Chapter I: Part 1

THE TITHE

REV. E. B. STEWART
PASTOR
THIRD UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
CHICAGO, ILL.

FOURTH THOUSAND

_INTRODUCTION BY LAYMAN_

THE WINONA PUBLISHING CO.
CHICAGO, ILL. WINONA LAKE, IND.

COPYRIGHT, 1903
BY
THE WINONA PUBLISHING CO.

THE TITHE

PREFACE.

There has been no attempt in this brief work to record every mention of the tithe that may be found in ancient writings. Some have called attention to a large group of references which lie in the era contemporaneous with the history of Israel. Items of history, for example, from 500 to 800 B. C. are interesting, but would not add materially to the argument. In a way they may help to solve the question as to the meaning of terms used in the pre-Mosaic period. Many prefer to be cautious about asserting that there was a religious tithe in this remote period. Mr. Johns in his valuable work, “Assyrian Deeds and Documents” Vol. III, says, for example, (pp. 347-349), that to translate a certain word “tithe” as some do is to “assume that there was a tithe.” He admits, however, that this view “agrees admirably with that universally adopted custom among Semitic peoples of paying a tithe to the government.” On the other hand Prof. Sayce positively asserts that there is a word which should be translated tithe. The cautious ones say that he jumps at conclusions. Some who do not jump stand ever still and reach no conclusions. Which is better, I do not undertake to say. It has been the aim of this work to take a broad view of tribute, not distinctly as paid to a priest, but to kings as well. Rulers often assumed the function of a priest and appropriated the revenue to themselves. While the meaning of terms and the use of revenue may be in a somewhat doubtful state, there seems to be no question but that the proportion of the tenth prevailed as has been stated.

Acknowledgment is gratefully made of the kind help of Dr. R. F. Harper, Prof. of Assyriology, and Dr. J. H. Breasted, Professor of Egyptology in the University of Chicago, for valuable direction as to books that might be read to advantage. I desire to express my appreciation of the advice and encouragement of Mr. Thos. Kane and other friends who have urged me to present this study to the public. I trust it may increase the tribute to the King of glory, the Head of the Church.

E. B. STEWART.

Chicago, August, 1903.

INTRODUCTION.

WHAT WE OWE, AND WHY WE DON’T PAY IT.

No one not an unreasoning optimist believes that with our present methods of Church finance, it is possible that the World will be Christianized during the Twentieth Century. No one not an unreasoning pessimist believes that if all Christians practiced the Tithe System and devoted one-tenth of their income to the Master’s work that the World could not be brought to a knowledge of Christ within the next one hundred years. These two facts being conceded, and no thinking man will deny them, three questions suggest themselves:--

1st. Who is most to blame for present conditions?

2nd. The Results,

3rd. The Remedy.

Answering the first question as to who is most to blame, it is my deliberate conviction based on more than twenty-five years varied experience and growing more decided each year, that the blame very largely lies at the doors of our Theological Seminaries and Theological Professors, the teachers of our teachers. They must bear a very large share of the responsibility.

There will be, there can be no permanent change for the better while our religious teachers are taught to teach us a lot of generalities which do not have even the merit of being glittering on this, of all subjects connected with the Christian life of laymen and lay-women, the most important.

There will be slow progress so long as such a large proportion of students for the ministry are taught that we laymen and lay-women owe everything to God in general but nothing in particular, nothing definite; that the time of payment, manner of payment, and even the amount of payment of whatever we owe, or think we owe, or somebody else tells us we owe, is left entirely to our natural disposition to benevolence or stinginess or to our moods and caprices. That _payment_ to God of any definite proportion of our income does not enter into the Christian system; that all our benevolences are to be classed under the general term of “Giving,” thus placing our Heavenly Father and the street beggar to whom we may give a few pennies, in the same category. That it is right and not an insult to the Almighty to teach us that we can _give money_ to God; that the basis and foundation of the Christian system of providing means for carrying on the Master’s work in discipling all Nations is founded on a few sentences from a letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth, urging them to make a generous free-will offering in aid of some suffering fellow Christians down at Jerusalem. For obvious reasons, the reason he gives for urgency in the matter is very rarely quoted: “That there be no collections when I come.” Paul evidently had his share of human nature, and special collections which most Ministers so much dread was probably also his pet aversion.

