“Tithe” is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “the tenth.” Technically
speaking, it is defined as “the tenth of produce, property or spoils
dedicated to sacred use.” Trench quotes with approval Emerson’s
characterization of language as “fossil poetry” and adds, “but it may
be affirmed of it with exactly the same truth that it is fossil ethics
or fossil history. Words quite as often and as effectually embody parts
of history, or convictions of the moral sense, as of the imagination
or passion of men.” While this is true of words in such a fascinating
way, it will, no doubt, furnish the best basis of conclusion, to trace
the history of this word and the principle which it involves. If a word
embodies history, the history of a word may contain much information
of value. This word then will briefly be traced in both Biblical and
Extra-Biblical History.
FIRST: In Biblical Record it appears early. Its _first_ distinct
mention is in Gen. 14:20. Abram returning from the slaughter of the
four kings was met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of the
most high God. He blessed Abram, who in turn recognized him as his
priest before God, and “gave him tithes of all” the spoil.
Its _second_ is in Gen. 28:22. Jacob had been to the gate of heaven,
and none other than Bethel could be chosen as a name for that place.
Here Jacob under the impression of the awe of God’s presence, vowed a
vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that
I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I
come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my
God; and this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s
house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth
unto thee.”
The _third_ use is in connection with the Levitical law. The Lord spake
through Moses and gave this commandment, which is most fully stated in
the three following places:
First: Lev. 27:30-32: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the
seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy
unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes he
shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of
the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the
tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.”
Second: Num. 18:26, 30, 31: “Thus speak unto the Levites and say
unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which
I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer
up a heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the
tithe.” “Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the
best thereof from it, then ... ye shall eat of it in every place, ye
and your households; for it is your reward for your service in the
tabernacle of the congregation.”
Third: Deut. 14:22, 23, 28, 29: “Thou shalt truly tithe all the
increase of the seed that the field bringeth forth year by year. And
thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and
of thine oil, and of the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flocks; that
thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.”
“At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of
thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And
the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee), and the
stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow which are within thy gates,
shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may
bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.”
How long the Mosaic order was carried out we do not know. Samuel in his
protest against Israel’s asking for a king (1st Sam. 8:15,17), tells
them that “he will take the tenth of your seed and your vineyards and
give to his officers and to his servants.” “Also he will take the tenth
of your sheep; and ye shall be his servants.”
It is likely that the sacred use of the tithe was early perverted under
the kings. We hear no more of this system until the time of Hezekiah
(726 B. C.), who instituted once more “the courses of the priests and
Levites” (2d Chron. 31:2-5, 10-12), and “commanded the people that
dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and Levites.”
The people responded at once, “and the tithes of all things brought
they in abundantly.” So abundant were they that the chief priest
reported that, “since the people began to bring the offerings into the
house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have left plenty:
for the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this
great store.” So great was this store that chambers in the house of
the Lord were prepared for it, and men were appointed to oversee this
surplus, who “brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated
things faithfully,” and kept them in the places prepared for them.
Before this reformation Amos had sounded his warning in these ironical
words. Amos 4:4,5: “Come to Bethel and transgress; at Gilgal multiply
transgressions; and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes
after three years: for this liketh you, oh, ye children of Israel,
saith the Lord God.”
The prophets cry out all along the line against the greed and
selfishness of the people. The captivity even did not burn out this
root of evil, and Nehemiah is called upon to right the neglect of the
command, “Honor the Lord with thy substance.” (Prov. 3:9.) He joins
with the people in a determination to bring the first-fruits and the
tithes unto the priests and Levites, that (Neh. 10:37, 38, 39) the
“Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.”
“And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the
house of our God.” “And we will not forsake the house of our God.”
