Attleboro Men's Group Blog

As a follow up to our active discussion on tithing as set before us by the presenter of That Man is You! Steve Bollman I have compiled the following from the New American Bible (NAB), the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and Internet reference sites including www.catholic.com .

Merriam-Webster Dictionary – Tithe http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tithe

Tithed tith·ing

Definition of TITHE

transitive verb  1: to pay or give a tenth part of especially for the support of the church 2: to levy a tithe on

intransitive verb

: to give a tenth of one's income as a tithe

Origin of TITHE

Middle English, from Old English teogothian, from teogotha tenth

First Known Use: before 12th century

Tithing in Scripture – Deuteronomy 14:22-23 – tithe of produce; if tithe of produce is too large to transport you can convert tithe to money and bring money to the house of the Lord 14:24-26 – the interesting thing with these passages is that the person is supposed to eat the tithe with his family before the Lord at His dwelling place. “you shall eat in his presence your tithe of grain”(14:23)… “exchange the money for whatever you desire, oxen or sheep, wine or strong drink, or anything else you would enjoy, and there before the Lord… you shall partake of it and make merry with your family.” (14:26) 14:27 does say to remember the Levite but vague at best

Leviticus 27:30 “All tithes of the land, whether in grain from the fields or in fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord, as sacred to him.”

Jesus in his denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees Matt 23:23 seems to place more importance on “weightier things of the law: judgment, mercy and fidelity.” Rather than their tithing.

Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians is often mentioned as defending the collection of tithes too.  2 Corinthians 8:12-15 is usually the referred text which does not give specific instruction only that “For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have”  The NAB comments talks about Paul’s introduction of the principle of equality and sharing of resources.  Paul grounds his argument in the experience of Israel gathering manna in the desert:  equality was achieved, independently of personal exertion, by God, who gave with an even hand according to need.  Paul touches briefly on the theme of “living from God”.

Tithing and the Catholic Church  -  http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/quickquestions/keyword/tithe

Here you will find that the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states that Catholics are under no obligation to tithe a certain percentage of their income to the Church.  The Church has set out the bare minimum for the faithful in the Five Precepts of the Church  (CCC 2041-2043)  The Fifth Precept states “The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.”