Discussion Question

Description

W1 Biblical Foundations-Maintaining Financial Records

Certain learning activities are included in this course to provide opportunities for students to explore biblical themes that address faith in the context of the discipline studied.  The class is designed to provide freedom of thought and debate within an environment that informs students of Christian values and choices that reflect the University’s mission.

While the biblical foundation activities are not graded, your regular participation is strongly encouraged, as the weekly devotionals will predictably add considerable value to your spiritual growth.

Accounting is the record-keeping of transactions – more commonly known as “keeping the books” – in order to track the profitability and current financial condition of a business.  God keeps records and books as well.  Daniel 7:10 and Revelation 20:12 refer to “books [that were] opened” in the context of a court or judgment.  These records are used by the court to determine the outcome of each case based on the spiritual condition of the person in question.

First, there is the Book of Life, which contains the names of those who will be in heaven (Revelation 21: 22-27).  The Apostle Paul wrote that those who labored for God will him would have their names inscribed in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3).  Then, closely related to the Book of Life is the Book of Remembrance which records the good done by God’s people (Malachi 3:16).  Finally, there is the Book of Iniquity, in which a person’s sins are recorded (Isaiah 65: 6 -7).  In Psalm 51:9, the psalmist pleads “blot out all my iniquities” (NKJV).  “Blotting” suggests that the sins are recorded somewhere and therefore need to be erased or redacted. Keeping meticulous and accurate records in any of these books is vitally important; the decisions and judgments made based on the information in these books have eternal consequences.

Imagine if sloppy record-keeping results in someone’s name not being recorded in the Book of Life – when it should have been.  Or what if good deeds are incorrectly recorded in the Book of Iniquity? Good record-keeping is what accounting is all about, particularly as it relates to keeping financial records of how resources have been acquired and how they have been used. Based on the above passage and other related readings, what are biblical reasons for maintaining accounting records?

  some of the sources for information are listed above; use at least two other sources.