NEXT TIME YOUR PASTOR SAYS God expects you to give 10% of your income to the church, roll your eyes if you must. But try not to be too obvious. The pastor might not know any better.
That’s pretty much the take of church history profs.
They know that Christians did not start tithing until the 1800s, though that comes as a shock to most of the rest of us.
Early Christians did not tithe.
They considered it one of the many Jewish laws that Jesus retired when he set up a new covenant to replace the old laws of Moses: “When God speaks of a ‘new’ covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date,” (Hebrews 8:13).
Here’s the surprising Friday Fun Fact:
You will not find a Christian sermon on tithing until the 1800s.
- Martin Luther (1483-1546), theological father of the Protestant movement, did not tithe.
- John Calvin (1509-1564), theological father of many Baptist and Presbyterian churches, did not tithe.
- John Wesley, father of the Methodist church, did not tithe.
Christians considered tithing too legalistic, too Jewish, and not biblical.
In the New Testament, we’ll find Paul asking only for donations, not tithes:
“You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure,” (2 Corinthians 9:7).
Is it peer “pressure” if the church calls people forward to drop their pledge cards in offering plates at the front of the church, with everyone watching?
Or is it an act of worship, as it’s sometimes described – a public profession of support for the local church, a bit like baptism is a public profession of faith in Jesus?
Here’s what started tithing in the United States:
The government had funded churches with tax money, just as many governments in other countries still do today. The reason they did this is because they felt worship centers provided a valuable contribution to the community. But in 1833, states started rescinding the religious tax.
Suddenly broke, pastors started experimenting with ways to raise money to keep the church going and to fund missionaries they were sending overseas.
The pastors took offerings. They took pledges of support for the upcoming year. They even sold season tickets: Pick your Pew.
It didn’t go so well.
Good news, though. Somewhere along the way preachers latched onto the Jewish idea of tithing.
They discovered if they sold the idea as an enduring law, as foundational as one of the Ten Commandments, they could raise money like nobody’s business.
One of their preferred moneymaker pitches:
“You people are robbing me, your God. And, here you are, asking, ‘How are we robbing you?’ You are robbing me of the offerings and of the ten percent that belongs to me,” (Malachi 3:8).
Christians don’t want to rob anybody, especially God.
Many pastors know about the history of tithing, but they are reluctant to change their fundraising practices. For good reason, some say: most of the money that churches raise comes from tithing.
One church historian I know offers a compromise – a way of raising money without misleading Christians about what God expects of them.
Dr. Paul Bassett, prof emeritus of Christian history at Nazarene Theological Seminary, said he thought it would be a good idea for pastors to tell their people that 10% giving has worked well at funding the church in recent centuries.
But he advised against telling the congregation that tithing is pretty much the Eleventh Commandment, required of all God’s people until the end of time – or at least until the government goes back to giving tax money to the church.
In other words, pass the plate but – theologically – don’t pass the buck.
For more background, see Bible Snapshots, pages 226-228. See also, “Passing the Plate,” by Mark Rogers, Christianity History, March 12, 2009.
Mr. Miller, thank you for your work.
Surprise, this topic raises all sorts of interest in a materialistic culture.
I think you miss some important points, but you do understand that the evangelical tithe is entirely unbiblical.
Not even all Jews gave tithes to the state church. No one gave tithes of anything non-produce. The transjordanian tribes did not tithe. No Levites tithed of their produce; they tithed of various portions of what they were given. The cycle of giving was along a seven year cycle, with no tithes in the seventh year due to no crops.
It is a failure of basic observation of the OT law to say that since Jesus never changed the laws of tithing, therefore, all Christians must tithe 10% of all income. That never happened. Ever.
PS My research finds evidence of the “evangelical tithe” going back to around 1200 AD.
Thanks Robert.
As I recall, the history prof who opened up this can of worms for me a couple of decades ago said the medieval money collected by church-run governments wasn’t considered a tithe or called a tithe. It was a tax, usually for much less than 10%.
It is my belief as a Christian to give tithes to the church. And I believe that if I give my full share I will be blessed which I am. I am able to sustain my needs on a lowly income. I never run out of food on my table, am able to pay my bills. And what more can I say? You can say whatever you want about giving tithes. And I know some people base this from a scripture in the Old Testament. If we are to compare the Old and New Testaments it is correlates. Giving tithes is also mentioned there. So if you are telling me to bat my eyelash on my pastor. You are wrong. I stay true to the word of God. So what is the connection with giving tithes with the Jewish? I do not understand.
Hi, Lilia. What I’m reporting in this post is that professors of Christian history whom I respect say that it wasn’t until the mid-1800s that Christian ministers started preaching that God requires of us 10% of our income. In the 1,800 years before that, Christians gave generously to the church, as many do today. Governments also supported churches with tax money. Early Christians didn’t think of their contributions or the government taxes as a tithe required of God. So, according to those professors, when someone tells us that God requires 10% of our income, they are not reflecting 1,800 years of Christian tradition or New Testament teaching. Those same profs have gone on record saying Christians need to give generously to support their churches…more than 10% if they can afford it. But they shouldn’t feel that the New Covenant Jesus enacted when he rose from the grave includes the Jewish laws that New Testament writers say became obsolete…the law of tithing among them. And kosher food laws. And circumcision. Especially circumcision.
I would l ike to edit my post. I stand corrected by saying it is correlates what I meant was it is correlated.
Stephen,
I never knew that. I shared with our ladies Bible study and they didn’t know about the tithing issue. The early church brought what they had and there were many who gave generously. I guess giving generously is the way to give beyond the tithe.
Thanks, for sharing.
I agree with the essence of what you are saying, but the information that no Christian sermon included tithes until the 1800s is incorrect. Check the sermons of Hilary of Poitiers, Basil of Cesarea, Ambrose, Cassian, Gregory the Great, Matthew Henry or Charles Finney. Sharing this with a kind spirit, for the sake of your own argument 🙂
Thanks Matheus. I think you have to erase Finney from the list because he ministered at a time when tithing was already getting started as a fundraising technique borrowed from Jewish law.
Could you give us an example of any of the others teaching 10% tithing? I know leaders talked about taxing people for the churches and even paying a “tithe” of some percentage, often much less than 10%. But before the 1800s, I have not seen any sermons on the 10% tithing that most churches use today as their top fundraising technique.
The theological problem with Christian tithing comes when church leaders invoke God’s demand for the money. That law, as discussed in the article, is obsolete.
This reminds me of something the prophet Hosea wrote about priests profiting off the ignorance of the people.
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge [presumably about God].
Because you have rejected knowledge…
They [priests] feed on the sins of my people” (Hosea 4:6, 8).
This isn’t the best example. But it does illustrate much the same thing. Churches tend to keep people in the dark about this because it profits them to do so.
As if the church would go broke if they came clean. It doesn’t have to be this way.