Tithing from the Ante-Nicene Period to the Tithing Renewal | David A. Croteau

David A. Croteau

Dean, Professor of New Testament, Seminary & School of Counseling

A BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TITHING: TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF GIVING IN THE NEW COVENANT ERA

pp. 8-24.

Tithing from the Ante-Nicene Period to the Tithing Renewal

In the Ante-Nicene period (100–325), nothing was said (directly) about tithing by Ignatius of Antioch,²⁵ Polycarp of Smyrna, Quadratus, Tatian, Hippolytus, Kallistos, and Novatian.²⁶ In the second century, Irenaeus apparently believed that Jesus abrogated tithing.²⁷ Clement of Rome and Justin Martyr both discussed offerings in the early church which do not appear consistent with a tithing model, but rather appear to be based upon a 1 Corinthians 16 model.²⁸ The Didache never discussed obligatory giving or tithing; it did state the principle of 1 Cor 9:14 that ministers have a right to live from the gospel.²⁹

In the third century, Clement of Alexandria concluded that Christians need to tithe. However, his advocacy of keeping the Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee renders suspect his opinions on issues in the law–gospel relationship.³⁰ Tertullian’s description of giving is incompatible with the conclusion that Christians are obligated to tithe.³¹ Origen specifically stated that he did not tithe,³² and Cyprian’s comments can be understood to mean that tithing was not practiced in his time.³³ The Didascalia Apostolorum explicitly said that Christians were not bound to give tithes or first fruits.³⁴

There were no statements made in the Ante-Nicene period (except the possible spurious statement in the Constitutions³⁵) that referred to tithes as binding. Most references to tithing are incidental; that is, Old and New Testament texts were quoted that contain a reference to tithing. Tithing was not the focus of the discussion in most writings, but only mentioned since the scriptural text cited referenced it.³⁶ Generally, the Ante-Nicene Fathers expected believers to give abundantly regardless of the percentage. Powers concluded, “So sincere, in the beginning of Christianity, was the devotion of believers that their gifts to the Evangelical priesthood far exceeded what the tenth would have been.”³⁷ The collections in the early church were generally for the poor and support of the clergy. As will be seen below, Christians were exhorted to tithe as the church grew.³⁸ However, Babbs’ conclusion that the early church was of a “singular unanimity of opinion” that the law of the tithe was still binding is an overstatement.³⁹

Many more references to tithing are found in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Period (325–604). No mention has been found of Constantine (ca. 325) collecting or paying tithes, though he was a generous giver to churches.⁴⁰ However, Basil of Caesarea (370) exhorted Christians to pay tithes,⁴¹ and Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 365) mentioned first fruits,⁴² but no reference to tithes has been found in the writings of Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 365).⁴³ Powers concluded: “Evidently these [three] men had no well-formulated theory of the tithe, as the term and its use seldom appeared in their works.”⁴⁴

Hilary of Poitiers (366), when commenting on Matt 23:23, concluded that while Christians should place a greater emphasis upon justice and mercy, tithing was still required.⁴⁵
Jerome (385) and Augustine (400) advocated tithing, but they viewed it as a compromise to the true command of the New Testament: to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor.⁴⁶ Ambrose (374) and John Chrysostom (375) concluded that Christians are required to tithe.⁴⁷ Pope Gregory the Great (600) said that all the revenues of the church should be divided into four categories of usage: the bishop, the clergy, the poor, and the repairs of churches.⁴⁸ Epiphanius (370) concluded that tithing was like circumcision: not binding on Christians. However, he did promote first fruits and oblations.⁴⁹

Giving by Christians during this period was much less abundant than in the Ante-Nicene period. After Constantine provided protection for Christians, it is possible that many people became Christians who did not know the teachings of Scripture. Powers said, “The trend in giving was more and more toward legalism, which was stronger in the West than in the East.”50 While the state never imposed tithe laws on the people, the Second Synod of Macon (585) made tithing church law.⁵¹ The Old Testament understanding of tithing waned during this period as the church became more removed from its Jewish roots.⁵²

It is during the Middle Ages (604–1517) that tithing moved from being a custom sanctioned by church law (Second Synod of Macon) to being made obligatory by the state. Charlemagne (779), Offa, king of Mercia (8th century), William the Conqueror (1066), and Bernard of Clairvaux (1139) all advocated tithing.⁵³ In the early Middle Ages, monasteries were required to pay tithes. Subsequently, they possessed tithes, and by the twelfth century they were freed from paying tithes.⁵⁴ Popes in the Middle Ages set forth various laws about tithing, mostly in relation to the rightful receiver of the tithes. However, not everyone from this period approved of the practice of tithing.