But fickle Jewry was soon denying the charge of robbery at the mouth
of Malachi who says: “Ye have robbed God in tithes and offerings and
are cursed with a curse.” (Mal. 3:10.) “Bring ye all the tithes into
the storehouse,” that blessings, spiritual, temporal and national, may
be poured out upon you. What Malachi denounced, Nehemiah rectified by
one bold stroke. He gathered the Levites and singers from the fields,
whither they had gone to earn a livelihood, and set them in their
places. Once more the old order was restored, and it was true that all
Judah (Neh. 13:12) “brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and
the oil unto the treasuries.”
When the New Testament opens its pages of history we find the tithe
principle very scrupulously observed by the “rigidly righteous,” and
perhaps by a majority of the Jewish people. The 7th chapter of Hebrews
makes use of the word tithe to show that the priesthood of Christ, who
is after the order of Melchizedek, is superior to the priesthood of
the Levites, because they in the loins of their father Abraham paid
tithes to Melchizedek. Barring this chapter there are just six other
places where the tenth, or tithe, occurs. Three of these (John 1:39;
Rev. 11:13; 21:23) are simple numerals. Of the remaining three, two
refer to the same incident as recorded in Matt. 23:23, and Luke 11:42.
The well-known words of Matthew, who gives the fullest statement, are
these: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe
mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters
of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have
done, and not to have left the other undone.” The other reference is
equally well-known and occurs in the prayer of the Pharisee, who said,
(Luke 18:12.) “I give tithes of all that I get.” The Revised Version is
used in giving these quotations because it more correctly translates
the verb in the first references which should also be translated
“tithe” in the last reference, for the Greek verb is the same in all
three.
SECOND: The Extra-Biblical records have frequent references to the
tithe, the number and extent of which can only be hinted at in the
brief selections given.
Since the time of Selden who wrote his famous “Historie of Tithes”
almost 300 years ago (the edition to which I have access was published
in 1618), little seems to have been added to the historical data
respecting the tithe by those who write upon that phase of the subject.
Every reference book in the various libraries of this city, and all the
literature on the tithe, so far as consulted, have the same stereotyped
references, with slight variations in supposition and inference. This
fact led to the query, “Is there no new data? Have excavators and
translators of other literatures discovered no evidence of this usage”?
About four years and a half ago, I set about the task of reading in
translation all that was available of the mass of material furnished us
through the labors of such men as Dr. Legge, Prof. Max Mueller, Prof.
Sayce and many others of the worthy host of oriental scholars. A few of
the most interesting are given of the items that came to light in the
course of a somewhat extensive and at times tedious reading.
In the literature of ancient China, (Li Ki, Book III., Ch. II., Sec.
27) we find this statement: “A tenth of the year’s expenditures was for
sacrifices.” Simcox (Primitive Civilizations, Vol. II, p. 36) comments
as follows: “This is nearly the only recognition of a tithe for
religious or quasi-religious purposes in China and probably represents
a very ancient fragment of tradition. The king received a tithe of the
national produce, and he may have been anciently expected to spend a
tithe of the revenue so obtained upon the rites of public worship;
but an earlier passage in that same book describes the Son of Heaven
as retaining nine-tenths of the produce of his domains for his own
use, and employing the other tenth to defray the charges of the public
offices.”
Prof. Maspero (The Dawn of Civilization, p. 302) writes thus concerning
the customs in earliest Egypt: “The gods of the side which was
victorious shared with it in the triumph and received a tithe of the
spoil as the price of their help.” Again (p. 706) in speaking of a king
in relation to the gods among the ancient Chaldeans, he says: “As soon
as he had triumphed by their command, he sought before all else to
reward them amply for the assistance they had given. He poured a tithe
of the spoils into the coffers of their treasury, he made over a part
of the conquered country to their domain, he granted them a tale of the
prisoners to cultivate their lands or to work at their buildings.”
Prof. Maspero is writing of the earliest civilization which dates from
3000 to 4000 B. C., while Moses, it needs to be borne in mind, lived
and wrote not more than 1500 years before Christ.
