Tithing

Many denominational preachers (“pastors”) teach the concept of tithing. Some DEMAND that their members tithe. Others go so far as to require a look at everyone’s tax records to assure they are complying. Such action is not acceptable if it cannot be backed it up with scripture. Either tithing is part of the gospel or it is not. If it is not and a preacher says it is then he is preaching another gospel.

Existing literature from leaders of the ‘Faith Movement’ suggests a problematic hermeneutic of Malachi 3:6-12 in a manner that forces an interpretation into the text. This essay therefore revisits the passage for a fresh textual analysis with a view to pointing out the problematic indices in the ‘faith movement’ interpretation and proffering an alternative understanding.

Biblical overview of the principle of stewardship taught in Scripture and an exegesis on selected passages of the Gospel of Luke. Churches in the underdeveloped world are facing many challenges. Teaching believers the biblical concept of financial stewardship is one of them. In Argentina, and most countries in Latin America, there have traditionally been two opposite ways of addressing the issues of tithing, offering, and almsgiving: avoiding or abusing.

Money can be a hot topic in Christian churches and the Namibian church is no exception to that. While many traditional mainline denominations struggle to raise the funds they need for their various ministries, prosperity type churches and Pentecostal church bodies seem to flourish financially in Namibia. Some people are quick to point out that the main reason for this phenomenon lies in the churches’ differing attitude towards the concept of tithing. While tithing plays a central role in Pentecostal and prosperity churches, most Protestant denominations rely on other ways of funding. In his paper, Thorsten Prill gives a critical overview of the various methods Namibian churches use to raise funds. These methods include collections, membership fees, fundraising events, commercial activities and investment trusts as well as encouraging members to give a tenth of the income to the church. In a second paper, Johann van Wyk examines the concept of tithing from a biblical perspective. He demonstrates that New Testament teachings do not support the claim that Christians are obliged to tithe. There are, however, a number of helpful biblical principles of giving which Namibian churches should apply. Most importantly, van Wyk argues, that giving in Namibian churches needs to become a matter of the heart; giving must be driven by love and grace.

Sažetak
The article analyzes the OT practice of tithing in the context of the principle of Christian giving. While it is generally accepted that Evangelical Christians have an obligation to financially support the work of their local church, church ministers, those in need, etc., it is questionable whether Christians today have an obligation to tithe.

Starting from the Pentateuch, the first part of the article discusses various instructions that God gave to Israelites regarding tithing, and special attention is given to the speech about tithing in Malachi. Presenting various interpretations and understandings of tithing, the author argues that, although for Christians tithing is not mandatory, they have an obligation to give, and tithing can be one way of financial support of the local church

My study focuses on rabbinic opinions that contest how the poor man's tithe should be administered. These divergent positions offer a window on the tensions between the biblical aim to prevent the creation of dependencies by granting the indigent equal access to the poor man's tithe and the social tendency that characterized the early centuries of the Common Era to reserve this gift for relatives and friends or to leverage it to establish patronage.  I demonstrate that the halakhic debates on this tithe expose a dynamic process through which the poor man's tithe was modified, and ultimately transformed, to meet Greco-Roman norms of reciprocal relationships.

Give, and it will be given to you:
good measure, pressed down,
shaken together, and running over,
will be put into your bosom.
For with the same measure that you use,
it will be measured back to you.
Luke 6:38

It’s not about money – but it’s about faith.

This article explores the tithe system in eighteenth-century Northamptonshire. At enclosure, many clergy exchanged their right to take tithe for a portion of the newly enclosed land in the parish. The article argues that while the clergy made financial gains from this, more important was the removal of a recurrent source of dissension with parishioners. As such the article tempers the dominant narrative that emphasizes only the material enrichment of the clergy at enclosure, and sees the social and cultural gulf this opened up between the clergy and their parishioners as a potent source of rural anticlericalism.

Este trabajo analiza las características, posibilidades y limitaciones de la documentación decimal de la catedral de Córdoba, obispado del Tucumán, correspondiente al siglo XVIII. En particular, los informes sobre los montos de los ingresos decimales y su distribución, elaborados por los cabildos por exigencia de la Corona, en el marco del avance fiscal y financiero borbónico sobre las rentas de las iglesias americanas.

This article explores the tithe system in eighteenth-century Northamptonshire.  At enclosure, many clergy exchanged their right to take tithe for a portion of the newly enclosed land in the parish.  The article argues that while the clergy made financial gains from this, more important was the removal of a recurrent source of dissension with parishioners. As such the article tempers the dominant narrative that emphasizes only the material enrichment of the clergy at enclosure, and sees the social and cultural gulf this opened up between the clergy and their parishioners as a potent source of rural anticlericalism.

This article explores the tithe system in eighteenth-century Northamptonshire. At enclosure, many clergy exchanged their right to take tithe for a portion of the newly enclosed land in the parish. The article argues that while the clergy made financial gains from this, more important was the removal of a recurrent source of dissension with parishioners. As such the article tempers the dominant narrative that emphasizes only the material enrichment of the clergy at enclosure, and sees the social and cultural gulf this opened up between the clergy and their parishioners as a potent source of rural anticlericalism.

This volume contains the following works authored by Roger Williams:  Christenings make not Christians (1645 or 1646), Experiments of Spiritual Life & Health (1652), The Fourth Paper, Presented by Major Butler (1652), The Hireling Ministry None of Christs (1652), and The Examiner defended (1652).

Los estudios históricos sobre las cargas fiscales han señalado que la innovación en cuestiones doctrinales, es decir, en el conjunto de ideas que sustentan la propiedad, legitimidad y legalidad de un impuesto, puede determinar cambios en las normas y en aspectos de la práctica fiscal. En el caso del diezmo indiano, encontramos que durante el siglo XVIII se dieron modificaciones en la doctrina que sostenía la propiedad y competencia normativa de la corona española en esta materia. El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar la obra “Práctica y ejercicio de la real jurisdicción en materia decimal de ambas Américas” (1770), del jurista novohispano José de Lebrón y Cuervo, la cual se inscribe en ese ambiente de presupuestos doctrinarios del regalismo borbónico que reforzaron la potestad del rey en la administración del diezmo indiano y favorecieron el mayor aprovechamiento de los rendimientos decimales por la Real Hacienda.