Thomas Aquinas (1225–1275), the most famous scholastic and a Dominican monk, said that tithes were not part of the natural or moral law. They were only binding on believers because the Catholic Church has declared it so. If the Church decided on a different percentage, then that would have been binding.⁵⁵ John Wycliff (1328–1384) told the masses about the abuses of tithes. Powers said, “Wycliff was as hostile to the pope’s supremacy as he was to the compulsory payment of tithes.”⁵⁶ Wycliff maintained that Christians could withhold their tithes if they were being abused, and he likened tithes to alms and freewill offerings. He believed, according to Flick, that “tithes were not warranted by the New Testament, but were merely an expedient to enable the priesthood to perform its mission.”⁵⁷ Wycliff, in de Officio Pastorali, proclaimed that tithes are pure alms.⁵⁸

John Huss’ (1373–1415) thoughts on tithing are very similar to, and dependent upon, Wycliff. Huss made his objections to tithing known in his book de Ecclesia (On the Church). He believed that tithes were pure alms. Giving had originally been voluntary, then customary, and finally obligatory; the primary purpose of (voluntary) alms was for the support of the ministers and the poor.⁵⁹ The peasants during the Hussite Wars (1415–1436) concluded that tithes were like freewill offerings and “that the Old Testament law was not binding.”⁶⁰ In the Middle Ages, tithing shifted from being obligatory according to ecclesiastical law to being required by state law. While explicit support for tithing grew, so did opposition.

The Reformation period (1517–1648) saw many opponents to tithing. The peasants in Germany (ca. 1520), Martin Luther (1483–1546),⁶¹ Anabaptists (ca. 1525) in general,⁶² and the Swiss Anabaptists more specifically,⁶³ and the Separatists in Amsterdam (1602–1603; particularly Ainsworth and Johnson)⁶⁴ concluded that tithing, as a religious law, was not binding on Christians. John Smyth, a Separatist whom many credit with being the first Baptist, said that Christ abolished tithes.⁶⁵ John Robinson (1610) wrote that the maintenance of ministers should be through voluntary contributions.⁶⁶

Two major figures from the Reformation are less than clear in their views on tithing. Huldreich Zwingli’s (1484–1531) views changed throughout his ministry into a more accepting view of tithing, though he never officially recanted his early anti-tithing sentiments.⁶⁷ Admittedly, most conclude that John Calvin (1509–1564) advocated tithing.⁶⁸ However, Calvin’s writings contain some statements that are cause for doubt on this conclusion.⁶⁹

Included in the Reformation period, but in what became the United States, a general stance against tithes and for the voluntary support of ministers emerged. Both Pilgrims and Puritans in the Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts advocated voluntary contributions for the support of ministers for many years after coming to America. John Cotton (1585–1652), a New England Puritan, also supported the voluntary system and rejected tithes for the maintenance of ministers.⁷⁰

Contrary to the conclusions of most, the Reformation period closed with no (major) Reformer explicitly advocating tithing.⁷¹ Their hesitancy to support tithing was based largely on scriptural arguments (e.g. tithes were ceremonial), not as a reaction to Catholic abuses of the tithe system.

The Post-Reformation period (1648–1873) is marked by disparate views on tithing. Roger Williams (1652) concluded that ministers of the gospel are to serve freely and be supported freely, “and that not in stinted wages, tithes, stipends, salaries, &c., but with larger or lesser supplies, as the hand of the Lord was more or less extended in his weekly blessings on them.”⁷² John Milton (1659) wrote forcibly against tithes, which he considered ceremonial and abolished.⁷³ John Owen (1680) declared that the claim that tithes are owed by divine right “is a fond imagination, a dream that will fill them with perplexity when they shall awake.”⁷⁴

However, he clearly taught that Christians should give abundantly in their worship of God. Francis Turretin (1623–1687), pastor at the church in Geneva and professor of theology, declared that Christians are not bound by certain Old Testament laws, such as tithing and first fruits. He concluded that the method chosen for supporting the pastor should emphasize voluntariness.⁷⁵ John Wesley (1703–1791) is a difficult figure in this debate. He truly called for sacrificial giving, giving that went far beyond ten percent. However, in his first year of ministry he appeared to give less than a tithe⁷⁶ and nowhere has he been cited as declaring ten percent as a morally binding minimum.⁷⁷

In seventeenth-century England,⁷⁸ many opposed and resisted tithe laws.⁷⁹ The English Parliament (1649),⁸⁰ the Little Parliament (1653),⁸¹ and Oliver Cromwell himself (1599–1658)⁸² all agreed that tithing was not an eternal law, though many thought it a good solution to the problem of the support of ministers.⁸³

