Is Loan ‘Forgiveness’ the Christian Way?

C hristians are hotly divided on the forgiveness of student-loan debt. Last month, President Biden announced his plan, which forgives up to $10,000 in debt for those making less than $125,000 a year (or $250,000 for couples) and $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants.

At the announcement, Christians began to argue the merits and morals of federally mandated debt forgiveness. Most of the conversations have revolved around various interpretations of scripture related to personal debts.

Progressives were quick to point out that the Christian faith is founded on forgiveness of a debt we cannot pay (resulting from our sin). Conservatives opined that those now responsible for the “forgiven” debt were largely people of less means, the kind whom Christians are biblically instructed to care for.

The division and confusion is significant for a reason. To borrow a term from writer Hillary Morgan Ferrer, it’s “linguistic theft” — hijacking words and using them as propaganda — to suggest that “forgiveness” has much to do with Biden’s policy. The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates it could transfer up to $1 trillion in debt to taxpayers, 63 percent of whom have never attended college.

It’s not the unfairness of this model that should bother Christians, however. Forgiving this massive amount of debt is unwise, irresponsible, and does nothing to help future generations of students. Nor does it hold institutions of higher education responsible for their exorbitant prices. It’s bad stewardship of resources and does, in fact, place the debt burden on those who will ultimately be less wealthy throughout the course of their lives.

Despite what a 25-year-old college graduate is making today, their future earnings potential is 84 percent higher than that of their high-school-graduate counterpart. To concede that this kind of debt transfer is a Christian virtue makes little sense. It’s true that 60 percent of loan borrowers are Pell Grant recipients, meaning they qualified as low-income, but that doesn’t negate their lifetime earning potential.

Those who point to the biblical system of jubilee, whereby debts were forgiven periodically in Old Testament times, aren’t thinking critically about what that means in reality. Jubilee occurred in a vastly different time, culture, and context. Such a system would not easily transfer to today’s world of commerce and currency, never mind that debt exists in the form of mortgages, car payments, and credit cards as well. More importantly, “forgiveness” today, unlike in Bible times, means that those who have no choice or connection to the borrowers are responsible for the debt.

Some Christians arguing in favor of loan forgiveness are focused on the symbolism ignited in God’s forgiveness of our sins through Jesus, but that is a reductive and offensive characterization of salvation. “If you’re mad about Biden forgiving student debt, just wait until you hear about what Jesus did,” tweeted Shane Clairborne, a famed progressive Christian.

The difference between those two scenarios is vast. Jesus chose to pay a debt that couldn’t be paid by anyone else. He did so out of a deep love for His people. Biden, on the other hand, is forcing strangers to pay a debt for those who knowingly took on such a cost and could pay it for themselves. Additionally, our debt in the Christian sense is owed to God. Student-loan debt is owed to overpriced colleges and government entities.

Is it the Christian thing to do to ensure that these corrupt power structures see their dollar? Or might it be a wiser policy to work on lowering interest rates, hold universities accountable for pricing, or encourage young people to choose more economically sensible options, such as community college? The Bible urges Christians to be wise in deed and humble. Proverbs says that “a wise man saves for the future.” How is loan forgiveness “saving for the future” of the next generation when it gives universities a free pass on the high price of an education?

The plan helps millions today, but at what expense for tomorrow? It does nothing to address the source of the debt problem or devise ways to solve it. Is it Christian to support policy that helps fewer people in the long run? Is it Christian to support policy that unfairly puts debt on the backs of the less wealthy? Is it Christian to support putting the country into deeper debt? Deeper debt means less opportunity for flourishing for all. It means higher taxes, more government control, and less incentive to raise financially responsible humans who think critically about their long-term choices.

We need safety nets and grants and scholarships and cheaper access to college. We don’t need policies that hinder those things and ultimately harm those who made different choices. People incur all kinds of debt: medical, housing, transportation, credit card. Why are those who attend college on loans more worthy of receiving taxpayer money than a family struggling to pay for their child’s medical care? Or the man who, caring for his family, needs a working vehicle to get to his job every day?

You can, as a Christian armed with scripture, support the forgiveness of student-loan debt. But there are plenty of good reasons, rooted in scripture as well, to oppose it.

Editor’s note: This article has been emended since original publication.