During the past year I have had a very striking confirmation of this opinion. On September 29th, 1902, I sent a copy of the following letter to the President or leading official in each of the Evangelical Theological Seminaries in the United States and Canada, 152 in all:--

Dear Sir--By this mail I send you a sample package of such literature
as I publish on the subject of “Honoring God with our Substance.” I
will take pleasure in sending gratis, express prepaid, a sufficient
number of similar packages to supply one for each theological student
under your care if you or some one in your institution will state
how many will be required and agree that they shall be placed in the
hands of the students. Hoping to hear from you, I am

Yours very truly,

Just twenty-seven accepted the offer, thus showing that nearly five-sixths of those to whom the letters were addressed were not willing or indifferent as to whether the students under their care should be taught that the debt we owe to God means anything definite.

In November of the same year I sent a similar letter addressed to the “Professor of Practical Theology” in the 125 institutions where the first offer was not accepted. A total of 22 responded and expressed a willingness some of them an earnest desire to distribute literature on Tithing among the students. Next I tried to reach the students direct, as I had failed to reach them by the first two methods in more than two-thirds of the Seminaries of our country and Canada. Once more I had written and personally signed 103 letters, the envelope being addressed “To That Student Most Interested in the Subject of ‘Honoring God with our Substance.’” The letter enclosed was as follows:--

To the student receiving this letter:--

Dear Sir--By this mail I send you samples of such literature as I
publish on the subject of “Honoring God with our Substance.” I will
take pleasure in sending gratis, express prepaid, a sufficient number
of similar packages to supply one for each Theological student in
your Seminary, if you will state how many will be required and agree
that they shall be placed in the hands of the students.

When you engage in your life work you will find no subject of such
vital interest to laymen, and a thorough understanding of it, and
ability to explain it, will greatly aid you in Church and Missionary
support.

Awaiting your reply, and hoping for your co-operation, I remain

Yours very truly,

To my great surprise only ten accepted this offer, leaving 93 institutions devoted to training preachers either indifferent or unwilling to permit their students to accept and read, without expense, the same literature on the subject of Tithing that active Pastors have ordered in quantities aggregating many millions during the last 27 years for circulation among their people.

In contrast with so much apathy and indifference or opposition, many of the replies received were of the most encouraging character, the writers expressing deep interest in the subject and promising hearty co-operation.

Another obstacle, and second only in importance, is found in the attitude of a large proportion of the editors of our Religious Newspapers. It should be remembered in their behalf that nearly all of them are Ministers, and as a result are themselves the victims of false teaching or no teaching on this subject, which to at least nine-tenths of their constituency, is of the most vital importance. The few lay-editors of Religious Newspapers that I have the honor of knowing all believe in and practice the Tithe System.

As in the case of Theological Teachers, I have very recent confirmation of this opinion.

A year or two ago a fellow worker in this field, the Rev. Henry Lansdell, D. D. of Morton College, Black Heath, England, an extensive traveler in Oriental countries, and noted author realizing that Religious books are read by so few people as compared with Religious newspapers, conceived and put into execution the unique idea of publishing serially in slip form suitable for printers’ proof, some of the results of the latest archaeological researches and discoveries bearing on the subject of Tithing, supplementing and enriching them with his own researches and interviews with eminent archaeologists. I copy from a letter received from him dated July 8th, 1903:

My Dear Sir--Your letter of the 23d June, quite cheered me. I
have circularized and sent slips to upwards of 1,250 editors in
114 countries, Kingdoms and States, sending also with my offer in
167 cases an autograph or dictated letter. Thus far the result is
approximately as follows: No answer received from 976, and the number
who have declined is 248, whilst about 26 have accepted the series
in whole or in part. The number of copies printed of four of these
publications amounts to over 400,000 weekly; of the rest I do not
know the circulation, but supposing that each paper has four readers,
it does not seem at all an extravagant estimate that the articles
will be brought before two million readers weekly. This surely is
something to thank God for!

Out of the 1,250, more than half were sent to America and Canada. Not
one Canadian paper thus far has accepted, but in the United States
the papers accepting are California, 1; Arkansas, 1; Texas, 1; Ohio,
2; New York, 1; New Jersey, 1; Pennsylvania, 1; Illinois, 1.

It is my belief--certainly my hope--that Dr. Lansdell has in preparation a volume in which he will exhaustively treat of the early history of the Tithe.

Unfortunately I have mislaid the first three slips, each about a newspaper column, sent me by Dr. Lansdell, and hence am unable to give their titles. Commencing with the fourth, the titles are as follows:--

IV. Egyptian War Tithes.
V. Pre-Historic and Spartan Greece.
VI. Græco-Persian and Later Greece.
VII. The Romans.
VIII. The Pelasgi, Britons and German-Saxons.
IX. Where Did Abram Learn Tithing?
X. Jacob’s Vow.
XI. Israel’s First Tithe.
XII. Israel’s Second, or Festival Tithe.

