The Lord laid it out pretty clearly in Deuteronomy 28: blessings for obedience to his principles would make his people ‘the head and not the tail’, and sufficiently prosperous to be able to lend to those in need. Curses for disobedience would make them ‘the tail and not the head’, needing to borrow to stay alive. In which of those camps are today’s horrendously indebted nations? In which of them are today’s credit-card-owning, mortgage-paying Christians?

Gottfried Hetzer’s 15 years as a financial controller for international corporations have certainly given him some useful insights into banking policy and international capital flows. But it’s his love for the Lord and for Kingdom principles which shines through the 200 pages of this crisp and insightful book on that particularly controversial issue: money.

You don’t need an economics degree or a banking background to understand that the world is in a financial mess. And thankfully, that’s just where Hetzer starts: he writes clearly and accessibly, without presuming any prior level of financial knowledge. This is a book anyone can read, and arguably, a book every Christian should read.

Analysing Babylon

Structured in six parts, Hetzer starts by analysing how the world financial system works, explaining simply why money is a more useful tool than barter, as well as basic concepts like interest, inflation and deflation. He then unpacks problems with the current system, covering topics such as debt, corruption, speculation, artificial money creation, ecological exploitation and war.

Hetzer offers a chillingly simple explanation of how modern banks are allowed to treat their investors’ money as their own, lending it out multiple times and making money out of nothing, giving nothing back to society, concentrating more and more power in fewer and fewer hands, and disadvantaging the least able in society.

Gottfried Hetzer’s 15 years as a financial controller have certainly given him some useful insights on money - but it’s his love for the Lord which shines through.

Building his critique, he eventually concludes that the global financial system has become so distorted, corrupt and destructive as to be worthy of the title ‘Babylon’. We have arrived at a situation far from God’s original design, where people serve ‘the system’ rather than the system serving people.

The next two sections of the book are devoted to problem-solving, looking at worldly ‘solutions’ to financial issues and then contrasting these with biblical principles. Time and again, the ideologies and ethics that underpin the world of finance are shown to fall short of the values outlined in Scripture, with the conclusion drawn that an entirely different, Kingdom-based approach is needed.

Personal Advice

Hetzer makes compelling arguments about corporate banking, but it’s at the ‘what does this mean for me?’ level that this book really excels. Time and again he reminds us that everything we have is God’s anyway; that we are just stewards; that naked we came into this world and naked we will depart.

Constant reference to Bible texts (and occasional references to the apocryphal Sirach) keep both author and reader rooted in God’s word, as the book moves from issue to issue.

Are we sure God is calling us to own a house – or are we assuming this because it’s what our culture says we are entitled to? Might he not be calling us to witness to our landlord by being an exemplary tenant? We may have God in our home lives and our work lives, but how often do we make him the head of our financial decision-making?

Pertinent and Practical

This is a helpful, challenging, biblical book that is pertinent for our present times, offering a ‘big picture’ commentary as well as a lot of practical, personal advice, and always putting money in its proper place: in true submission to the rule of Christ.

Time and again Hetzer reminds us that everything we have is God’s anyway; that we are just stewards; that naked we came into this world and naked we will depart.

Hetzer divides the book into useful thematic sub-sections (e.g. ‘Inflation’, ‘Bribery’, ‘Interest’) so it can easily be revisited as a reference source. But it’s not just a textbook: it is a challenge to our worldly attitudes towards money that also offers a biblical alternative. We may not be able to change the whole world, but we can certainly change our own attitudes. Hetzer gives us plenty of Kingdom advice on precisely how – on everything from tithing to car sales.

Hetzer’s introduction ends with this thought (p10): “remember, creation has delivered its own Creator to the cross for a ridiculous 30 silver coins. Isn’t it disturbing that the image of God (here the man Judas) has delivered God Himself for a pittance to die innocently?”

A useful and stimulating book.