Featured The Tithe Has Been Abolished By Christ Himself

I was listening to another preacher discussing this on a radio program and he made a good point. A tithe can be a grudging, burdensome, even crippling thing for one person and a drop in the bucket for another.

He gave the example of one who's income is 1million dollars per week verses one who's income is 1hundred dollars per week. The person making 1million dollars per week, taking in the consideration of what a person actually NEEDS to live on in this country per week (housing, food, electricity, common bills, etc), would feel no burden at all giving $100,000 having $900,000 left over, but the person making $100 per week would find giving $10 might as well be $100,000 because they just cannot do it and pay the necessary bills for survival.

There are times in a person's life, for many differing reasons, when they just cannot give, and there are times when they can give 50% or more of their God given income. I believe this is the NT reality and teaching on just when and how much a saint is instructed to give, and it must be given cheerfully and not grudgingly.

 

Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

The last few chapters of my book present a brief 2000-year history of tithing doctrine as it evolved, including its challenges, wars, reformation, and reinstatement.

It is by far not an exhaustive study of such history, and there would be many other sources that would provide much more information.

But, yes, it is definitely historically an RCC doctrine that originally began with blurring the lines between the Levitical priesthood of the Old Covenant and the ministers of the New Covenant (essentially forgetting that Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant and is priest forever after the order of Melchizedek). At least the original teachers practiced asceticism. Eventually, with the rise of the state church, the tithe became an agricultural state tax for both the king and the pope, and later became a monetary tax.

The reformers flatly rejected the RCC's tithe and the application of the tithe itself to Christians. However, over time, when there were both Catholic and Protestant state churches, the bloody wars fought in revolutions between them significantly involved the idea that people did not want to be forced to pay tithe taxes to state churches with which they did not agree.

Tithe teaching eventually was resurrected gradually in independent revivalist Christian circles in the Great Awakening when such teaching became practical to fund well-meaning missions work. The rest is history.

 

While we're on the topic of tithing/giving, could someone shed any light on this persistent "story(?)" concerning R. G. Letourneau (1888-1969), "God's businessman," that he lived on 10% of his income and "gave God" 90% of his income.

Now, I'm not saying that R. G. L. did not do so. With all of the money Mr./Bro. Letourneau probably made, his living on 10% of his income would still probably have afforded him a rather comfortable lifestyle.

All that I'm asking is:
(1) whether or not this "story(?)" is actually true, and,
(2) If it is, in fact, true, where exactly did this 90% go to?























Oh, and BTW, Jesus gave 100%, and, according to 1 Peter 2:21, "....ye should follow his steps...."