Naturally the first three would have reference to the very earliest history, including lately discovered evidences of Tithing in pre-historic times.

One would suppose that such original and late matter as these titles indicate, prepared by a thorough scholar, would be gladly accepted and published by the religious press. That it is not carries its own comment.

My own experience has in some respects been similar. To illustrate: Two or three years ago I offered for a limited time to send gratis, express prepaid, to Christian Endeavor societies, Epworth Leagues, and Baptist Young People’s Unions such literature as I publish on the subject of Tithing sufficient to furnish one of each to every family represented. I had the offer printed, occupying about an inch of newspaper space, and sent it with a personal letter asking publication to practically all the Evangelical religious newspapers in the United States and Canada. I kept no accurate record of the replies, but probably one-fourth, possibly one-third, cheerfully published the offer; two or three editorially called attention to it, while a few returned it with an offer to insert it at regular advertising rates. The rest ignored it.

_As to Results._ These, judged by any fair standard are not only deplorable, but a shame to our profession as Christian men and women. The old lady who boasted that she had been a Christian for twenty-five years and had never failed to give a dollar a year to Foreign Missions was a good deal above the average. If she had given a like sum, less than ten cents a month, to Home Missions, she would not have suffered by comparison with the rest of us; and yet we are the richest nation in the world, and while now passing through a season of unexampled prosperity, our gifts to Missions show very slight increase; in many cases they are less than ordinary. No wonder the world sneers at our profession of love for Christ and desire to see His Kingdom established throughout the world. They have the right to sneer in this regard and we are the last people in the world who have a right to criticise them for doing it.

In this respect both our Heavenly Father and the world about us occupy the same standpoint of judgment. No matter what our profession may be, both God and the world measure our real interest in this as in all other subjects by what we do for it, and for us laymen and lay-women our doing is measured rightly and of necessity by our contributions, the money we give.

So far as we are concerned I can think of but one excuse. I admit that it is a poor one but it is the best we have. We have either been wrongly, or insufficiently, taught by our religious teachers regarding this of all subjects to us the most important. There has been little or no “Thus saith the Lord” about it; nearly all our teaching has been on the line of ‘Give, Give, Give’; very little of definite _payment of what we owe_ and letting free-will offerings commence after our debt has been paid. We have been continuously and persistently taught that we can _give_ money to God. We have even been exhorted and urged to be systematically benevolent in the matter of gifts to God. Think of it! Systematic benevolence applied to our Heavenly Father. The whole system of our teaching on this subject has been based on “Giving,” everlastingly “Giving.” If this teaching is right we laymen can justly claim the right to _give_ what we please and _as_ we please. Gifts and payment occupy very different standpoints. If I owe a debt, it is a definite amount and I must pay it when it is due, or be branded as a defaulter, but no man _owes_ a gift. True, we both give and pay when we pay Tithes, but the payment is to God, the giving as His stewards and agents is to our fellow men for the upbuilding and advancement of His Kingdom.

It is only fair in this connection to say that ministers have the same excuse, poor as it is, that we laymen and lay-women have. They have been the victims of wrong teaching by their professors of theology and teachers of practical--not theoretical--religion. The only sensible thing for us all to do is to repent and reform.

That I may not be accused of overstating or misrepresenting the situation, I copy the Pledge of the Tenth Legion of the Christian Endeavor Society. This Pledge has been signed by over 25,000 of the young people of our churches. It clearly perpetuates this false teaching and will of course bear its legitimate fruit. At the time the Tenth Legion was started the attention of its officers was called to the mistake as I regard it in the language, but they declined to change it. It reads as follows:

“Unto God the Things that are God’s”

Enrollment Blank.

Please enroll my name in

THE TENTH LEGION

of the United Society of Christian Endeavor as a Christian whose
practice it is to give God the tithe, and send me the Certificate of
Membership.[A]

Another result is that while this is a Giving Age as never before in the history of the world, the Church is not getting her share. Christians are giving largely, but not to Church objects nor through Church channels. There are tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of Tithe Payers but their Tithes are not brought into the modern storehouse, the Church, but are directed into numberless other channels. Habits of giving to objects of benevolence outside the Church are being formed, especially by the young, which will last for life. The result is and will continue that taking into account the increase in wealth and increase in Giving in other lines, the Church is not only not making advance but relatively retrograding.

