Chrysostom (347-407) preaches in much the same strain (Vol. XIII., page 69). “They gave tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans, widows and strangers; whereas some one was saying to me in astonishment at another, ‘Why, such a one gives tithes.’ What a load of disgrace does this expression imply, since what was not a matter of wonder with the Jews has come to be so in the case of the Christians? If there was danger then in omitting tithes, think how great it must be now.”
In preaching on Matt. 5:20, he says (Vol. X., pages 395, 396), “So that, though thou give alms, but not more than they, thou shalt not enter in. And how much did they bestow in alms? one may ask. For this very thing, I am minded to say now, that they who do not give may be roused to give, and they that give may not pride themselves, but may make increase of their gifts. What then did they give? A tenth of all their possessions, and again another tenth, and after this a third, so that they almost gave away the third part, for three-tenths put together make up this. And together with these, first-fruits, and first born, and other things besides, as, for instance, the offerings for sins, those for purification, those at feasts, those in the jubilee, those by the cancelling of debts, and the dismissal of servants, and the lendings that were clear of usury. But if he who gave the third part of his goods, or rather the half (for those being put together with these are the half), if he who is giving the half, achieves no great thing, he who doth not bestow so much as the tenth, of what shall he be worthy? With reason He said, ‘There are few that be saved.’... For nothing else do I hear you saying everywhere, but such words as these: ‘Such a one has bought so many acres of land; such a one is rich, he is building.’ Why dost thou stare, O man, at what is without? Why dost thou look to others? If thou art minded to look to others, look to them that do their duty, to them that approve themselves, to them that carefully fulfill the law, not to those that have become offenders and are in dishonor.”
Cassian (died about 432) in the First Conference of Abbott Thomas (Vol. XI., Second Series, p. 503, Ch. I.), makes record of the fact that certain young men, led by Thomas, were “eager to offer tithes and first-fruits of their substance” to Abbott John. This is said to be the first instance on record of payment of tithes to a monastery. In Ch. II. Abbott John thanks them for these gifts and refers to Prov. 3:9, 10 as promising a blessing for so doing. In chapters following, he speaks of tithes and other offerings as given by the Lord’s commands and then instances the cases of Abraham, David, and other saints who went beyond the requirements of law. He argues that we who are under the gospel should sell all and give to the poor. “If even those who, faithfully offering tithes of their fruits, are obedient to the more ancient precepts of the Lord, cannot yet climb the heights of the gospel, you can see very clearly how far short of it those fall who do not even do this.” While he holds that the law is no longer exacted, he makes this significant comment (p. 515). “But when the multitude of believers began day by day to decline from that apostolic fervor, and to look after their own wealth, and not to portion it out for the good of all the faithful in accordance with the arrangement of the Apostles, but having an eye to their own private expenses, tried not only to keep it, but actually to increase it, not content with following the example of Ananias and Sapphira, then it seemed good to all the priests that men who were hampered by world care, and almost ignorant, if I may say so, of abstinence and contrition, should be recalled to the pious duty by a fast canonically enjoined, and be constrained by the necessity of paying legal tithes, as this certainly would be good for the weak brethren and could not do any harm to the perfect who were living under the grace of the gospel and by their voluntary devotion going beyond the law.” See also this same thought enlarged upon in Ch. 33.
Four bishops who were members of the Second Synod of Tours (567) issued a letter to the laity in which they assert that the tithe should be paid. (Hefele, Vol. I., p. 394). The Second Synod of Macon (585) enjoined afresh the law of the tithe under penalty of excommunication for refusal to observe it. This is the first official enactment that is considered authentic by those who are said to be authorities. From that time on its endorsement and enforcement became common and at length almost universal in the Church. The first Christian emperors assigned land and other property to ministers for their support, but enacted no law respecting the tithe. The first legal enactment was made by Charlemagne, king of the Franks, 768-800, and Roman emperor, 800-814. His Capitularies established its practice in the Roman empire, and thence it spread to other lands. Offa, king of Mercia, introduced the tithe system into England about the close of the eighth century, and Ethelwulf in the ninth century, or according to Clarke (History of Tithes), Athelstan 927, made it a law for the whole English realm. To what the tithe was to be devoted was optional until Innocent III., through the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1200, issued a decretal requiring tithes to be paid to the clergy of the parish to which the payee belonged, which decree Clarke says was inoperative until reissued by the General Council of Lateran, 1215, when the parson was finally given the parochial right to the tithes. The tithe was introduced into Portugal and Denmark in the eleventh century, into Sweden in the thirteenth, and soon became a general law of Christendom.