Prof. Hilprecht’s splendid summary (Explorations in Bible Lands
during the 19th Century, recently published) confirms this view. In
giving account of Rassam’s discoveries in the ruins of Abu Habba,
the ancient Babylonian city of Sippara, he says (p. 275) the tablets
discovered “make us acquainted with the duties and daily occupations
of the different classes of temple officers and their large body of
servants, with the ordinary tithes paid by the faithful, and with many
other revenues accruing to the sanctuary from all kinds of gifts,
from the lease of real estate, slaves, and animals, and from the sale
of products from fields and stables. As tithes were frequently paid
in kind, it became necessary to establish regular depots along the
principal canals, where scribes stored and registered everything that
came in. Among the goods thus received we notice vegetables, meat, and
other perishable objects which the temple alone could not consume, and
which, therefore, had to be sold or exchanged before they decayed or
decreased in value. No wonder that apart from its distinct religious
sphere the great temple of Shamash at Sippara in many respects
resembled one of the great business firms of Babel or Nippur.” He
further says (p. 311), in speaking of some ancient tablets found in the
ruins of ancient Nippur by the party of which he was a member, “they
consisted of business documents referring to the registry of tithes,
and to the administration of the temple property.” These tablets
discovered in 1888 proved to be a part of the great Temple Library
discovered by Prof. Hilprecht in 1900. Many of them date back to the
third millennium before Christ and some bear such names as that of the
now famous author of the code of laws, Hammurabi; and others belong to
the time as remote as that of Sargon, 3800 B. C.
In “Records of the Past” (edition of 1890, Vol. III., p. 96) we read
“In a field of a tenth, he takes a tenth.” “As for the tithe, he gives
one part as tithe to the palace.” Among the various kinds of divisions
or land tenures, we find these two: “The division of a tenth,” and
“The division with a tithe.” G. Bertin, the translator, says: “The
work, as we know it from the fragment in the British Museum, is
accompanied with a Babylonian translation of Sargon of Agade; and the
fragments recovered are those of a Ninevite transcription made in the
time of Asshurbanipal for his library.” The tablets are divided into
two columns, the left hand one giving the Akkadian and the right hand
one the translation. The translator further says: “The tablet from
which the above is a translation is of great importance as giving
us information and particulars as to the system of land tenure and
cultivation of land in the early Akkadian period.” The date of this
Sargon is now pretty well fixed at about 3800 B. C. This extensive
system of land tenure being in vogue at that date argues that it had
been in use in a less extensive form for a long time previous to the
date of this publication.
The Pundit Dutt (Ancient India, Vol. II., p. 38), writing on “The
Rationalistic Period, B. C. 1000-242,” quotes Megasthenes of the Fourth
Century B. C., who gives an account of the civil administration of a
city during that period as saying: “Those who have charge of the city
are divided into six bodies of five each.” In enumerating the duties of
each, he says: “The sixth and last class consists of those who collect
the tenth of the prices of the articles sold.”
Added to these references to China, India, Egypt, and Ancient Assyria
and Babylonia, is the array of evidence commonly presented in writings
on the tithe, including testimony from the Persians, Arabians,
Phœnicians, Carthagenians and various other African communities, the
ancient Britons, the Grecians and the Romans. One familiar instance
from the Greeks will suffice for illustration.
In Xenophon’s Anabasis, book V, chapter 3, we are told that “they
divided the money raised from the sale of captives and of the tenth
which they took out for Apollo and for the Ephesian Artemis (Diana of
the Ephesians), the generals took each a part to keep for the gods.”
Referring to Xenophon’s own home in Scillus, we read: “He made both
an altar and a temple with the consecrated money; and also thereafter
always collecting a tithe of the fruits of the season from the land, he
offered sacrifice to the goddess; and all the citizens and neighboring
men and women partook of the feast.” A slab was set by the temple
having the inscription, “The sacred place of Artemis. Let the one who
has possession and enjoys the fruit thereof (i. e., of the estate)
offer the tithe each year, and from the surplus repair the temple. If
any one does not do this, it will be a care to the goddess,” i. e.,
she will punish him as an offender.