A further word about the results of this teaching. The Supreme message of Christ was unselfishness. Judging by what we professing Christians give to spread His Name and Kingdom outside of our own churches, which means Home and Foreign Missions, could anything appear more intensely selfish than modern Christianity in rich America? Boiled down, it certainly appears to mean to the world at least, and I fear to God, get converted, confess Christ before men, join the church, attend church and prayer meetings, do as little as you can and be respectable among your neighbors towards the support of your church and pastor, and then give less than $2.00 each per member to Home and Foreign Missions. Yes--taking out the amounts contributed by, say, 20 per cent of generous givers--mark I do not say large givers, it is less than 50 cents each, or to be liberal less than 5 cents each per month for the conversion of the world at home and abroad, and all this in free, rich America. In most other countries Christians have some excuse for not paying the Tithe to God. In most of them there is a State Church, and the State claims the right to enforce payment of the Tithe for the support of that Church. Not so with us. We have no State Church, and are accountable to God only for the payment of the Tenth. As Mr. Stewart explains in the following pages, the Tithe is God’s law for the race, yet the payment--in American churches at least--is entirely voluntary. In this respect it does not differ from the law of the Sabbath, or any other of God’s laws. We may refuse to obey any or all of them. Our obedience is voluntary, but our refusal to obey does not abrogate or repeal the laws.

I was rejoiced when I learned that Mr. Stewart, the author of the following pages had been studying this subject for years. I urged him to prosecute the work, and publish the results of his investigations and conclusions. I had the pleasure of reading the manuscript before publication. I regard his work as excellent from every standpoint, and the best for “plain people” I have ever seen. It will be both my pleasure and duty to give it the widest possible circulation, and I bespeak for it careful and prayerful reading, more especially on the part of my brother laymen who are seeking to know and do their duty in this the most important practical subject connected with our Christian life under Twentieth Century conditions.

_As to the remedy._ There is no immediate remedy in sight. It is simply a question of more light, but light never enters into purposely darkened rooms.

In so far as Mr. Stewart’s little volume comes into willing hands it will help take down the shutters and let the light into hitherto darkened rooms. I hope and believe it will also cause many putters-up-of-shutters to hesitate and at least be neutral rather than continue their thus far darkening work.

When the teachings of this little volume, and others yet to be published in the light of recent investigations and discoveries have had time to permeate and leaven the thinking Christian public he will be not only a brave, but a rash, professor, or teacher or editor who will at once advertise his ignorance and offend a large proportion of his pupils, or readers, by proclaiming the doctrine that the Tithe is not God’s law for the human race and as enduring as its author. He will not have the courage to teach that it was a Mosaic institution, that it was abolished by Christ, and that Christ intended to substitute in its place as a system of church finance the earnest plea of one of his followers 30 or 40 years later for a generous free-will offering from the churches in Corinth to relieve the needs of suffering fellow Christians in another city.

A natural question would be--“Do you expect that the character of the teaching of a large majority of the Theological Professors and writing by editors of the religious newspapers, most of them past middle life, will be changed by the change in Christian public opinion on this subject, and that they will become active teachers of the binding obligation of the Tithe?”

I have no such hope, but I do hope and expect that they will be neutral and refrain from opposing. My belief is that active opposition and indifference can and will be stayed; but my hope is in the next generation of professors, teachers and preachers, and as a result a generation of laymen and lay-women who will teach and practice that the Tithe is--not was--God’s law for the human race, and that the obligation to pay it is as binding now as it ever was.

LAYMAN,
310 Ashland Boulevard.
Chicago, July 29, 1903.

THE TITHE.

ITEMS OF HISTORY.

“Tithe” is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “the tenth.” Technically speaking, it is defined as “the tenth of produce, property or spoils dedicated to sacred use.” Trench quotes with approval Emerson’s characterization of language as “fossil poetry” and adds, “but it may be affirmed of it with exactly the same truth that it is fossil ethics or fossil history. Words quite as often and as effectually embody parts of history, or convictions of the moral sense, as of the imagination or passion of men.” While this is true of words in such a fascinating way, it will, no doubt, furnish the best basis of conclusion, to trace the history of this word and the principle which it involves. If a word embodies history, the history of a word may contain much information of value. This word then will briefly be traced in both Biblical and Extra-Biblical History.

FIRST: In Biblical Record it appears early. Its _first_ distinct mention is in Gen. 14:20. Abram returning from the slaughter of the four kings was met by Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of the most high God. He blessed Abram, who in turn recognized him as his priest before God, and “gave him tithes of all” the spoil.

Its _second_ is in Gen. 28:22. Jacob had been to the gate of heaven, and none other than Bethel could be chosen as a name for that place. Here Jacob under the impression of the awe of God’s presence, vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God; and this stone which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

The _third_ use is in connection with the Levitical law. The Lord spake through Moses and gave this commandment, which is most fully stated in the three following places:

First: Lev. 27:30-32: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.”

