a wiser alternative.
The Value of Money
Money does not have value in and of itself. As Carl Menger explains, money is simply the “most saleable commodity.” The value of money lies in its ability to be exchanged for other goods or services. In the United States, the unit of currency is the U.S. dollar, which can be directly exchanged for anything we need. A stockpile of gold, silver, or dollars is only valuable because of what it can be exchanged for. A million dollars in a 401(k) is valuable only because you anticipate exchanging it for necessities during retirement.
Every nation in the world operates with fiat money, which is a currency declared legal tender and not backed by any physical commodity. Its value depends on public perception and trust in the issuing government. The value of the dollar is manipulated through control of the money supply and interest rates. As Tacanho notes, fiat money is a “currency of unlimited money”, violating a necessary characteristic of money – scarcity. The supply is controlled by the central banks through fractional reserve banking.A 1951 pamphlet published by the Federal Reserve notes that the most important operation of banks, “besides the safekeeping of money [is that] banks can create money.” Fractional Reserve banking is the system that allows this legalized counterfeiting. This system allows banks to retain only a fraction of their customers’ deposits as reserves while issuing loans far exceeding those reserves. A bank is a place where money is stored or accumulated, much like a snowbank is an accumulation of snow. Banking involves the storage and movement of money through credit, loans, and repayment.
Types of Banking
In demand deposit banking, money is stored with a bank, and the depositor receives a receipt, such as a check or demand deposit. Instead of redeeming the deposit for cash, the depositor can transfer it to make purchases. Under a full reserve requirement, the amount of claims issued by the bank equals the amount of money stored. Thus, if a loan is made, an equivalent amount is unavailable for withdrawals until the loan is repaid. In contrast, fractional reserve banking allows banks to issue more claims than the money actually stored. Banks are required to keep only a portion of their liabilities (deposits) as reserves relative to the loans they issue. Congressman Wright Patman described fractional reserve banking during a March 21, 1960, Congressional Hearing: “If I deposit [$1,000] with my bank and the reserve requirements imposed by the Federal Reserve are [10%], then the bank can make a loan to John Doe of up to [$900]. Where does the [$900] come from? It does not come out of my deposit of [$1,000]; on the contrary, the bank simply credits John Doe’s account with [$900]. The bank can acquire government obligations by the same procedure, by simply creating deposits to the credit of the government. Money creating is a power of the commercial banks.”
The reserve is not an actual cash reserve but an accounting reserve—the difference between the bank’s assets (loans) and liabilities (deposits).
Inflation
As Murray Rothbard (2008) states, “Commercial banks—that is, fractional reserve banks—create money out of thin air.” This increases the money supply and reduces the purchasing power of all existing dollars. When you take a loan from a commercial bank, you directly contribute to inflation.
Henry Hazlitt notes that the original meaning of the word inflation is “increasing the quantity of money and bank notes in circulation.” Rising prices are not inflation itself but the observable effect of monetary inflation. Historically, when Caesar clipped coins or mixed them with base metals to create more coins from the same amount of gold, he inflated the money supply. When people noticed their coins were lighter, they demanded more coins for purchases. As the money supply increases, the purchasing power of money decreases because more dollars chase the same amount of goods. This leads to higher prices.
“Thou Shall not Steal”
The Eighth Commandment, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15), presupposes the right to personal property. The Westminster Larger Catechism provides a deeper exposition of this commandment, outlining both duties required and sins forbidden (WLC Q99). Regarding the sins forbidden, it states:
The sins forbidden in the eighth commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are, theft, robbery, man-stealing, and receiving anything that is stolen; fraudulent dealing; false weights and measures; removing landmarks; injustice and unfaithfulness in contracts between man and man, or in matters of trust; oppression; extortion; usury; bribery; vexatious lawsuits; unjust enclosures and depopulations; engrossing commodities to enhance the price [monopolies or cornering], unlawful callings, and all other unjust or sinful ways of taking or withholding from our neighbor what belongs to him, or of enriching ourselves; covetousness; inordinate prizing and affecting worldly goods; distrustful and distracting cares and studies in getting, keeping, and using them; envying at the prosperity of others; as likewise idleness, prodigality, wasteful gaming [gambling]; and all others ways whereby we do unduly prejudice our own outward estate, and defrauding ourselves of the due use and comfort of that estate which God hath given us.
– (WLC Q142)
Theft as Monetary Policy
Fractional reserve banking and fiat money commit many of these sins, including theft and receiving stolen goods, as inflation erodes purchasing power, effectively stealing wealth from those who hold money; fraudulent dealing and false weights and measures, as fiat money lacks intrinsic value, and its manipulation misrepresents true value; injustice and unfaithfulness in contracts, as inflation undermines agreements based on stable purchasing power; usury, as excessive interest rates, especially on long-term loans, burden borrowers disproportionately; engrossing commodities to enhance prices, as central bank policies and money creation distort markets, benefiting insiders; and wasteful gaming, as encouraging speculation in the stock market under the guise of “investing” promotes gambling-like behavior.