Various groups resisted tithing in England, for example, the Quakers (particularly John Gough)⁸⁴ and English (Particular) Baptists.⁸⁵ One interesting writing from this period by an English prelate concluded that tithes existed before the Mosaic law, that Christ had equal rights to tithes as Melchizedek, that Christ rebuked those who did not support ministers, and that Christ commanded Christians to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.⁸⁶ John Bunyan (1628–1688), author of Pilgrim’s Progress, commented on Luke 18:10–13: “This paying of tithes was ceremonial, such as came in and went out with the typical priesthood.”⁸⁷ Adam Clarke (ca. 1762–1832) went to great lengths to demonstrate the unjustness of tithing. He appeared to deny the divine right of tithes and concluded for the abolishment of tithe laws, but maintained that it must be done in a way to make sure the clergy are not impoverished.⁸⁸

Therefore, the history of paying tithes in England is complex and not without significant resistance. Opposition to tithing continued for hundreds of years before tithe laws were abolished.⁸⁹ Many writings were produced to support the divine right of tithes.⁹⁰ It appears that Matthew Henry (1662–1714) advocated that Christians should tithe.⁹¹ Finally, the Tithe Act of 1936 abolished tithe laws in England.⁹² Murray concluded: “Those who advocated reform of the tithing system or who resisted the tithe itself and proposed alternatives often did so on the basis that tithing—at least as it was currently practiced—was contrary to the gospel or not supported by Scripture.”⁹³

In the United States, J. Newton Brown, a Baptist and author of the draft of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833), edited a dictionary that contained an article on tithes. This article explicitly said that tithes had ceased.⁹⁴ However, Charles Finney (1792–1875) advocated tithing based on Malachi 3.⁹⁵

Like Wesley, Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) and Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) are puzzling figures in attempting to decipher their view on tithing.⁹⁶ At this point, the evidence does not justify a decisive conclusion.

This concise history of tithing in the Christian Church does not conclusively favor either side in the debate. Table 1 lists all the individuals, groups, and councils mentioned above and places them into their respective categories. However, a divided history renders all the more important the details of the recent development of tithing.

Table 1. The pre-tithing renewal list

Negative Evidence 97

Clement of Rome (ca. 100)

Didache (ca. 100)

Justin Martyr (100-165)

Tertullian (160-230)

Ambiguous

Irenaeus(130-200)

Cyprian (d. 258)

Constantine (ca. 325)

Gregory of Nazianzus (ca. 365)

Gregory of Nyssa (ca. 365)

Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531)

John Calvin (1509-1564)

John Knox (1514-1572)

John Selden (1618)

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

John Wesley (1703-1791)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

Against Tithes Being Binding on Christians

Didascalia Apostolorum (ca. 225)

Epiphanius (370)

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275)

John Wycliff (1328-1384)

John Huss (1373-1415)

Erasmus (1466-1536)

Otto Brunfels (1488-1534)

German Peasants (ca. 1520)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Anabaptists (particularly the Swiss) (ca. 1525)

Separatists in Amsterdam (1602-1603)

John Smyth (1609)

John Robinson (1610)

English Parliament (17th century)

Puritans and Pilgrims of Massachusetts (17th century)

John Cotton (1585-1652)

Roger Williams (ca. 1636)

Little Parliament (1653)

John Milton (English; 1659)

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)

Particular Baptists (England; 1660)

John Owen (English; 1680)

Francis Turretin (Geneva; d. 1687)

John Bunyan (Baptist; 1628-1688)

Quakers (England; 1768)

Adam Clarke (ca. 1762-1832)

Charles Buck (English; 1833)

J. Newton Brown (Baptist; 1836)

Advocate Tithing

Clement of Alexandria (150-215)

Apostolic Constitutions (4th century)

Synod of Gangra (ca. 350)

Hilary of Poitiers (366)

Basil of Caesarea (370)

Ambrose (374)

Cassian (410)

Isidore of Pelusium (450)

Caesarius of Arles (490)

Eugippius and Severinus (ca. 510)

Second Synod of Macon (585)

Pope Gregory the Great (600)

Egbert (750)

Pipin (750)

Synod of Rowen (unknown; probably 879)

Charlemagne (779)

Offa, King of Mercia (8th century)

Edward (1050)

William the Conqueror (1066)

Bernard of Clairvaux (1139)

Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Charles Leslie (English; 1700)

Increase Mather (Congregationalist; 1639-1723)

W. Bohun (English; 1731)

An English Prelate (1786)

James Gambier (English; 1794)

Richard Belward (English; 1782)

W. Edmeads (English; 1811)

Cotton Mather (Congregationalist; 1833)

Charles G. Finney (1792-1875)

Advocate Tithing, But as a Compromise

Origen (186-255)

John Chrysostom (375)

Jerome (385)

Augustine (400)

Anastasius Sinaita (544)

References

26
So Thomas J. Powers, “An Historical Study of the Tithe in the Christian Church to 1648” (Ph.D. diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1948), 32.

