by Ann Johnstone

Created on: June 27, 2008

The concept of tithing does appear in the Bible, and is therefore biblical. However it is not Christian. The tithe was basically the income tax of the nation of Israel. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find early Christians tithing.

Historically we find three kinds of tithes used by Israel in the time of the Old Testament. Firstly, there was a tithe of the produce of the land given to support the Levites (priests) who had no land of their own.

Secondly, a tithe of the produce of the land was given to sponsor religious festivals in Jerusalem, the Holy City, or religious capital of the nation. If this was too heavy to carry to Jerusalem, it could be converted into money.

Finally, every third year a tithe of the produce of the land was collected for the local priests, orphans, strangers and widows. Thus the total amount of the tithe for the Israelite was actually 23.3 per cent. Moreover, it consisted of produce, not money. For example, it included the seed and fruit of the land, and the herd or flock.

In reality, the tithing principle operates today in society through the taxation system, supporting national workers, politicians, the sick, disabled and poor. That is why we give the government a portion of our gross income each year.

Tithing belonged exclusively to the nation of Israel under the law. Jesus came to abolish the rituals of the law. We no longer need to sacrifice animals to cover our sins, and we are under no command to pay God a set portion of our wages. We are not under the law; it has been replaced by God's grace.

The priests of the Old Testament are with us no longer. Their equivalent today is NOT our clergy. There were no priests or ministers as we know them today in the church of the first century. These did not evolve until many years later. In fact the New Testament makes it clear that each believer is a priest in God's sight (I Peter 2:9), and that Jesus alone is our high priest ((Hebrews 4:14).

Tithing did not make a comeback until around the seventh and eighth centuries AD when land was commonly leased in Europe and the tithe began to be used to calculate payments to landlords. Then as church leaders became landlords, the tithe became the ecclesiastical tax. When church leaders today speak of a tithe they are referring to an institution that was a fusion of an Old Testament practice and a common system of land-leasing in medieval Europe.

Certainly widows, orphans and the poor are very much with us today and the New Testament makes it clear that these are the worthy recipients of our giving. The apostle Paul urged believers to give according to their ability, and to do so cheerfully, "not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

There is a little story told about Jesus and his disciples who were watching people give money into the Jewish temple treasury (Luke 21:1-4). Many wealthy people came along and carelessly tossed in some money. Then along came a poor widow who carefully put in two very small copper coins. Jesus commented to his disciples that this poor woman had put in more than all the others. They gave out of their wealth. She gave out of her poverty and, in effect, put in all that she had to live on.

God does not measure our giving as we measure it. Now that Jesus has paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, how much more should we give to those in genuine need, not under any sense of obligation, but out of an overflowing of gratitude for all he has given us.

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