We now come to the era of the Church Fathers. Here we will quote more
at length because of the importance of this testimony to the minds of
many who are dealing with this subject. It is understood that these
witnesses are not to be regarded as final authorities to those of us
who believe in the inspired revelation, but they are important and
interesting because they reflect the practice of the Church when it was
making its first great effort to preach the gospel to every creature
and was making that effort, as is generally supposed, in use of methods
sanctioned by the Apostles. The quotations, unless otherwise indicated,
are from the edition of The Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers, published by the Christian Literature Co. of New York.
Clement (30-100 A. D.), who is generally agreed to be the one mentioned
in Phil. 4:3, wrote a letter to the Corinthians, some think in 68,
but the majority in 97 A. D. He says (Vol. I., p. 16), “These things
therefore being manifest to us, and since we look into the depths of
the divine knowledge, it behooves us to do all things in (their proper)
order, which the Lord has commanded us to perform at stated times. He
has enjoined offerings (to be presented) and service to be performed
(to Him), and that not thoughtlessly or irregularly, but at the
appointed times and hours. Where and by whom He desires these things
to be done, He Himself has fixed by His own supreme will, in order
that all things being piously done according to His good pleasure, may
be acceptable unto Him. Those, therefore, who present their offerings
at the appointed times, are accepted and blessed; for inasmuch as
they follow the laws of the Lord, they sin not. For his own peculiar
services are assigned to the high priest, and their own proper place is
prescribed to the priests, and their own special ministrations devolve
on the Levites. The layman is bound by the laws that pertain to laymen.
“Let every one of you, brethren, give thanks to God in his own order,
living in all good conscience, with becoming gravity, and not going
beyond the rule of the ministry prescribed to him. Not in every place,
brethren, are the daily sacrifices offered, or the peace-offerings, or
the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings, but in Jerusalem only.
And even there they are not offered in any place, but only at the
altar before the temple, that which is offered being first carefully
examined by the high priest and the ministers already mentioned. Those,
therefore, who do anything beyond what is agreeable to His will, are
punished with death. Ye see, brethren, that the greater the knowledge
that has been vouchsafed to us, the greater also is the danger to which
we are exposed.”
In The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (Vol. VII., p. 381), supposed
to have been written about 120 A. D., we read: “But every true
prophet that willeth to abide among you is worthy of support. So also
a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support.
Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and
threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give to
the prophets, for they are your high priests. But if ye have not a
prophet, give it to the poor. If thou makest a batch of dough, take the
first-fruit and give according to the commandment. So also when thou
openest a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to
the prophets; and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession,
take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to thee, and give according
to the commandment.”
Justin Martyr (110-165) furnishes the following testimony (Vol. I.,
p. 167) when speaking of the changes that have taken place in the
Christians. He says that, among other things, “we who valued above
all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what
we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need.”
In describing a church service (186), he further says: “And they who
are well-to-do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is
collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans
and widows, and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in
want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers sojourning among
us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.”