27
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.13.3 (ANF 1:477); 4.18.2 (ANF 1:485).

28
Clement of Rome, The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 40 (ANF 1:16). Justin Martyr, First Apology of Justin 67 (ANF 1:185–86); Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew 17, 19, 33, 112 (ANF 1:202, 204, 211, 255).

29
Didache 1:5–6; 4:5–8; 5:2; 11:6, 12; 13:1–7; 15:4.

30
Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2.18 (ANF 2:366). For an incidental reference, see Stromata 1.24 (ANF 2:337).

31
Tertullian, Apology 39 (ANF 3:46). For incidental reference, see Apology 14 (ANF 3:29); Against Marcion (Five Books) 4.27 (ANF 3:394); 5.9 (ANF 3:448).

32
Origen, Origen Against Celsus 2.4 (ANF 4:431); 8.34 (ANF 4:652); 5.60 (ANF 4:569); Origen, Homilies on Numbers 11.2 (cited in Sharp, “Tithes,” 2:1963); Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of John 1 (cited by Murray, Beyond Tithing, 97).

33
Cyprian, “Letter 1,” 1.2 in The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage, trans. & ann. G. W. Clarke, vol. 1, Ancient Christian Writers 43 (New York: Newman, 1984), 1:52. For incidental references to tithing, see Treatises of Cyprian: Treatise IV, On the Lord’s Prayer 6 (ANF 5:449); Epistle 65.1 (ANF 5:367).

34
R. Hugh Connolly, Didascalia Apostolorum: The Syriac Version Translated and Accompanied by the Verona Latin Fragments (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1929), 2:34–35.

35
The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 2.4.25 (ANF 7:408); The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.29 (ANF 7:471). See also statements at 2.4.27, 2.4.34, 8.30–31.

36
As will be shown below, this is similar to the references to tithing in the New Testament.

37
Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 34; so John Selden, A Historie of Tithes (London: n.p., 1618), 36. Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 13, also said that tithes were not exacted in the early church; rather, the church had its needs met “by voluntary offerings and contributions.”

38
See Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 36.

39
Arthur V. Babbs, The Law of the Tithe: As Set Forth in the Old Testament (New York: Revell, 1912), 122. Babbs’ methodology was inexcusably poor. He cited relevant church fathers but provided no comments on the individual quotes, as if his conclusions were self-evident from the quotes themselves.

40
See Joseph Bingham, The Works of Joseph Bingham, 10 vols., ed. R. Bingham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1855), 2:179; Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 39.

41
Coleman, Ancient Christianity, 229.

42
Bingham, Works, 2:182 (citing Gregory Nazianzus, Oration 30).

43
Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 41.

44
Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 41.

45
Hilary, Commentary on Matthew 23 (cited by Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 42; Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 192–93).

46
For Jerome, see Jerome, Letter to Nepotian (NPNF 2 1:91); Sharp, “Tithes,” 2:1964; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew 2.22 (cited by Murray, Beyond Tithing, 117). For Augustine, see Augustine, On the Psalms: Psalm 147.13 (NPNF 1 8:668); Augustine, Sermon 35 (NPNF 1 6:367–68); Sermon 56 (NPNF 1 6:435–36); Bingham, Works, 2:180; Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 187; Justo Gonzalez, Faith and Wealth (San Francisco: Harper, 1990), 219.

47
For Ambrose, see John Sharp, “Tithes,” in Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, 2 vols., eds. William Smith and Samuel Cheetham (London: John Murray, 1893), 2:1964. For Chrysostom, see John Chrysostom, Homily IV: Homilies on Ephesians (NPNF 1 13:69); John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35, 54 (cited by Murray, Beyond Tithing, 112, n.28); John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews 12 (NPNF 1 14:423–26); John Chrysostom, The Gospel of Matthew 64.4 (NPNF 1 10:395–96).

48
Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 251–52.

49
Epiphanius, Against Heresies; cited by Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 43; Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 218.

50
Ibid., 60; see also Lyman Coleman, Ancient Christianity Exemplified in the Private, Domestic, Social, and Civil Life of the Primitive Christians, and in the Original Institutions, Offices, Ordinances, and Rites of the Church (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Company, 1852), 229.

51
Hefele, History of the Councils, 4:407; Karl Heussi, Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 10th ed. (Tübingen: Mohr, 1949), 171. Note also the Synod of Gangra (ca. 350). See Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 40; Karl Joseph von Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church, From the Original Documents, 5 vols. (Edinburgh: T & T Clarke, 1883–1896), 2:330.

