05/11/11

Majority of Evangelicals Still Tithe

Revisiting my blog post on Evangelical Leaders and the Language of Tithes (here), I thought this CNN interview would help contextualize the survey results conducted in February by the National Association of Evangelicals, NAE.

T. J. Holmes of CNN’s Faces of Faith interviewed Leith Anderson (President of NAE) and Brian Kluth (author and evangelical pastor). Both leaders are believers in tithing and sought to offer a balance to basic issues on the subject. ‘To Tithe or Not To Tithe?‘ was the topic discussed, with questions including – Continue reading →

05/11/11

How Christians Think About Tithing

Yes. No. Voluntary.

Summarising the various positions held by Christians on the subject of tithing in Church is not as simple. It certainly involves a myriad of other perspectives. However, there seems to be three common views observed among believers regardless the conclusions drawn.

To Tithe or Not?

OBLIGATORY TITHES. There are some who believe that tithes are obligatory for Christians today. This is expressed in various ways, including its being “required” or “mandatory”. The consequences of not tithing would mean that such believers are sinning against God – which in certain strains of their argument would imply that these folks are expressly qualifying themselves for divine judgement in hell.(1) Continue reading →

05/9/11

So What Happened to the 90%?

After Abraham had given a tenth of the spoils to Salem’s king, the question of what he did with the remaining often pops up in discussions on tithes. It would not be an issue in itself, other than highlighting some basic misconceptions people have in reading Genesis 14. It is often argued that Abram gave the remaining 90% back to the king of Sodom, since the patriarch was merely ‘returning stolen goods’.

First, the idea of returning stolen goods is deeply flawed and cannot be argued into that chapter. Abraham had a legitimate claim on the spoils in order to give tithes to Melchizedek. There is no arguing against the fact that the patriarch was willing to forgo the spoils (verse 23); but that in itself does not negate the legitimacy of his claims to them. He could not have treated the stuff as his own in giving any part or portion from them to anyone if he had no claims over the spoils in the first place. Continue reading →

05/3/11

Did Abraham Tithe From His Own?

In discussing Genesis 14 with many who oppose tithing for Christians, we have often been told that Abraham gave a tenth from what did not rightfully belong to him. This assertion is expressed in various ways and the conclusion is that he either did not tithe at all, or that he was merely returning recovered goods to their ‘rightful’ owners – which in this case would be the king of Sodom.

Although I had used that faulty argument in my anti-tithing days, it is froth with huge problems. A careful reading of the texts reveals that Abraham actually gave tithes from what had belonged to him – or Scripture would not have recognised the tithes as his own. Whatever the argument, the basic question to keep in mind here is this: who had legitimate claims to the spoils? Continue reading →

05/2/11

Abraham’s Tithes Are Not Pagan

Many who oppose tithing for Christians have problems with Abraham’s tithes in Genesis 14. Some even deny that he actually gave tithes, even though both the OT (Gen. 14:20) and the NT (Heb. 7:2, 4, 6) affirm the fact that he did so! The argument for the denial is that his gifts to Melchizedek were not from his own possession. So they conclude that Abraham’s tithes were ‘pagan tithes.‘

That anti-tithing argument is deeply flawed for a number of reasons, especially because it violates basic principles of interpreting the Bible. The implications are enormous and leave more questions than answers.

A Crucial Exegetical Key

Possibly many interpretations could be given to the Genesis 14 passage. However, in Biblical exegesis, a crucial key to understanding any text of Scripture is the author’s intended meaning. How do we get the intended meaning of that passage? Continue reading →

05/1/11

Why Did Abraham Forgo The Spoils?

In the past few weeks a few friends have asked about my decision to start tithing. Having been vehemently opposed to this principle in my anti-tithing days, they are somewhat surprised to find a change of heart and have continued to ask questions.

One familiar question borders on the argument that Abraham did not tithe from what belonged to him. Since that is a recurrent issue, I hope to address that point subsequently and highlight a few important notes that are often overlooked.

In this post I quickly want to respond to a friend’s concern. He had argued basically from Genesis 14:22-23 that there was nothing which Abraham could have claimed as his own, since the goods did not belong to him in the first place. Although I’m persuaded that the spoils actually belonged to him (to be discussed in another post), this is a response to his second enquiry on WHY the patriarch was willing to forgo his claim of the spoils. Continue reading →

04/26/11

The Poison of Legalism

This is another post (the Poison of Legalism) that appears on my other blog, VerseTalk. It seems just suited to follow the ‘Is Tithing Legalistic?‘ post on this Blog. There are various aspects of our Christian lives that are touched by this problem, and it is one that we all need to be particularly mindful of.

Poison of Legalism

I don’t know of any believer who embraces legalism as a virtue in their Christian walk. Yet, this is one of the biggest issues that is not as simple to recognize or deal with as easily as an open sin. Continue reading →

04/25/11

Is Tithing Legalistic?

Over the weekend the question of tithing being legalistic was raised in comments following a previous post on Melchizedek’s priesthood. I don’t know anyone who would embrace stringency as a virtuous lifestyle in their Christian walk, for the calling we have in Christ is founded on grace (Eph. 2:8).

However, the matter of legalism in its connection with tithing is worth a serious consideration. Besides the common argument that we are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14), there are other perspectives that bear out this concern. One example is drawn from a comment as quoted below, to help us understand what this might have meant to the enquirer – Continue reading →