Irenaeus (120-202) gives an exceedingly valuable discussion of the
relation between the law and the gospel, in which (Vol. I., pp. 476,
477 and 478) he says: “As in the law, therefore, and in the Gospel
(likewise), the first and greatest commandment is, to love the Lord
God with the whole heart, and then there follows a commandment like to
it, to love one’s neighbor as one’s self; the author of the law and
the Gospel is shown to be one and the same. For the precepts of an
absolutely perfect life, since they are the same in each Testament,
have pointed out (to us) the same God, who certainly has promulgated
particular laws adapted for each; but the more prominent and the
greatest (commandments), without which salvation cannot (be attained),
He has exhorted (us to observe) the same in both.... And that the
Lord did not abrogate the natural (precepts) of the law, by which man
is justified, which also those who were justified by faith, and who
pleased God, did observe previous to the giving of the law, but that He
extended and fulfilled them, is shown from His words.” He then quotes
examples from the Fifth Chapter of Matthew and speaks of the obedience
of those who are freed from the bondage of the law, and adds: “And
for this reason did the Lord, instead of that (commandment), ‘Thou
shalt not commit adultery,’ forbid even concupiscence; and instead of
that which runs thus, ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ He prohibited anger; and
instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, (He told us) to
share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbors
only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and
bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those
who take away our goods.”... “Now all these (precepts), as I have
already observed, were not (the injunctions) of one doing away with
the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among
us; just as if one should say, that the more extensive operation of
liberty implies that a more complete subjection and affection towards
our Liberator had been implanted within us.” In the light of these
statements, we are to understand his words on pages 484 and 485. “And
the class of oblations in general has not been set aside; for there
were both oblations there (among the Jews), and there are oblations
here (among the Christians). Sacrifices there were among the people;
sacrifices there are, too, in the church; but the species alone has
been changed, inasmuch as the offering is now made, not by slaves,
but by freemen. For the Lord is (ever) one and the same; but the
character of a servile oblation is peculiar (to itself), as is also
that of freemen, in order that, by the very oblations, the indication
of liberty may be set forth. For with Him there is nothing purposeless,
nor without signification, nor without design. And for this reason they
(the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but
those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the
Lord’s purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable
portions of their property, since they have the hope of better things
(hereafter); as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the
treasury of God.”
Clement of Alexandria (153-217) writing about 200 A. D. says (Vol.
II., p. 366), in discussing the source of the Greek virtues which he
traces to the Jewish law, “Besides, the tithes of the fruits and of the
flocks taught both piety toward the Deity, and not covetously to grasp
everything, but to communicate gifts of kindness to one’s neighbors.
For it was from these, I reckon, and from the first-fruits that the
priests were maintained. We now therefore understand that we are
instructed in piety, and in liberality, and in justice, and in humanity
by the law.”
Tertullian (145-220), in describing the services of the Church, says
(Vol. III., pp. 46, 47), “Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not
made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. On the
monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it
be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion;
all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety’s deposit fund.
For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts,
and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply
the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of
old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered
shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to
the islands, or shut up in prisons, for nothing but their fidelity
to the cause of God’s Church, they become the nurslings of their
confession. But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead
many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another,
for themselves are animated by mutual hatred; how they are ready
even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to
death.... One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly
goods with one another.” In answering the objection to their feasts as
wicked and extravagant, he retorts, “The Salii cannot have their feast
without going into debt; you must get the accountants to tell you what
the tenths of Hercules and the sacrificial banquets cost.”
Probably it will not be amiss to quote Tertullian on what he so aptly
styles “the over-fed Christian,” in view of the many appeals for money
by catering to the stomach of the saints. On the subject of Fasting
(Vol. IV., p. 113) he says, “With you ‘love’ shows its fervor in
sauce-pans, ‘faith’ its warmth in kitchens, ‘hope’ its anchorage in
waiters.”
Origen (185-254) says (Vol. IV., p. 652), “Celsus would also have us
to offer first-fruits to demons. But we would offer them to Him who
said, ‘let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and
the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself
upon the earth.’ And to Him to whom we offer first-fruits we also send
up our prayers.” He is also quoted in Smith and Cheetham’s Dictionary
of Christian Antiquities as saying (Hom. XI., in Numeros), “How then
is our righteousness abounding more than that of the Scribes and
Pharisees, if they dare not taste the fruits of their land before they
offer first-fruits to the priests, and tithes are separated for the
Levites; whilst I, doing none of these things, so misuse the fruits of
the earth that the priest knows nothing of them, the Levite is ignorant
of them, the divine altar does not perceive them”?
Cyprian (200-258) in his treatise “On the Unity of the Church” (Vol.
V., p. 429) states the condition of the Church in his time as follows:
“But in us unanimity is diminished in proportion as liberality of
working is decayed. Then they used to give for sale houses and estates;
and that they might lay up for themselves treasures in heaven,
presented to the apostles the price of them, to be distributed for
the use of the poor. But now we do not even give the tenths from our
patrimony; and while our Lord bids us sell, we rather buy and increase
our store. Thus has the vigor of faith dwindled away among us; thus has
the strength of believers grown weak.”