The Roman secular law provided that any one who obtained a part of the public land in a conquered country should pay to the state a tenth of the revenue he derived from its rent, and this system was usually transferred to the colonies settled on the soil. When the church tithe came into prominence there arose two kinds, secular and ecclesiastical tithes, which to a greater or less extent have been associated and commingled in almost every civilization from the earliest times. It would be impossible, were it deemed necessary, to state in a brief limit the minutiæ of this complicated tithe system. It was not abolished by the Reformation. Luther and Calvin believed in tithing for the support of the Church. It may be worth while to quote from the First Book of Discipline, which Knox heartily approved. One section runs as follows: “The sums able to sustain the forenamed persons, and to furnish all things appertaining to the preservation of good order and policy within the Kirk, must be lifted of tenths, the tenth sheaf of all sorts of corn, hay, hemp and lint: tenth fish, tenth calf, tenth lamb, tenth wool, tenth foal, tenth cheese. And because that we know that the tenth reasonably taken, as is before expressed, will not suffice to discharge the former necessity” it directs other gifts and rents. These Reformers, however, felt the burden of the enforced tithe and the movement grew apace to remove it. It was abolished in France in 1789. Other countries where any law obtains, have largely commuted it to a fixed annual sum of money, after the system in vogue in England to-day. Enlightened Christendom is rightfully rebelling against this enforced tribute and is looking for a more spontaneous support.
LINES OF ARGUMENT.
There are certain conclusions, it seems to me, which may safely be drawn from this brief summary of the evidence now before us. First: The Tithe is a Universal Principle, not a Levitical Institution.
It seems peculiar to one who has studied the subject in the light of the new data which is now being brought to light so abundantly, that one should be so regularly confronted with the assertion that the tithe is a Levitical institution. It is stranger still that so many ministers continue to assert this as a fact, when the unanimous testimony of such men as Prof. Sayce, Prof. Maspero, Dr. Hilprecht and others of their standing can easily be gathered to the contrary. They all assert that no matter how old the civilization there is always abundant evidence of proportionate giving to the gods and almost invariably the tenth. The only apparent exception is in the Laws of Manu of Ancient India, wherein we find one-tenth, one-eighth, and one-sixth specified as the tribute to the king who doubtless saw to it that one-sixth became general in India. It is likely that if we had the most ancient laws we would find that the one-tenth prevailed, even in India.
Just as I had reached this stage in writing, there came to my notice a communication from Rev. Henry Lansdell, D. D., London, England, calling attention to his investigations in the same line, which abundantly confirm the statements made. He gives two personal incidents which I deem worthy of record here. “The Rev. J. E. Padfield, a missionary of my acquaintance, whose station at Musulipatam I visited in 1890, took the pains to inquire systematically and in detail over his large district, of every native Christian family in each congregation, as to how much heathen in their own social position would pay, or what would have been the amount of their own religious offerings had they continued to be heathens. This was done with a view to comparison with what they gave for Christian religious purposes of every kind. As a result of that inquiry it was stated that the high caste Brahmins had been wont to spend for religious purposes the equivalent of a month’s income per annum; the lower castes, such as farmers, cultivators, and coolies spending less: but speaking of these particular Christians as a whole it appeared that whilst they were heathen they had to expend upon religious observances not less than one-thirteenth of their net incomes.”
Once more: when prosecuting my studies one day at the British Museum, I was accosted by a well-educated young Sikh, who came from Amritsar, and was brother, or near relative, of the chief priest of the Golden Temple, which I remember to have visited. Upon my asking for any information he could give relative to the subject I was studying, he said that, in the time of Baba Aryan Sodhi, the fifth Sikh Guru (or teacher), the people gave a tenth part of their incomes for religious purposes; but that in the present day, good Sikhs give about one-twentieth, though the proportion varies. These examples confirm what I have learned from missionaries as to the present status of the subject in India, and largely also in many other countries. The latter instance tends to prove that at times in the earlier history of India the tithe has prevailed, which is the point with which we are at present concerned.