-
Frank Chase Jr
a book bubble about
Kleptomaniac
Christian Books & Bibles
Author Insight
Monetary Tithing is Not a Foregone Conclusion
Before I had an inkling to launch into studying tithing, I always believed that tithing ten percent of my income was an undisputable biblical fact, even though suspicions swirled in my mind. As I started digging into the early history of tithing concerning the birth of the United States of America breaking away from England, I discovered that things weren’t so cut and dry in the colonies relating to churches and financial support. In the colonies, there was no tithing to support ministry or churches. The average person who pays ten percent would be flabbergasted to discovery that as far back as the 1400s, theologians, religious scholars, and leaders spoke against tithing money in many of their writings. It is amazing how history is soon forgotten when today’s pastors and churches want to maintain a monetary tithe invented by man to support clergy. Many of the people in early history spoke volumes about the New Testament not supporting a monetary tithe and yet when history proves monetary tithing was frowned upon, many back then and those now still persist in perpetuating the tithe lie. It is a shame for so-called church leaders to distort scriptures for financial gain. History is a powerful truth teller, if you want to know truth on a subject. The truth will set you free.
Book Excerpt
Kleptomaniac
During the reformation period, around AD 1517 – 1648 and beyond, many people spoke out against tithing on account of it being unscriptural. The statements below show how massive the campaign was to stop the onslaught of tithing.• The peasants in Germany rose up against the Catholic Church on account of many abuses, including abuses related to tithing (1520).• Some peasants in Memmingen and Solothurn rejected tithing completely because the New Testament does not impose this duty on us (1520) even though they were willing to support their pastor.• The Salzbury peasants equated tithing with the work of the devil since it has no foundation in scripture (1520).• Anabaptists and Swill Anabaptists reacted radically to the use and abuse of tithing and they called for its abolition (1525).• J.C. Philpot (1802 – 1869) left the Church of England and became a Baptist. He resigned as he was against all tithes.• Kellogg said that tithing was an unfair burden on the poor and not rigorous enough on the rich (1891).• Pastor G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “I hear a great deal about the tithing of incomes. I have no sympathy with the movement at all. A tenth in the case of one man is meanness, and the case of another man is dishonesty. I know men today who are Christian men in city churches and village chapels who have no business to give a tenth of their income to the Work of God. They cannot afford it (1863-1945).• Paul Fink wrote, “Nowhere in the New Testament is it suggested that the believer is to give 10 percent of his income.”• Ward in 1958 critiqued the tithing renewal and gave some reasons to reject tithing.1. Jesus’ silence on tithing is devastating to tithing advocates, especially considering how often he spoke on money matters instead of tithing matters.2. Tithing is a hardship on the poor3. Tithing sets a low standard for the rich• Murray argued in 2000 that tithing is not Christian because the New Testament does not command it, though it is biblical. He gave six problems with tithing.1. Tithing is inclined toward legalism2. Tithing depends on deficient hermeneutics3. Questionable methods [teachings] are used to promote tithing4. Tithing overemphasizes the individual5. Tithing is unjust for the poor6. Tithing overtakes the concept of stewardship• Zens argued that tithing entered church history due to the union of church and state, that tithes are ceremonial (based on Mal 3) and that 10 percent had no relationship to Christians (1979).70As you can see from these past testimonies, tithing was not an agreed practice among believers. History proves that tithing did disappear as a practice and the reasons for non-tithing are numerous, but what follows is a short list to explain some of the issues. Based on the text of Acts 15, the actual practice of the tithe disappeared from the Bible after the Gospels and is not reinstated as a practice binding on non-Hebrews in any of the epistles. It is also worth mentioning that early in our nation’s history, ministerial support came from a tax as a public service from the government to churches, but when the disestablishment clause was added to the Constitution, that legislation defunded ministerial and church support. However, the impact turned ministers into willing and unwilling professional fundraisers among God’s people. The Gospel became more about how to recover the lost financial support that disestablishment had taken away. When the voluntary support could no longer meet the needs of the institutional church, the clergy introduced tithing to justify that ministers were not receiving enough support.1. The tithe was a highly organized nation-wide event requiring a stable theocratic nation and considerable infrastructure. This was obviously not the case for the early church, which was an often-persecuted minority group. When the Middle Ages came and Europe was a generally stable theocratic society the tithe would reappear again in 585 under the Emperor Charlemagne and unfortunately lead to the financial corruption of the Church which came to control one-tenth of the GDP of Europe and over a third of the lands.
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Apple Books
Kobo
Click Follow to receive emails when this author adds content on Bublish
Comment on this Bubble
Your comment and a link to this bubble will also appear in your Facebook feed.