The Apostolic Constitutions, connected in a literary way with The
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, belong, at least so far as the first
six books are concerned, to the third century. Dr. Riddle says: “The
first six books are the oldest; the seventh, in its present form,
somewhat later, but, from its connection with the teaching, proven to
contain matter of a very ancient date. The eighth book is of latest
date. It now seems to be generally admitted that the entire work is not
later than the fourth century, although the usual allowance must be
made for textual changes, whether by accident or design.”
Chapter 25 of book II. (Vol. VII., page 408) has the heading, “Of
First-fruits and Tithes, and after what manner the Bishop is himself
to partake of them, or to distribute them to others.” The following
sentences are culled out of this chapter: “Let him use those tenths
and first-fruits, which are given according to the command of God,
as a man of God; as also let him dispense in a right manner the
free-will offerings which are brought in on account of the poor, to
the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in distress, as
having that God for the examiner of his accounts who has committed the
disposition to him.... The Levites, who attended upon the tabernacle,
partook of those things that were offered to God by all the people....
You, therefore, O bishops, are to your people priests and Levites,
ministering to the holy tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church.... As,
therefore, you bear the weight, so have you a right to partake of the
fruits before others, and to impart to those who are in want.... For
those who attend upon the Church ought to be maintained by the Church,
as being priests, Levites, presidents, and ministers of God.”
Again in Chapter 35 (page 413) we read, “Now you ought to know, that
although the Lord has delivered you from the additional bonds, and has
brought you out of them to your refreshment, and does not permit you to
sacrifice irrational creatures for sin-offerings, and purifications,
and scape-goats, and continual washings and sprinklings, yet has He
nowhere freed you from those oblations which you owe to the priests,
nor from doing good to the poor.” Other references will be found also
on pages 471, 494, and among the Canons, page 500.
Jerome (345-420) writes in his letter to Nepotian (Vol. VI., Second
Series) as follows: “I, if I am the portion of the Lord, and the line
of His heritage, receive no portion among the remaining tribes; but,
like the priest and the Levite, I live on the tithe, and serving the
altar, am supported by its offerings. Having food and raiment, I shall
be content with these, and as a disciple of the Cross shall share its
poverty.”
Smith and Cheetham’s Dictionary quotes Jerome as saying on Mal. 3:10,
“What we have said of tithes and first-fruits which of old used to be
given by the people to the priests and Levites, understand also in the
case of the people of the Church, to whom it has been commanded to sell
all they have and give to the poor and follow the Lord and Savior....
If we are unwilling to do this, at least let us imitate the rudimentary
teaching of the Jews so as to give a part of the whole to the poor and
pay the priests and Levites due honor. If any one shall not do this he
is convicted of defrauding and cheating God.”
The same authority quotes Ambrose (340-397) as saying (Sermon 34), “God
has reserved the tenth part to Himself, and therefore it is not lawful
for a man to retain what God has reserved for Himself. To thee He has
given nine parts, for Himself He has reserved the tenth part, and if
thou shalt not give to God the tenth part, God will take from thee the
nine parts.” Again in a sermon on Ascension Day, “A good Christian pays
tithes yearly to be given to the poor.”
From the same authority also, we get this from Augustine (354-430) who
is quoted as saying (Hom. 48), “Our ancestors used to abound in wealth
of every kind for this very reason that they used to give tithes, and
pay the tax to Caesar. Now, on the contrary, because devotion to God
has ceased, the drain of the treasury has increased. We have been
unwilling to share the tithes with God, now the whole is taken away.”
We quote further from Augustine (Vol. VI., First Series, page 367).
