An outsized mortgage, or a student loan that’s out of all proportion to the income the graduate can reasonably be expected to earn is no better than maxed out credit cards. Secular society blesses mortgages and student loans and calls them good debt. The only faith influence here might be in a direction toward moderation.

As believers, we are to be ***generally*** debt adverse. My own opinion on “good debt” vs. “bad debt” or how much debt to carry is that those are arguments from a secular perspective more than from a faith one. When we get into those discussions we’ve largely abandoned a faith perspective, and the discussions become mostly subjective.

Even as people of faith we tend to draw lines around our own preferences. Alas, we’re NOT perfect…

I like the way Kevin summed it up above. I was raised in a Christian family and basically grew up in a church. I’m still a Christian but until doing some research, I wasn’t fully-aware of the link between God and debt. I’ve been learning more and more about this and I believe that God doesn’t want us to have obscene amounts of debt. Having a mortgage and student loans is different from having maxed-out credit cards!

The Bible does say that we’re obligated to repay debts (Ecclesiastes 5:4). But it’s also an issue of doing the right thing. If I take a loan out and agree to pay it back, it’s not acceptable for me to suddenly decide I don’t want to pay it back.

I don’t think debt is anti-God, but I do believe that Christians should consider the Bible and their faith in all aspects of life, including finances.

As you know I write about money and finances from a Christian view and I don’t know if I lose readers or not. I hope not, but my guess is I probably do.

But, I have to write what I am passionate about and if I find myself skimping on what I believe to be a biblical view of money then I feel like I would be selling out.

I hope that my content and writing style is good enough that people will want to read what I wrote and be open to me challenging their belief system.

I try to write some good general PF information as well as some thought provoking and challenging posts that get to the heart attitudes we have about money.

What I’ve found is that I’ve ended up challenging myself probably more than anyone and I think I’ve grown as a person and a Christian because of it.

But I can definitely understand why some would be turned off by mixing faith and finance.

I have to agree with Kevin’s answer that debt itself is not so much anti-God, but money has the potential to represent a “false god”. Something that we place more importance on than God himself.

I don’t know if Christians are more debt-adverse than other religions, but I do know that Christians need to be very careful to not make hard and fast rules where hard and fast rules shouldn’t exist – that leads to legalism.

We do however have the obligation to be the best stewards, or managers, of God’s resources. Money is not ours, it’s His. So we have to look at how we are spending, saving, living etc and ask ourselves if this is bringing Him the most glory.

It really comes down to a heart issue – meaning that I could be completely debt free and yet be the most greedy and coveting guy on earth! Yeah, I’d be debt free, but my attitude towards my money isn’t bringing God more glory.

On the other hand, even from a non-religious view – debt, for the most part, is bondage. It typically causes more stress on our lives and on our relationships especially when it gets to be too much.