Appendix C – Tables
SAMPLE Total number of cases 27 (40%) 17 (26%) 23 (34%)
Tithes: The root of the word tithe is given by the World Book Encyclopedia as
„Teotha‟ which means “a tenth part”1. Clark refers to tithe as the tenth of all the increase that God gives to a person. By the word increase Clark means “everything that increases the value of earthly possessions that God places into a person‟s trust, whether it was earned income or unearned gifts.2 Thus, to tithe is to give a tenth of one‟s property or produce for the support of priesthood or other religious institutions or purposes.3 Furthermore, tithe is a tenth part of one‟s income donated to the church.4 It is a tenth part of a person‟s entire possessions or of the yearly increases paid in kind as a tax by the Hebrews and other ancient people.5
Webster‟s Third New International Dictionary defines tithe as an original voluntary but later legally required payment of one tenth of one‟s yearly income for the support of the local church in medieval times and later. Tithe was a payment in kind or money of one tenth of the yearly profits arising from land, stock, or personal industry as traditionally required of the parishioners in the United Kingdom for the support of the parish church. This practice lasted until the 19th century.6 From the foregoing, it can be observed that tithing was originally a voluntary act and not a legalistic demand. It was done when the givers felt the urge. How come it becomes legally binding on Christians today? Moreover, it was originally majorly in kind and not solely in cash as it is being practiced today. There is therefore the need for the church to reexamine her traditions of giving for religious purposes.
1 William F. McDonald „Tithe‟ The Word Book Encyclopedia vol. 19, 1978. 236
2 John Clark Sr. Tithes and Offerings Study Guide. www.joywell.org/apologetics/clark. html.
3 H.H. Guithire Jr. the Interpreter‟s Dictionary of the Bible, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990. 654.
4 Morris G, and Lois I. Watkins (eds.) “Tithe” The Complete Dictionary for Home and School California: Gospel Light, 1992. 722.
5 Webster, “Tithe” The Encyclopedia of Southern Baptist vol. 11. Nashville: Boardman Press, 1971.
1418.
6 Babcock Gove ed. in Chief. “Offering” Webster‟s Third New International Dictionary Massachusetts: Merriam Webster Inc., 1986. 1566.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
Collins indicates how the biblical system of tithing has been a point of controversy among Christians for years. Those who oppose tithing today, claim it is part of the old covenant that was instituted mainly for the support of the Levitical priesthood. The proponents of this opinion acknowledge that though the principle of giving to support the ministry is still valid, God does not command a certain percentage of one‟s income. Collins concludes that such people have ignored clear passages of the Bible on tithes because, from Genesis to Revelation, tithing is the only financial system God endorses and declares that those who faithfully tithe will be blessed.7
Following Collins, Hidalgo defines tithing as the giving of a percentage of all that one owns or makes throughout life which holds a special distinction in the Bible that is not true of any other request made by God.8 Hawthorne emphasizes that underlying the giving of tithe is the basic idea that “the earth is the Lord‟s and its fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1)”. Therefore, to recognize God‟s ownership of the land and its produce, a tent should be given. Failure to do so in Judah was interpreted as robbing God (Malachi 3:8-10). Man‟s possessions of material things should be seen as gifts given by God, for He exclusively owns them.9 The New Encyclopedia Britannica explains tithe as a custom dating back to the Old Testament periods that has been adopted by the Christian Church such that worshippers contribute a tenth of their income for religious purposes, mostly under ecclesiastical or legal obligations. It states further that the money or its equivalent in crops, farm stock etc are used to support the clergy, maintain churches, and assist the poor.10
Collins argues that “the tithing principle in God‟s word transcends merely giving of tenth of one‟s increase” but rather it revolves around whether the giver is of a willing and obedient spirit who truly desires to obey God or whether he behaves like “a pharisaical moaner” who must be forced or dragged “like a stubborn goat” into doing what is required. He states further that God commands tithing and by doing so demonstrates that a person worships God. Thus, to tithe is an act of
7 Martin G. Collins Tithing http://Sabbath.org//index.cfm/fuseaction/
library.sr/CT/BS/K/224/Tithing.htm. retrieved on – 02/02/09
8 Chris Czach Hidalgo, Tithe: The Meaning mhtml:file://E:/thite.mht. retrieved on 29/01/09
9 G.F. Hawthorne „Tithe‟ The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology; vol 3 Grand Rapids: Paternoster Press, 1971. 853.