“Let us give a certain portion of it. What portion? A tenth? The
Scribes and Pharisees give tithes for whom Christ had not yet shed His
blood. The Scribes and Pharisees give tithes; lest haply thou shouldst
think thou art doing any great thing in breaking thy bread to the poor,
and this is scarcely a thousandth part of thy means. And yet I am not
finding fault with this; do even this. So hungry and thirsty am I, that
I am glad even of these crumbs. But yet I cannot keep back what He who
died for us said whilst He was alive, ‘Except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no
case enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ The Scribes and Pharisees gave
the tenth. How is it with you? Ask yourselves. Consider what you spend
on mercy, what you reserve for luxury.”
In commenting on Christ’s saying in Luke 11:41, “Give alms, and behold
all things are clean unto you,” Augustine says (pages 435 and 436),
“When He had spoken thus, doubtless they thought that they did give
alms. And how did they give them? They tithed all they had, they took
away a tenth of all their produce, and gave it. It is no easy matter to
find a Christian who doth as much.”... Christ saith to them, “I know
that ye do this, ‘ye tithe mint and anise, cummin and rue,’ but I am
speaking of other alms: ye despise ‘judgment and charity.’”... What
is “in judgment”? Look back, and discover thyself; mislike thyself,
pronounce judgment against thyself. And what is charity? “Love the Lord
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;
love thy neighbor as thyself: and thou hast done alms first to thine
own soul, within thy conscience. Whereas if thou neglect this alms,
give what thou wilt; reserve of thy goods not a tenth, but a half; give
nine parts, and leave but one for thine own self: thou doest nothing,
when thou dost not alms to thine own soul and art poor in thyself.”
Once more we find Augustine saying (Vol. VIII., page 668), “Cut off
some part of thy income; a tenth, if thou choosest, though that is but
little. For it is said that the Pharisees gave a tenth.... He whose
righteousness thou oughtest to exceed giveth a tenth: thou givest not
even a thousandth. How wilt thou surpass him whom thou matchest not.”
Chrysostom (347-407) preaches in much the same strain (Vol. XIII., page
69). “They gave tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans,
widows and strangers; whereas some one was saying to me in astonishment
at another, ‘Why, such a one gives tithes.’ What a load of disgrace
does this expression imply, since what was not a matter of wonder with
the Jews has come to be so in the case of the Christians? If there was
danger then in omitting tithes, think how great it must be now.”
In preaching on Matt. 5:20, he says (Vol. X., pages 395, 396), “So
that, though thou give alms, but not more than they, thou shalt not
enter in. And how much did they bestow in alms? one may ask. For this
very thing, I am minded to say now, that they who do not give may be
roused to give, and they that give may not pride themselves, but may
make increase of their gifts. What then did they give? A tenth of all
their possessions, and again another tenth, and after this a third,
so that they almost gave away the third part, for three-tenths put
together make up this. And together with these, first-fruits, and first
born, and other things besides, as, for instance, the offerings for
sins, those for purification, those at feasts, those in the jubilee,
those by the cancelling of debts, and the dismissal of servants, and
the lendings that were clear of usury. But if he who gave the third
part of his goods, or rather the half (for those being put together
with these are the half), if he who is giving the half, achieves no
great thing, he who doth not bestow so much as the tenth, of what shall
he be worthy? With reason He said, ‘There are few that be saved.’...
For nothing else do I hear you saying everywhere, but such words as
these: ‘Such a one has bought so many acres of land; such a one is
rich, he is building.’ Why dost thou stare, O man, at what is without?
Why dost thou look to others? If thou art minded to look to others,
look to them that do their duty, to them that approve themselves, to
them that carefully fulfill the law, not to those that have become
offenders and are in dishonor.”
Cassian (died about 432) in the First Conference of Abbott Thomas
(Vol. XI., Second Series, p. 503, Ch. I.), makes record of the fact
that certain young men, led by Thomas, were “eager to offer tithes and
first-fruits of their substance” to Abbott John. This is said to be
the first instance on record of payment of tithes to a monastery. In
Ch. II. Abbott John thanks them for these gifts and refers to Prov.