Fiat money and fractional reserve banking drive individuals into perpetual debt, akin to “man-stealing” by enslaving them to financial systems. The absence of federal usury laws exacerbates this, while states also fail to apply limits on documented loans, assuming informed consent. However, a 5.3% APR over 30 years would result in paying $300,000 for a $150,000 house—a usurious burden by volume.
Beyond inflation, the modern financial system commits other violations. The welfare state redistributes wealth through force, with the IRS holding 4,600 firearms and 5 million rounds of ammunition for enforcement (Pavlich, 2021). Unjust taxation constitutes robbery, and recipients receive stolen goods through welfare programs. Social Security, sold as a savings plan, is a Ponzi scheme, with no actual trust fund. It is projected to be insolvent by 2035 (Paul, 2025). Benefits are funded by taxing current workers, with the worker-to-beneficiary ratio dropping from 5.1:1 in 1960 to an expected 2:1 by 2050 (Peterson Foundation, 2022). This encourages idleness and prodigality while discouraging personal responsibility. Senator Rand Paul’s annual Festivus Report and the Department of Government Efficiency highlight billions in wasteful spending, further robbing taxpayers.
Conventional financial advice promotes “saving” in the stock market through 401(k)s, IRAs, and similar plans. However, these are not true savings but speculative investments. Savings are safe, liquid, and guaranteed, while investments carry risk for potential reward. Every stock prospectus warns, “Past performance is not indicative of future results,” highlighting the speculative nature of stocks. For retail investors, the stock market is a marketplace for used stocks, not a means of providing capital to companies. Buying shares of Apple does not fund Apple’s operations; it merely speculates on price movements driven by supply and demand, often fueled by emotional market reactions. Mutual funds, despite their perceived sophistication, are equally speculative. As John Bogle, founder of Vanguard, noted in a 2009 interview: “It turns out that you, who put up 100% of the capital, you took 100% of the market risk, are getting about 25% of the market’s return. And the croupiers, who of course put up 0% of the capital and took 0% of the risk, are getting 75% of those compounded, long-term returns.” The stock market was designed to allocate capital, not to grow personal wealth or provide passive income. By encouraging speculation, the financial industrial complex, supported by government policies, keeps individuals dependent on banks and enslaved to debt.
Problems with Participation
If participating in this system harms ourselves and our neighbors, is it loving to continue? As Christians, we must measure our stewardship against biblical standards. The Westminster Larger Catechism outlines the duties required by the Eighth Commandment:
The duties required in the eighth commandment are, truth, faithfulness, and justice in contracts and commerce between man and man; rendering to everyone his due; restitution of goods unlawfully detained from the right owners thereof; giving and lending freely, according to our abilities, and the necessities of others; moderation of our judgments, wills, and affections, concerning worldly goods; a provident care and study to get, keep, use, and dispose of those things which are necessary and convenient for the sustentation of our nature, and suitable to our condition; a lawful calling, and diligence in it; frugality; avoiding unnecessary lawsuits, and suretyship, or other like engagements; and an endeavor, by all just and lawful means, to procure, preserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own.
– (WLC Q141)
The Infinite Banking Concept
A financial system consistent with Christian principles must reject the sins inherent in fiat money, fractional reserve banking, and the inflation they deliberately cause. Abolishing central banks, as advocated in works like End the Fed by Ron Paul, remains a worthy goal, yet one beyond individual reach. Even if such a goal were attained, banking should be a private function. Individuals can break the chains of Babylon through the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC)—a process that aligns with biblical stewardship by offering control, enabling charity, and fostering financial peace.
The Infinite Banking Concept (IBC) aligns with these principles. IBC is changing where we store our money and how we think about money in order to take control of the banking function in our lives. Here is how it works – we establish our own private banking system, accumulating our capital in an asset we own, rather than commercial banks. That asset is a guaranteed contract, freely entered, that has a unique feature: the right to borrow from the counterparty against its current value, which is also guaranteed to increase by the counterparty. The asset is then leveraged to finance the needs of life.
IBC is not a product but a process. However, it is ideally implemented through properly structured whole life insurance with a mutually owned insurance company. The policies are an asset based on truth, faithfulness, and justice in contracts. The insured trusts the insurer to manage funds responsibly, and the insurer trusts the insured to provide accurate information to assess risk. Further, the policyholder is also an owner of the insurance company, and both parties have a vested interest in the other’s continued success.
