The History of Tithing

The modern definition of tithing is giving 10% of one’s gross income to a religious organization. During New Testament times “tithing” referred to the Jewish practice of giving 10% of one’s income to support the Temple.

Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.

In Genesis 14:20 Abraham is victorious in a battle and gives a tithe of his treasure to Melchizedek. This was the first Biblical tithe. It was voluntarily and, as far as we know, he tithes only once.

Numbers 18:21-26
21″To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.
22 “The sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die.
23 “Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel they shall have no inheritance.
24 “For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, ‘They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.’”
25 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
26 “Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, ‘When you take from the sons of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a tithe of the tithe.

Five hundred years later, God instituted a law requiring the people of Israel to tithe. The purpose of the tithing law was to support the priests and Levites who served in the Tent of Meeting. Tithing continued after King Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem to replace the Tent of Meeting (1 Kings 6-10). Upon completion of the Temple, the priests and Levites relocated their sacrificial ministry from the Tent to the Temple. The people continued to support the priests through tithing and the temple tax. Jewish people practiced tithing until the last Temple was destroyed by the Romans around 70 AD. With the destruction of the Temple, the ancient Jews ceased tithing as there was no longer a Temple or priestly ministry in need of support.

The Christian Church emerged some time before the destruction of the Temple (Acts 2). Most of the first Christians were of Jewish descent. The Letter to the Hebrews taught that the Temple was no longer necessary, as forgiveness of sins now came through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ, not through the sacrificial ministry of priests in the Temple (Heb 10). With Temple gone, tithing to support it was gone. There is no record of Jewish Christians tithing to the Temple after the foundation of the Church. Additionally, the New Testament does not contain any command that Christians tithe.

References to tithing in the New Testament are limited to Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, Luke 18:12 and Hebrews 7:8-9. The verses in Matthew and Luke are spoken to Jews still subject to the tithing laws, not to Christians. In these verses, Jesus questions the priorities of Jews who place a heavier emphasis on tithing than on charity, mercy and the like. Hebrews refers to tithing to make the point that Christ is greater than the Jewish high priest (Heb 7:8-9, see also Matt 17:26). The author does not instruct Christians to tithe because doing so would contradict the main theme of the letter which is to prove to Jewish Christians that the resurrection of Christ renders the Temple obsolete.

Soon after Pentecost, the Christian faith spreads beyond Israel and many Gentiles become Christians.  In each city the Apostle Paul visited, he evangelized the local synagogue first, resulting in God-Fearers and Jews converting to Christianity. These new Christians formed local churches in homes (Acts 8:3, Rom 16:5, 1 Cor 16:19, Col 4:15, Phm 1:2). Paul and his colleagues repeated this process in several cities, founding churches in Galatia, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Philippi, Colossae and elsewhere. As Paul traveled from city to city, he would instruct his churches remotely through letters. Paul insists that Gentile Christians reject circumcision and subjection to the Jewish Law (Gal 5:2-6). Paul never suggests that Gentile Christians begin tithing to the Temple or paying the Temple tax. Nor does Paul–or any other New Testament author– institute any system similar to tithing for the support of the Church.

Since there was no New Testament equivalent to tithing, how were churches supported? During New Testament times, churches were not institutions. They did not have dedicated buildings or full-time leaders supported by attendees. Instead, churches were similar to modern day home groups. They met in homes with leaders who had means of income other than congregational support. New Testament churches, in other words, had little if any costs of operation. Despite this, Paul teaches that apostles had the right to request financial support. The churches also routinely supported widows, orphans and other poor people (1 Tim 5:9, Acts 2:45, Acts 6:1). Paul placed a special emphasis on supporting famished Christians in Jerusalem, asking the Corinthian Christians to take a regular collection for a time to support them. Before asking this, he reminds the Corinthians that the collection is voluntary and not a command (2 Cor 9:7).  The early Church gave freely as they had means, not because of an expectation or religious requirement that they give a fixed percentage of their income. The Church continued with this voluntary approach to giving for over three centuries.

In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Prior to Constantine’s conversion, Christianity was illegal and churches met secretly in homes with part-time leaders who had other sources of income. Constantine made Christianity both legal and a status symbol causing the Church to expand rapidly. The Church moved out of homes and into buildings and employed full-time ministers, creating a much greater need for income. The New Catholic Encyclopedia’s article on tithing  summarizes this situation and what happened next:

“The early Church had no tithing system. The tithes of the Old Testament were regarded as abrogated by the law of Christ… As the Church expanded, however, and its material needs grew more numerous and complex, it became necessary to adopt a definite rule to which people could be held either by a sense of moral obligation or by a precept of positive law. The tithing of the Old Law provided an obvious model and it began to be taught—more commonly in the West, however, than in the East—that the faithful should give tithes of their income. When the view began to get sufficient support, it found legislative expression. The Council of Macon in 585 ordered payment of tithes and threatened excommunication to those who refused to comply.”

Catholic Christians believe in the authority of the Pope, the Councils and the Bible. As such, they tithe as defined by the Council of Macon and later pronouncements on tithing. For Protestant Christians relying solely on the Bible, they find themselves tithing not because it was the Way of Christ or the Apostles, but instead, it is out of a Catholic commandment. They tithe out of tradition and rationalized justifications of Protestant churches who have grown accustom to the income.

Remember, each time the New Testament talks about tithing, it is referring to the Old Testament law requiring Jews to give 10% of their income to support the operation of the Temple and the Jewish priests. The Letter to the Hebrews teaches that Christ’s sacrifice rendered the Temple and the priests obsolete. This is why the New Testament never applies the practice of tithing to Christians.

The requirement that Christians “tithe” to support Church buildings and pastors is similar to how the Jews tithed to support the Temple and priests. It was devised by the Church in 585 AD, centuries after the New Testament was written. This further explains why such a requirement is not mentioned in the New Testament. While the New Testament neither instructs nor suggests that Christians set aside a fixed percentage of their income to support Church leaders or church buildings, it does encourage Christians to give freely and generously to worthy causes such as aged parents, the poor, missionaries and Church leaders. The New Testament states that Church leaders may earn their living from the Church, meaning the leaders may appeal to the Church for voluntary support. The New Testament does not give guidance on deciding whether, or how much, to give to the church, missionaries or the poor, other than the fafct that the early church gave everything freely so that none were lacking. This means the common Protestant teaching that the local church should have pride of place in Christian giving (before charity, missions or other religious causes) has no Biblical support. It is worth mentioning that 1 Tim 5:8, 1 Tim 5:2 and Mark 7:11 suggest that caring for one’s family and parents is a top priority.

At a time in Christianity when so many people want to gripe about Mary worship, the Saints, the Pope, and all the other Catholic creeds, I find it to be a mystery as to why people insist on adhering to this one. Christians giving without compulsion and of a cheerful heart is what God wants – but instead – we get repeated rationalizations and twists of the Old Testament scriptures to justify the money machine that is tithing. Of course, the numbers prove that Christians are overwhelmingly rejecting the concept of tithing, but the poor provisions through free will offerings is telling of another problem in our religion which is the greedy heart – but that is for another article.