3:9, 10 as promising a blessing for so doing. In chapters following, he
speaks of tithes and other offerings as given by the Lord’s commands
and then instances the cases of Abraham, David, and other saints who
went beyond the requirements of law. He argues that we who are under
the gospel should sell all and give to the poor. “If even those who,
faithfully offering tithes of their fruits, are obedient to the more
ancient precepts of the Lord, cannot yet climb the heights of the
gospel, you can see very clearly how far short of it those fall who do
not even do this.” While he holds that the law is no longer exacted,
he makes this significant comment (p. 515). “But when the multitude of
believers began day by day to decline from that apostolic fervor, and
to look after their own wealth, and not to portion it out for the good
of all the faithful in accordance with the arrangement of the Apostles,
but having an eye to their own private expenses, tried not only to keep
it, but actually to increase it, not content with following the example
of Ananias and Sapphira, then it seemed good to all the priests that
men who were hampered by world care, and almost ignorant, if I may say
so, of abstinence and contrition, should be recalled to the pious duty
by a fast canonically enjoined, and be constrained by the necessity
of paying legal tithes, as this certainly would be good for the weak
brethren and could not do any harm to the perfect who were living
under the grace of the gospel and by their voluntary devotion going
beyond the law.” See also this same thought enlarged upon in Ch. 33.
Four bishops who were members of the Second Synod of Tours (567) issued
a letter to the laity in which they assert that the tithe should be
paid. (Hefele, Vol. I., p. 394). The Second Synod of Macon (585)
enjoined afresh the law of the tithe under penalty of excommunication
for refusal to observe it. This is the first official enactment that
is considered authentic by those who are said to be authorities. From
that time on its endorsement and enforcement became common and at
length almost universal in the Church. The first Christian emperors
assigned land and other property to ministers for their support, but
enacted no law respecting the tithe. The first legal enactment was
made by Charlemagne, king of the Franks, 768-800, and Roman emperor,
800-814. His Capitularies established its practice in the Roman empire,
and thence it spread to other lands. Offa, king of Mercia, introduced
the tithe system into England about the close of the eighth century,
and Ethelwulf in the ninth century, or according to Clarke (History
of Tithes), Athelstan 927, made it a law for the whole English realm.
To what the tithe was to be devoted was optional until Innocent
III., through the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1200, issued a decretal
requiring tithes to be paid to the clergy of the parish to which the
payee belonged, which decree Clarke says was inoperative until reissued
by the General Council of Lateran, 1215, when the parson was finally
given the parochial right to the tithes. The tithe was introduced
into Portugal and Denmark in the eleventh century, into Sweden in the
thirteenth, and soon became a general law of Christendom.
The Roman secular law provided that any one who obtained a part of the
public land in a conquered country should pay to the state a tenth
of the revenue he derived from its rent, and this system was usually
transferred to the colonies settled on the soil. When the church tithe
came into prominence there arose two kinds, secular and ecclesiastical
tithes, which to a greater or less extent have been associated and
commingled in almost every civilization from the earliest times. It
would be impossible, were it deemed necessary, to state in a brief
limit the minutiæ of this complicated tithe system. It was not
abolished by the Reformation. Luther and Calvin believed in tithing
for the support of the Church. It may be worth while to quote from the
First Book of Discipline, which Knox heartily approved. One section
runs as follows: “The sums able to sustain the forenamed persons, and
to furnish all things appertaining to the preservation of good order
and policy within the Kirk, must be lifted of tenths, the tenth sheaf
of all sorts of corn, hay, hemp and lint: tenth fish, tenth calf,
tenth lamb, tenth wool, tenth foal, tenth cheese. And because that we
know that the tenth reasonably taken, as is before expressed, will not
suffice to discharge the former necessity” it directs other gifts and
rents. These Reformers, however, felt the burden of the enforced tithe
and the movement grew apace to remove it. It was abolished in France in
1789. Other countries where any law obtains, have largely commuted it
to a fixed annual sum of money, after the system in vogue in England
to-day. Enlightened Christendom is rightfully rebelling against this
enforced tribute and is looking for a more spontaneous support.