ABSTRACT
Jews and Christians in considering the debt problems of the Third World are very well served by their sacred books. The Torah, the Old Testament and the New Testament have clear texts on the forgiveness of debt, brought to a beautiful summation in the Sermon at Nazareth of Jesus Christ when, at the outset of his Ministry, quoting from the Prophet Isaiah, he declared his mission in the World. For 'torments with the rod' in the debt context read 'pursues through the Paris Club'. Debt cancellation as it must be presented for the wider economic and financial community is a matter of economics. The sizeable results achieved by charitable appeals on TV and radio, such as Comic Relief which will take up the debt theme in 1999, make it impossible to ignore the charitable impulse in economic matters. Indeed by using modern polling techniques the extent of charitable input can easily be quantified for incorporation in economic models.
