Debt-Free Living: Eliminating Debt in a New Economy is published by Moody, runs 232 pages, and has sold more than 300,000 copies since the first edition.
One thing worth getting straight, because the older version of this review had it wrong. Larry Burkett wrote the original, but he died in 2003. This “New Economy” edition carries Chuck Bentley as co-author, and Bentley, who leads Crown Financial Ministries, is the one who updated it for a post-2008 world. So the framework is Burkett’s and the revisions are Bentley’s. If you are buying it expecting Burkett’s untouched original, this is not that.
What the book actually teaches
The core argument is that debt is a symptom, not the disease. Burkett’s position was that most debt comes from spending decisions made before the money arrives, so the fix is a written plan you follow rather than a clever consolidation.
Practically it covers building a budget you can live with, an order of attack for paying debt off, what to do about a mortgage and a car, and how giving and saving fit alongside repayment rather than waiting until the debt is gone. Burkett was consistent on that last point, which is worth noting because it cuts against most secular debt advice.
The biblical framing
Burkett founded Christian Financial Concepts and later chaired Crown Financial Ministries, and he writes from the conviction that money is entrusted rather than owned. He does not claim Scripture forbids all borrowing, and he does not promise God will make you wealthy. What he argues is that debt limits your freedom to be generous and to respond when God asks something of you, which is a more defensible case than either extreme.
Readability
Plain and a little dry. Burkett wrote like the engineer and businessman he was: numbered steps, worked examples, sample budgets. There is not much warmth here, and that is fine, because you are reading it to fix something.
The case studies are the weakest part, since some of the dollar figures and assumptions feel dated even in the revised edition. The principles have held up better than the examples.
Who it suits
Good for a man carrying consumer debt who wants a biblical framework rather than a hype-driven programme, and good for a couple willing to sit down and build an actual budget together. Also a reasonable church or small group resource, since it is not personality-driven.
Skip it if you want current tactical advice on rates, apps, or investing. It is a stewardship book with a debt plan attached, not a personal finance manual for this decade.
Bottom line
The most durable Christian book on getting out of debt, and still worth reading, with the caveat that you are getting Burkett’s framework as updated by Chuck Bentley. Read it for the principles and the budgeting discipline, not for up to date numbers.
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