10 The New Encyclopedia Britannica vol.11 Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. 2005, 802.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
faith, a spiritual act like prayer.11 Brattgard opines that the Old Testament ordinance that has received more attention than any other is the law of the tithe. It has also been given a central place in the present-day stewardship orientation. In the entire history of Israel, tithing as an ordinance was a keynote practice that can be traced throughout the history of the entire Old Testament.12
Wester affirms that when the Jewish people were returning from the Babylonian captivity and rebuilding Jerusalem, Nehemiah made solid arrangements concerning tithe (Nehemiah 10:37 and 12:44). The prophetic preaching on the subject of tithe takes the form of severe rebuke of the nation for their negligence in presenting their tithe unto the Lord. Amos and Malachi used harsh words on the people for such negligence. (Malachi 3:10).13
Hastings states that the origin of one-tenth of a person‟s material increase is lost in antiquity. He asserts that even though the first mention of tithe in the Bible begins with Abraham in Genesis 14:20, nothing makes it the beginning of the custom. He affirms that tithes were given to deities and political rulers by pagan nations before Abraham tithed in Genesis 14:20. For example the Arabians gave a tithe to the god Sabis, and the Carthaginians tithed to Milkarth, the god of Tyre. He records that a tithe of the cattle was given to the gods and that traces of tithing are found in Assyria and Babylonia, and early records show tithing to political rulers by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and later the Mohammedans. In support of other writers, Hastings affirms that tithing did not begin with the Mosaic Law and that it was almost universally practised in the ancient pagan world as well as by early Hebrews like Abraham and Jacob.14
Hough and Thompson, in support of the above statement of the origin of tithes, admit that the practice of tithing goes right back into antiquity. There is evidence of the payment of a tenth of the fruits of the field and flocks and possessions of all kinds even of the war spoils among Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, and Chinese. Tithe is said to be sometimes a religious payment and sometimes a political one, and sometimes a
11 Martin G. Collins. “Tithing: Second Tithe”, http://sabbath.org//index.cfm/fuseaction/library.sr.
02/02/2009
12 Hegal Brattgard, God‟s Stewards Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963. 90.
13 Brooks H. Wester, “The Christian and the Tithe” Resource Unlimited. William L. Hendricks (ed.) Nashville: The Stewardship Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1972. 158-159.
14 Robert J. Hastings, My Money and God. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1961. 61.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
mixture of the two when the monarch was both priest and king.15 These assertions simply demonstrate the fact that tithe remains a controversial phenomenon. Wilson agrees that the account of Cain and Abel‟s offering may be an allusion to the practice of tithing. However, definite mention of tithes occurs in Genesis 14:18-20 when Abraham meets Melchizedek on his way back from the war. It appears naturally in the story and there is no need for any explanation. It was as if there was a prior knowledge about the phenomenon.16 According to Grindstaff, tithing could easily be traced to the Bible through the Bethel experience. In Genesis 28:22, Jacob at Bethel sensed the worship relationship between earth and heaven thus he confessed “of all that thou shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee”.17
The passage about Abraham‟s tithe to Melchizedek as the origin of tithing in the Bible has been criticised by some theologians and scholars of the Bible. They opine that there is no evidence in the text that the tithes that Abraham gave was commanded by God but rather it was Abraham‟s personal decision and choice thus making it a completely voluntary act. They also argue that Abraham who tithed to Melchizedek the king of Salem city gave out of the best of the booty taken from war thus his tithe never made mention of wheat, corn, wine, oil, or cattle from Abraham‟s personal possessions but rather from war spoils got from nations he had conquered. These scholars oppose the assertion that this account is the origin of the tithe in the Bible as it was a once and for all account that the scripture mentioned concerning Abraham‟s tithe and there is no further evidence to show that this was his usual or general practice. These theologians assert also that the tithe required under the Mosaic law was the increase of crops and fruits, thus, they reject Abraham tithing to Melchizedek as the foundations to be used for today‟s tithing.18
Scholars have also criticised the citing of Jacob‟s tithe (Genesis 28:20-22) as the origin of tithe because he was believed to have tithed his personal possessions.
Their criticism is based on the ground that Jacob made a vow in response to God‟s visitation to him in a dream and the promise of His abiding presence with, protection and blessing to Jacob in all his journeys until he comes back. Having
15 John E.T. Hough and Ronald W. Thompson, The Service of our Lives. London: SMC Press, 1962. 73
16 J. Christian Wilson “Tithe” The Anchor Bible Dictionary Vol. 6 New York: Doubleday, 1992.
578.
17 W. E. Grindstaff, Principles of Stewardship Development. Nashville: Convention Press, 1967. 20.
18 Aurelius Raines http://www.Jesussavesfromsin.com/biblical-truths-concerning-paying-oftithes-tithes.pdf retrieved on 11/06/2009.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
been promised to by God, (vs. 13-15), Jacob then vowed that if God kept his promise, by being with, and by blessing him, then He would be his God and out of the blessings He will give him, the tenth would be given back to God. What theologians infer from Jacob‟s tithe is that, it was a conditional type and that God did not command Jacob to tithe. It was also a voluntary tithe in line with Abraham‟s example. There was also no evidence that tithing was the general practice of Jacob‟s life because it was even delayed for twenty years.19 It can also be observed that Jacob did not go straight to Bethel to redeem his vow (God having blessed Jacob as promised), until God commanded Jacob to go back to Bethel (Genesis 33:17-20;
35:1-3). Thus, this is a shaky basis for the origin of tithing in the Bible.
