“Luther believed that the church was called publicly and unequivocally not only to reject the destructive elements of the growing profit economy but also to develop a constructive social ethic in response to them. He and his colleagues promoted public accountability of large business through government regulation. Here Luther is not rejecting the profit economy out of hand, but rather promoting government control that would limit the interest rate to 5 percent in contrast to the 30 to 40 percent that was common in his time. Luther proposed a state-regulated economy that could enact price controls.
For Luther, the biblical call to love the neighbor is expressed in society by justice and equity.
While Luther’s efforts to develop welfare legislation were well received in the cities and territories that accepted the Reformation, his efforts to encourage civic control of capitalism did not gain comparable support. Of course, it is hardly surprising that when interest rates could soar up to 40 percent, bankers turned a deaf ear to his call for a 5 percent ceiling on interest. Also, Luther’s criticism of capitalism included far more than exorbitant interest rates.
He argued that social need always stood above personal gain:
“In a well-arranged commonwealth the debts of the poor who are in need ought to be cancelled, and they ought to be helped; hence the action of collecting has its place only against the lazy and the ne’er-do-well.”
Luther experienced that it is easier to motivate assistance to individuals than it is to curb the economic practices that create their poverty. Poverty’s squalor calls out for redress, whereas the attractive trappings of business muffle criticism. Yet the effects of early capitalism could be felt, and the common good was being undermined by the activities of large businesses that could not be held accountable even by the emperor. In Wittenberg between 1520 and 1538 prices doubled, but wages remained the same. Luther called this disguised murder and robbery.
“How skillfully Sir Greed can dress up to look like a pious man if that seems to be what the occasion requires, while he is actually a double scoundrel and a liar.”
Indeed, “greed has a pretty and attractive cover for its shame; it is called provision for the body and the needs of nature. Under this cover, greed insatiably amasses unlimited wealth.”
Foster R. McCurley in Social Ministry in the Lutheran Tradition (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2008) 62-63