“LOVE YOUR ENEMIES”: USURY,CITIZENSHIP AND THE FRIEND‐ENEMY DISTINCTION

Through an analysis of the Scriptural treatment of usury, a constructive theological analysis of the question of the friend‐enemy distinction as a political category, its relationship to a Christian conception of universalism as determined by being in Christ, and the nature of faithful citizenship is forged. This essay argues that usury is a paradigmatic instance of the friend‐enemy distinction as defined by Carl Schmitt and as such is primarily a political act. The article closes by analysing Schmitt's reading of Jesus’ commandment to love enemies and suggests that after Christ, the friend‐enemy distinction ceases to be political and becomes missiological instead. The implication of this missiological conception is then related back to the on‐going question of usury.