52
For more statements advocating tithing during this period, see Cassian (410) (Cassian, The First Conference of Abbot Theonas 1, 2 [NPNF 2 11:503], 5 [NPNF 2 11:504–05], 7 [NPNF 2 11:505], and 25 [NPNF 2 11:513]); Isidore of Pelusium (450) (Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 184); Caesarius of Arles (490) (Sharp, “Tithes,” 2:1964–65); Eugippius and Severinus (ca. 510) (ibid., 2:1965); Egbert (750) (ibid.); Pipin (750) (ibid.); Synod of Rowen (unknown; probably 879) (Hefele, History of the Councils, 4:468). For another statement advocating tithing, but as a compromise, see Anastasius Sinaita (544) (Sharp, “Tithes,” 2:1965).

53
For Charlemagne, see Buck, “Opposition to Tithes,” 13; Sharp, “Tithes,” 2:1965. For Offa, king of Mercia, see W. H. Jellie, “The History of Tithes,” in The Biblical Illustrator: Leviticus, ed. Joseph S. Exell (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1957), 349. For William the Conqueror, see Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 267 (for similar thoughts in Edward [1050], see Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 81). For Bernard, see Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 233.

54
See Giles Constable, Monastic Tithes: From Their Origins to the Twelfth Century, Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964), 3.

55
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, vol. 39 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964), 125, 135, 139, 141, 143, 145 (2.86.1, 4). Note that he said tithes are binding only because the church says so, but not because they are part of the moral law.

56
Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 115; see also Selden, Historie of Tithes, 291.

57
Alexander Clarence Flick, The Decline of the Medieval Church, 2 vols. (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1930), 1:352.

58
Samuel Swett Green, The Use of the Voluntary System in the Maintenance of Ministers in the Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay During the Earlier Years of Their Existence (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1886), 7; Workman, Wyclif, 1:21–22; 2:14–15; Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 115; see also Selden, Historie of Tithes, 291; Clarke, History of Tithes, 175; Flick, Decline of the Medieval Church, 1:352; Henry Bettenson, ed., Documents of the Christian Church, 2d ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963), 174; John Wycliff, Wyclif: Select English Writings, ed. Herbert E. Winn (London: Oxford University Press, 1929), 81–82; Johann Loserth, Iohannis Wyclif: Sermones, 2 vols. (London: Trübner, 1887–1888), 2.

59
David S. Schaff, John Huss: His Life, Teachings and Death After Five Hundred Years (New York: Scribner, 1915; reprint, Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2001), 19, 55; Flick, Decline of the Medieval Church, 1:362–70, 2:346; Workman, Wyclif, 2:6; John Huss, The Church, trans. David S. Schaff (New York: Scribner, 1915), 299; Lindsay, History of the Reformation, 2:31; Matthew Spinka, John Hus’ Concept of the Church (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966), 127.

60
Ibid., 2:346.

61
For the peasants, see W. Theophil Janzow, “Background for the Peasants’ Revolt of 1524,” Concordia Theological Monthly 22, no. 9 (1951): 644–64; Stayer, German Peasants’ War, 36; Michael G. Baylor, ed. and trans., The Radical Reformation, Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 231–38; Tom Scott and Bob Scribner, eds., The German Peasants’ War: A History in Documents (London: Humanities Press, 1991), 7, 112–13; Emil Sehling, “Tithes,” in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 13 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1950), 11:455; Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 128; Peter Blickle, Communal Reformation: The Quest for Salvation in Sixteenth-Century Germany, trans. Thomas Dunlap (London: Humanities Press, 1992), 42; Lawrence Buck, “Opposition to Tithes in the Peasants’ Revolt: A Case Study of Nuremburg in 1524,” Sixteenth Century Journal 4, no. 2 (1973): 11–22; Williams, Radical Reformation, 138; Stayer, German Peasants’ War, 61–92.

For Martin Luther, see Paul P. Kuenning, “Luther and Muntzer: Contrasting Theologies in Regard to Secular Authority within the Context of the German Peasant Revolt,” Journal of Church and State 29 (1987): 308–14; Martin Luther, Works of Martin Luther, 4 vols. (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman, 1931), 4:68, 4:239–40; Sehling, “Tithes,” 11:455; Murray, Beyond Tithing, 160; Heinz F. Mackensen, “Luther’s Role in the Peasant Revolt,” Concordia Theological Monthly 35 (1964): 197–98, 207–09; Tom Scott, review of Die Antwort der Reformatoren auf die Zehntenfrage. Eine Analyse des Zusammenhangs von Reformation und Bauernkrieg, by Gunter Zimmermann, Catholic Historical Review 69, no. 4 (1983): 610; Martin Luther, “How Christians Should Regard Moses,” in Luther’s Works, vol. 35, ed. and trans. E. Theodore Bachman (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1960), 164–68; Robert Kolb, “The Theologians and the Peasants: Conservative Evangelical Reactions to the German Peasants Revolt,” Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 69 (1978): 117.

