Dear Father L.,
While there is no mention of tithing in the scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses: “The faithful . . . have the duty of providing for the material needs of the church, each according to his abilities.” This seems to indicate that there is no strict obligation for Catholics to tithe. However, many dioceses recommend contributing 5 percent of take-home pay to parishes and an additional 5 percent to other charities. Tithing, (meaning the whole 10 percent) remains a fairly rare practice across many churches. Many Christians—and particularly Catholics—give far less. Is tithing a commandment? Perhaps you can enlighten me by citing Biblical passages.
Sincerely yours,
A Faithful Church Supporter
Dear Faithful Church Supporter,
Thank you for your letter. The New Testament gives no explicit command for tithing. We don’t read Jesus and His disciples teaching the necessity of tithing. Neither can we find any statement that they tithed. It is also significant to note that tithing is never mentioned in any instructions to the Church, although much is said about giving. I am not an expert in scripture and I’m afraid I may give a satisfying answer to your inquiry. But I’m providing you with a reflection written by Fr. Kelvin Ugwu. Perhaps this short article will offer some enlightenment for you:
Out of 27 books of the New Testament, 13 are attributed to St Paul as its author. If you add the book of Hebrews, it will be 14. (Galatians, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philemon, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, 2 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians and Hebrews). In all these 14 books, nowhere did we see any admonition for those who have become Christians to pay tithe or any clue that the early Christians paid tithe to the disciples.
Tithe was never a thing among the early Christians. No one paid tithe to St Peter, or John, or Paul. St Paul took care of himself as a tentmaker. Tentmaking is a tasking job, and St. Paul combined it perfectly with his ministry because he never sat and waited for the tithe of anyone. Acts 18:1-4. When he needed help for churches, he asked for donations as we see in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.
[1]Now about the collection for God’s holy people; you are to do the same as I prescribed for the churches in Galatia.
[2]On the first day of the week, each of you should put aside and reserve as much as each can spare; do not delay the collection till I arrive. We see a similar thing in 2 Corinthians 8:7-15. They were to contribute to a project, and each was to contribute so far as their resources permitted. 2 Cor 8:11. Again, if there was any book in the New Testament that would have talked about tithe among the early Christians, it would have been the Acts of the Apostles. Evangelist Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles primarily to explain to the man he identified as Theophilus (Acts 1:1) how the early disciples lived. How they worked. How they fed. And also how they handled their disagreements. There is nowhere you will see the payment of tithe as one of the things the early Christians practiced.
In fact, if you read the history of the church, up until the Reformation in 1517, Christians never paid tithe. There was no reason for tithe when they were not Levite priests. What is really the obsession with tithe among today’s Christians and Ministers such that every single month or year, there will always be an argument about tithe? Why are people of this generation suddenly feeling like they have sinned because they did not pay tithe? How does the payment of tithe sit perfectly with Christian theology as opposed to Judaism? There is a Christian teaching today that holds that faith—expressed through positive thoughts, positive declarations, and tithing to the church—draws health, wealth, and happiness into believers’ lives. This is being introduced to every generation to distract them from the true Gospel, and I believe tithe and prosperity gospel are the ones for this generation.
(THE TITHE DISTRACTION by Fr. Kelvin Ugwu)
Sincerely,
Father L.
Letters are welcome at: OClarimEnglish2022@gmail.com
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