Furthermore, there is no place in the Bible where it is recorded that Jacob tithed when he came back from his journey of twenty years.
Since the origin of tithe in the Bible cannot be traced to neither Cain and Abel, nor Abraham and Jacob as earlier mentioned, writers have opined that the record of actual tithing system in the Bible begins with the Mosaic laws among the Israelites. Raines states that “the law of tithing was not established until the law of Moses …” This obligation is not only made in the law of Moses, but the law of Moses gives the purpose of the law.20 This is because, the Bible did not record any personal tithe from the harvest of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob until the Mosaic law.
The Hebrew word for tithe maser means a tenth, and the Greek word for ten is deka.
The symbolism of ten in the life of the Israelites is so extensive that it applies to measurements in the temple, prescribed number of plagues and complete number of the Commandment (Decalogue). The origin of the notion of the giving of one‟s tenth to the deity is lost in antiquity.21
Offerings: Offerings in the worship of Old Testament had various themes and there is no simple clear theory about it. The Levitical sacrifices represented several emphases. Sometimes it dealt with atonement for sins, sometimes it was done as an act of reparation and sometimes in symbolic fashion to show the idea of total dedication to God in sacrifices that symbolically “ascend” in the fire of the
19 Brian Anderson. Old Testament Tithing vs New Testament Giving http://www.solidrocks .net/library/anderson/ sermons /ot.tithing.vs.nt.giving.php retrieved on 10/06/2009.
20 Aurelius Raines http://www.Jesussavesfromsin.com/biblical-truths-concerning-paying-oftithes-tithes.pdf retrieved on 11/06/2009.
21 William L. Hendricks (ed.) “Tithing in the New Testament” in Resource Unlimited. Nashville:
Stwardship Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. 1972. 190.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
sacrifice. Sometimes it is done to express thanksgiving in the offering of that gift.
The “peace offering” was occasionally done to establish a mystical union with Yahweh (Judges 6:18-21; 13:16; Psalm 59:12ff). However, as the offering was eaten before Yahweh, the thought was that of fellowship with him and not of feeding on Him. In all, offerings served to ratify the covenant with Yahweh. It was an act of gratitude to God based on His past mercies and gracious acts, and called for continuous loyalty on the part of the nation.22
Melton, in answering the question regarding the proportion of money a person is expected to pay, gives his answer from Malachi and opines that two things are discovered about proportionate giving which differentiates the tithe from the offering. He states that the Christian is obliged to give back to God a portion of what he has been blessed with and that is the tithe or ten percent of his income. To him, that is the least proportion the Bible teaches that a Christian should give. The second thing about proportionate giving according to Melton is offering. He defines an offering as the amount given above the tithe, thus he makes the distinction between tithe and offering in this statement: “The tithe is an obligation to give; the offering is an opportunity to give”23 Herb also differentiates tithe from offering in the following statement: “A tithe is 10%, an offering is anything over 10%”24 Van Gemeren argues that the word offering denotes several categories of gifts to the Lord. It could mean:
1. A required offering to be burnt wholly or partially on the altar.
2. A voluntary offering to be burnt partially on the altar, and to be consumed by the priests and the Israelites as a communal meal.
3. It can be said that all sacrifices are offerings but not all offerings are sacrifices and there are several offerings25. It is important to clarify here that the offerings that is the focus of this research does not include blood sacrifice.
22 Ralph P. Martins, The Worship of God: Some Theological, Pastoral and Practical Reflections, Grand Rapids: William & Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. 65.
23 Donnie Melton, Tithes and Offerings. www. Learnthebible.org/tithes-and-offerings- section-4-lesson-6.
Html. Pp. 2-3 (29/1/09).
24 Herb http:/ christianblogs. christianet.com retrieved on 04/03/2009.
25 W.A. Van Gemeren. “Offerings” Evangelism Dictionary of Theology. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984. 788.
UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
The origin of offerings in the Bible is not as controversial as that of tithe. However, there is an overlap between tithes and offering and there are correlations between tithe and offering before the laws guiding them were made during the time of Moses. The origin of the offering is traced to the incident of Cain and Abel‟s gifts to the Lord in Genesis 4:3-7. This singular event has been referred to when discussing the origin of the tithes.26
The following facts from the passage lend credence to the assertion above:
1. That the two of them (Cain and Abel) were of different profession is a proof that they were giving their gifts as offerings to the Lord.
2. That the Mosaic law offerings involved blood sacrifices could also be a proof that they both were giving offering out of their substances.
That Abel‟s offering was accepted, which was a blood offering could also be a proof and an allusion to the actual offerings which would later be part of God‟s requirement of their descendants in the future.27
We have been able to infer from the various contributors that tithes and offerings were voluntary tax or gifts paid either in percentage of (tenth) for the former and beyond any percentage for the latter. The practice of both has been from time immemorial. Also, the items paid could be in cash or kind depending on the giver‟s decision. However, the writers failed to emphasize the importance of the ethical implications of tithes and offerings on today‟s Christian community.