IBC allows individuals to borrow against the cash value of their life insurance policy while retaining complete control over repayment terms. This allows us to take advantage of leverage, the most efficient way to use money, and retain the opportunity cost of a purchase while simultaneously fostering frugality, diligence, and moderation in handling worldly goods. In this, IBC enables more informed decisions about true costs, encouraging charity and wiser provision for families. For example, a $1,000 charitable contribution, when financed through IBC, costs only $50 in interest over one year, preserving future earnings. This contrasts with conventional finance, where giving $1,000 forfeits over $2,400 in potential interest over 30 years, assuming just a 3% rate.
Unlike commercial banks, which lend non-existent money under rigid terms and charge interest for it, IBC empowers individuals to finance their needs directly, retaining complete control over repayment terms. With capital stored in such a vehicle, the value accumulates at unbroken compounding interest, because there are no withdrawals.
Debt itself is not sinful—in fact, the Westminster Divines omit it from Q142’s forbidden acts, condemning only usury as excessive interest (WLC Q142). Scripture warns, “The borrower is slave to the lender” (Prov. 22:7), yet IBC redefines this dynamic. The loans are perfectly collateralized: the lender simultaneously guarantees the value of the collateral. The lender also guarantees that the collateral will only go up in value. This means the loan cannot be defaulted on, repayment will occur either through the individual’s plan, policy lapse, or death. This structure upholds truth, faithfulness, and justice in contracts (WLC Q141), granting individuals the freedom to adjust money management to their needs. As the saying goes, “He who has the gold makes the rules.”
The alternative is spending out of a sinking fund. In this, compounding interest is broken, and capital previously accumulated is liquidated, never to earn interest again. True, no repayment plan is required, but without repayment, the fund will quickly be diminished. Unless opportunity cost and inflation are accounted for in repayment, purchasing power is lost. Cash spent from a savings account should be treated as a debt to ourselves and repaid with interest at the market rate. This is what it means to think like a banker.
Instead of storing money in commercial banks, where deposits fuel inflation through fractional reserve lending, individuals should systematically accumulate capital in a private bank: a properly structured, dividend-paying, whole life insurance policy with a mutually owned company (Nash, 2008). Through the unique features of such a contract, the Infinite Banking Concept enables the practitioner to capture the opportunity cost of purchases, make more informed decisions on the true cost, and retain complete control of their money. This control encourages greater moderation of our affections concerning worldly goods, allowing for greater charity, greater wisdom in our provision for family, and encourages diligence in the vocations that God has called us to.
Scripture commands us about 70 times not to fear or worry. Conventional finance encourages focusing on market fluctuations, fostering stress, and misplaced faith in secular constructs. IBC promotes long-range thinking, allowing flexibility in repayments during emergencies or opportunities, unlike rigid commercial bank loans. By practicing IBC, you retain control, manage repayments as needed, and maintain diligence in stewardship, thus ensuring repayment to leave an inheritance (Proverbs 13:22). IBC is not merely storing money, but systematically accumulating capital for present and future needs, deployable in controlled investments or speculative ones if chosen.
As Christians, this world is our home, charged to us before the fall (Genesis 2:15). It is not enough to buy “faith-based” funds as a Christian version of “ESG” while still supporting the underlying system that is fundamentally designed to steal and enslave. We are commanded to love our neighbors and leave an inheritance for our children’s children. Participating in a system designed to steal and enslave violates these commands. Our financial management should align with God’s Word, not Wall Street.
References
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Cook, V. (2025). Trump’s slush fund. Mises Institute. https://mises.org/mises-wire/trumps-slush-fund
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Menger, C. (2009). On the origins of money. Mises Institute. https://mises.org/mises-daily/nature-and-origin-money
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Nash, R. N. (2008). Becoming Your Own Banker. Birmingham, Al: Nelson Nash Institute.
Paul, T. (2025). Will Social Security run out? Here’s what could happen to your benefits. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/select/will-social-security-run-out-heres-what-you-need-to-know/
Pavlich, K. (2021). How many guns does the IRS have? Townhall. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2021/11/17/how-many-guns-do-irs-agents-have-n2599189
Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (2022). The ratio of workers to Social Security beneficiaries is at a low and projected to decline further. https://www.pgpf.org/article/the-ratio-of-workers-to-social-security-beneficiaries-is-at-a-low-and-projected-to-decline-further
Rothbard, M. N. (2008). The mystery of banking. Mises Institute.
Shostak, F. (2025). Should inflation be defined only as price increases? Mises Institute. https://mises.org/mises-wire/should-inflation-be-defined-only-price-increases
Tacanho, M. (2022). Today’s fiat dollar standard is founded in lies. Mises Institute. https://mises.org/mises-wire/todays-fiat-dollar-standard-founded-liesWestminster Assembly. (1647). Westminster Larger Catechism. The Westminster Standard. https://thewestminsterstandard.org/westminster-larger-catechism