Note that Mueller, Christian Dogmatics, 414–15, mentioned Luther’s belief in the non-binding nature of tithes to Christians. This conclusion regarding Luther and tithing is rare. For example, see Sehling, “Tithes,” 11:455; Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 129–31. For more thoughts on Luther, tithing, and taxation, see Shriver and Knox, “Taxation,” 137–38. Note that Hill, Economic Problems, 122, says that Luther changed his views on tithing, though he provided no proof.

62
E. Belfort Bax, Rise and Fall of the Anabaptists (New York: MacMillan, 1903; reprint, Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2001), 12, 31, 37. J. F. Gerhard Goeters, “Die Vorgeschichte des Taufertums in Zurich,” in Studien zur Geschichte und Theologie der Reformation: Festschrift für Ernst Bizer, eds. Luise Abramowski and J. F. Gerhard Goeters (Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1969), 255–59; Stayer, German Peasants’ War, 61–62, 95–106; Finger, Anabaptist Theology, 19–20, 236; Meic Pearse, The Great Restoration: The Religious Radicals of the 16th and 17th Centuries (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1998), 77; Abraham Friesen, Thomas Muentzer, a Destroyer of the Godless: The Making of a Sixteenth-Century Religious Revolutionary (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), 193–94; Richard Heath, Anabaptism (London: Alexander and Shepheard, 1895), 29; R. J. Smithson, The Anabaptists: Their Contribution to our Protestant Heritage (London: Clarke, 1935), 122–23, 128–30, 148; Ludwig Keller, Geschichte der Wiedertäufer und ihres Reichs zu Münster (Münster: Verlag der Coppenrathschen Buch und Kunsthandlung, 1880), 11.

63
Leaders of these Anabaptist groups included Felix Mantz, Conrad Grebel, Simon Stumpf, and Wilhelm Reublin, all of whom Zwingli had an impact on. Hubmaier, the Hutterites, and Thomas Muentzer also opposed the exacting of tithes. Otto Brunsfels opposed tithes while teaching in Strassburg (George Huntston Williams, The Radical Reformation, 3d ed., Sixteenth Century Essays & Studies [Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2000], 309). James M. Stayer, The German Peasants’ War and Anabaptist Community of Goods (London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991), 46–47, provides a good summary of Brunfels’ pamphlet Von dem Pfaffen Zehenden (“On Ecclesiastical Tithes”). His writings anticipated the Twelve Articles of the German Peasants (Stayer, German Peasants’ War, 53).

64
Henry Martyn Dexter, The Congregationalism of the Last Three Hundred Years, as Seen in its Literature (New York: Harper, 1880), 307; Henry Ainsworth and Francis Johnson, An Apologie or Defence of Such True Christians as are commonly (but uniformly) called Brownists (n.p.: n.p., 1604), text-fiche, 58–59. Henry Ainsworth, Counterpoyson: Considerations touching the points in difference between the godly Ministers & people of the Church of England, and the Seduced brethren of the Separation (n.p.: n.p., 1608), text-fiche, 197–98.

65
John Smyth, Parallels, Censures, Observations ([Amsterdam]: n.p., 1609), text-fiche, 120–21.

66
John Robinson, The Works of John Robinson: Pastor of the Pilgrim Fathers, 3 vols., ed. Robert Ashton (London: John Snow, 1851), 2:466–67.

67
Samuel Macauley Jackson, Huldreich Zwingli: The Reformer of German Switzerland (New York: Putnam, 1901), 156, 239; Thomas N. Finger, A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology: Biblical, Historical, Constructive (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004), 18–19; Thomas Lindsay, A History of the Reformation, 2 vols. (New York: Scribner, 1916), 2:31; Ulrich Gabler, Huldrych Zwingli: His Life and Work, trans. Ruth C. L. Gritsch (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986), 50, 94; Kenneth Hagen, “From Testament to Covenant in the Early Sixteenth Century,” Sixteenth Century Journal 3, no. 1 (1972): 17–19; Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 135–36.

68
For example, see Powers, “Historical Study of the Tithe,” 136.

69
Calvin’s comments on Matt 23:23 are typical of the ambiguous nature of Calvin on tithing. While on the one hand tithes are called an “appendage,” he also referred to preserving the entire law, even the smallest commandment (John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 3 vols., trans. William Pringle [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], 3:92). Calvin made some comments that may allude to tithing being obligatory (John Calvin, Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony, 4 vols., trans. Charles William Bingham [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], 2:279) and others that appeared to say tithes are not obligatory (John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, 2 vols., trans. John Pringle [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], 1:298–300, 2:70, 294, 308; Calvin, Twelve Minor Prophets, 5:586; Calvin, Four Last Books of Moses, 2:278–80; John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis, 2 vols., trans. John King [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999], 1:393).

