The tithe

by Elmer Bryan Stewart

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.”