70
For John Cotton’s view, see John Winthrop, Winthrop’s Journal: „A History of New England” 1630–1649, 2 vols., ed. James Kendall Hosmer, Original Narratives of Early American History (Scribner, 1908; reprint, New York: Barnes & Noble, 1946), 1:116, 299; Green, Voluntary Maintenance, 39; Dexter, Congregationalism, 423.

71
For thoughts on John Knox, see Donald W. Shriver, Jr. and E. Richard Knox, “Taxation in the History of Protestant Ethics,” Journal of Religious Ethics (1985): 141. They described Knox’s view of taxes (or “Teinds,” which is Scottish for “Tithes”) in a way that portrays Knox as accepting that some Christians (the “poor labourers”) do not, and should not, pay taxes (tithes). Knox’s view on the relationship between church and state also makes categorizing him difficult. For thoughts on Erasmus, see Hill, Economic Problems, 79, n. 5.

72
Roger Williams, The Complete Writings of Roger Williams, 7 vols. (New York: Russell & Russell, 1963), 7:165.

73
John Milton, Considerations Touching the Likeliest Means to Remove Hirelings out of the Church: Wherein is also Discoursed of Tithes, Church-fees, Church-revenues; And Whether Any Maintenance of Ministers Can Be Settled by Law (London: L. Chapman, 1659), A9–A10, 15–18, 32–35, 37.

74
John Owen, A Continuation of the Exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews: On the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Chapters (London: Nathaniel Ponder, 1680), text-fiche, 109. See also ibid., 108–11, 127–28, 178. See also John Owen, Hebrews: The Epistle of Warning: Verse by Verse Exposition (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1953), 115–16.

75
Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 3, ed. James T. Dennison, Jr., trans. George Musgrave Giger (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1997), 270, 272. He is also known as François Turrettini.

76
This story about Wesley has been located in many sources. For example, see Charles William Harshman, Christian Giving (New York: Eaton and Mains, 1905), 79.

77
John Wesley, “Sermon XLIV: The Use of Money,” in John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, ed. Edward H. Sugden (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 632–46; Albert C. Outler and Richard P. Heitzenrater, eds., John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology (Nashville: Abingdon, 1991), 347; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 3 vols. (Philadelphia: Prichard and Hall, 1791), 2:262; John Wesley, “Sermon XX: Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse V,” in John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, ed. Edward H. Sugden (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 292; John Wesley, “Sermon XXIX: The Original, Nature, Property, and Use of the Law,” in John Wesley’s Fifty-Three Sermons, ed. Edward H. Sugden (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 425–39; John Wesley, Wesley’s Notes on the Bible, ed. G. Roger Schoenhals (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987), 37; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Salem, OH: Schmul Publishers, 1975), 59.

78
Also, seventeenth-century America had some laws on tithing. For example, in 1629 farmers in Virginia were required to pay tithes to ministers. See D. B. Robertson, Should Churches Be Taxed? (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968), 47.

79
Selden, Historie of Tithes, I–II. See also Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans or Protestant Nonconformists: From the Reformation in 1517, to the Revolution in 1688, 2 vols., ed. John O. Choules (New York: Harper, 1856), 1:266–67.

80
Neal, History of the Puritans, 2:129–30.

81
Henry W. Clarke, History of English Nonconformity, 2 vols. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1911–1913), 1:374.

82
S. C. Lomas, ed., The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell with Elucidations by Thomas Carlyle, 3 vols. (London: Methuen, 1904), 2:538; contra Green, Voluntary Maintenance, 8.

83
Selden, Historie of Tithes, I–III, wrote that tithes were not due by divine right. However, his goal was not to discourage payment of tithes or the support of the clergy.

84
Gough, Tracts on Tithes; Clarke, English Nonconformity, 2:171; Murray, Beyond Tithing, 170; Howard Brinton, Friends for 300 Years: The History and Beliefs of the Society of Friends since George Fox started the Quaker Movement (New York: Harper, 1952), 161; John Gough, A History of the People Called Quakers: From their First Rise to the Present Time, vol. 4 (Dublin: Jackson, 1790), 279, 289–92; Pearse, Great Restoration, 273–74; Charles Evans, Friends in the Seventeenth Century, new and rev. ed. (Philadelphia: Friends’ Book-Store, 1876), 121, 613–15.

85
White, Association Records, 1:44–45, 48, 151, 3:153–57; Edward Terrill, The Records of a Church of Christ in Bristol, 1640–1687, ed. Roger Hayden (Bristol: Bristol Record Society, 1974), 134–35; Barrington E. White, “The English Particular Baptists and the Great Rebellion, 1640–1660,” Baptist History and Heritage 9 (1974): 23–28.

86
John Gough, Tracts on Tithes (Dublin: Jackson, 1786), contained three tracts. The second, Plain Reasons why the People Called Quakers may in Conscience, and ought in Duty, to pay Tithes, published in 1786, was said to be written by a Prelate of the Kingdom. See the second tract, 18–22.

87
John Bunyan, Bunyan’s Searching Works: The Strait Gate, The Heavenly Footman, The Barren Fig-Tree, The Pharisee and Publican, and Divine Emblems (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1851), 24.

88
Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary: A New Edition, with the Author’s Final Corrections, 6 vols. (New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1846), 1:179–80.

89
For more on tithing in England, see Susan Bridgen, “Tithe Controversy in Reformation London,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 32, no. 3 (1981): 285–301; Salim Rashid, “Anglican Clergymen and the Tithe Question in the Early Nineteenth Century,” Journal of Religious History 11, no. 1 (1980): 64–76; Christopher Hill, Economic Problems of the Church: From Archbishop Whitgift to the Long Parliament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956), 75–131.

90
Charles Leslie (1700) (Charles Leslie, James Gambier, Richard Belward, and W. Edmeads, Tracts on Tithes [Cambridge: Smith, 1811]); W. Bohun (1731) (W. Bohun, The Law of Tithes; Shewing Their Nature, Kinds, Properties and Incidents; by whom, to whom, when, and in what Manner payable; how, and in what Courts to be sued for and recovered; what Things, Lands or Persons are charged with, or exempted therefrom. With the Nature, Incidents and Effects of Customs, Prescriptions, Real Compositions, Modus Decimandi, Libels, Suggestions, Prohibitions, Consultations, Custom of London, &c., 2d ed. [London: Nutt and Gosling, 1731; reprint, Holmes Beach, FL: Gaunt, 2000]); James Gambier (1794), Richard Belward (English; 1782), W. Edmeads (English; 1811) (for all three see John Gough, Tracts on Tithes [Dublin: Jackson, 1786]). For more on tithes in England, see Eric J. Evans, The Contentious Tithe: The Tithe Problem and English Agriculture, 1750–1850 (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976); T. Cunningham, New Treatise on the Laws concerning Tithes: Containing All the Statutes, Adjudged Cases, Resolutions and Judgments relative thereto, 3d ed. (London: W. Griffin, 1748); Samuel Toller, Treatise of the Law of Tithes: Compiled in part from some notes of Richard Wooddeson (London: A. Strahan, 1808); Earl of Selborne Roundell, Ancient Facts and Fictions concerning Churches and Tithes, 2d ed. (London: MacMillan, 1892).

91
Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 6 vols. (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1991), 1:79, 440, 562–63, 612, 648; 4:1179; 5:273.

92
Note that „vestiges” of tithing were still around until 1996 (Stuart Murray, Beyond Tithing [Carlisle, England: Paternoster, 2000], 183).

93
Ibid., 159.

94
J. Newton Brown, ed., „Tithes,” in Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 2 vols. (Brattleboro: Fessenden, 1836), 2:1124. Note that Brown copied every word from (and gave credit to) Charles Buck, „Tithes,” in A Theological Dictionary, new ed., ed. E. Henderson (London: James Duncan, 1833), 905–06. The only changes made were basically cosmetic.

95
Charles G. Finney, Prevailing Prayer: Sermons on Prayer (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1965), 34–35.

96
See Jonathan Edwards, Sermons and Discourses: 1734–1738, ed. M. X. Lesser, The Works of Jonathan Edwards 19 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 65, 542; John H. Gerstner, The Rational Theology of Jonathan Edwards, vol. 1 (Orlando: Ligonier, 1991), 470–73; Jonathan Edwards, Ethical Writings, ed. Paul Ramsey, The Works of Jonathan Edwards 8 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 174–75, 211–12; Jonathan Edwards, The ‘Miscellanies’: (Entry Nos. 833–1152), ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw, The Works of Jonathan Edwards 20 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 79–80. He concluded that tithes were part of the ceremonial law and that Christians should not give less than in the previous dispensation. For Spurgeon, see Charles H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 32 (Pasadena: Pilgrim, 1974), 213; Charles H. Spurgeon, „Jesus Meeting His Warriors,” in Treasury of the Bible, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981), 75; Lansdell, Sacred Tenth, 458–59.

97
„Negative evidence” refers to those who did not refute tithing, but whose description of giving is deemed incompatible with tithing.

Resource

A BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TITHING: TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF GIVING IN THE NEW COVENANT ERA; A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Wake Forest, North Carolina by David A. Croteau December 2005