Second: Num. 18:26, 30, 31: “Thus speak unto the Levites and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up a heave offering of it for the Lord, even a tenth part of the tithe.” “Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then ... ye shall eat of it in every place, ye and your households; for it is your reward for your service in the tabernacle of the congregation.”

Third: Deut. 14:22, 23, 28, 29: “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of the seed that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and of the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.”

“At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee), and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.”

How long the Mosaic order was carried out we do not know. Samuel in his protest against Israel’s asking for a king (1st Sam. 8:15,17), tells them that “he will take the tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants.” “Also he will take the tenth of your sheep; and ye shall be his servants.”

It is likely that the sacred use of the tithe was early perverted under the kings. We hear no more of this system until the time of Hezekiah (726 B. C.), who instituted once more “the courses of the priests and Levites” (2d Chron. 31:2-5, 10-12), and “commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and Levites.” The people responded at once, “and the tithes of all things brought they in abundantly.” So abundant were they that the chief priest reported that, “since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people, and that which is left is this great store.” So great was this store that chambers in the house of the Lord were prepared for it, and men were appointed to oversee this surplus, who “brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully,” and kept them in the places prepared for them. Before this reformation Amos had sounded his warning in these ironical words. Amos 4:4,5: “Come to Bethel and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgressions; and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years: for this liketh you, oh, ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.”

The prophets cry out all along the line against the greed and selfishness of the people. The captivity even did not burn out this root of evil, and Nehemiah is called upon to right the neglect of the command, “Honor the Lord with thy substance.” (Prov. 3:9.) He joins with the people in a determination to bring the first-fruits and the tithes unto the priests and Levites, that (Neh. 10:37, 38, 39) the “Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.” “And the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God.” “And we will not forsake the house of our God.” But fickle Jewry was soon denying the charge of robbery at the mouth of Malachi who says: “Ye have robbed God in tithes and offerings and are cursed with a curse.” (Mal. 3:10.) “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse,” that blessings, spiritual, temporal and national, may be poured out upon you. What Malachi denounced, Nehemiah rectified by one bold stroke. He gathered the Levites and singers from the fields, whither they had gone to earn a livelihood, and set them in their places. Once more the old order was restored, and it was true that all Judah (Neh. 13:12) “brought the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.”

When the New Testament opens its pages of history we find the tithe principle very scrupulously observed by the “rigidly righteous,” and perhaps by a majority of the Jewish people. The 7th chapter of Hebrews makes use of the word tithe to show that the priesthood of Christ, who is after the order of Melchizedek, is superior to the priesthood of the Levites, because they in the loins of their father Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. Barring this chapter there are just six other places where the tenth, or tithe, occurs. Three of these (John 1:39; Rev. 11:13; 21:23) are simple numerals. Of the remaining three, two refer to the same incident as recorded in Matt. 23:23, and Luke 11:42. The well-known words of Matthew, who gives the fullest statement, are these: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, judgment, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.” The other reference is equally well-known and occurs in the prayer of the Pharisee, who said, (Luke 18:12.) “I give tithes of all that I get.” The Revised Version is used in giving these quotations because it more correctly translates the verb in the first references which should also be translated “tithe” in the last reference, for the Greek verb is the same in all three.

SECOND: The Extra-Biblical records have frequent references to the tithe, the number and extent of which can only be hinted at in the brief selections given.

Since the time of Selden who wrote his famous “Historie of Tithes” almost 300 years ago (the edition to which I have access was published in 1618), little seems to have been added to the historical data respecting the tithe by those who write upon that phase of the subject. Every reference book in the various libraries of this city, and all the literature on the tithe, so far as consulted, have the same stereotyped references, with slight variations in supposition and inference. This fact led to the query, “Is there no new data? Have excavators and translators of other literatures discovered no evidence of this usage”? About four years and a half ago, I set about the task of reading in translation all that was available of the mass of material furnished us through the labors of such men as Dr. Legge, Prof. Max Mueller, Prof. Sayce and many others of the worthy host of oriental scholars. A few of the most interesting are given of the items that came to light in the course of a somewhat extensive and at times tedious reading.

In the literature of ancient China, (Li Ki, Book III., Ch. II., Sec. 27) we find this statement: “A tenth of the year’s expenditures was for sacrifices.” Simcox (Primitive Civilizations, Vol. II, p. 36) comments as follows: “This is nearly the only recognition of a tithe for religious or quasi-religious purposes in China and probably represents a very ancient fragment of tradition. The king received a tithe of the national produce, and he may have been anciently expected to spend a tithe of the revenue so obtained upon the rites of public worship; but an earlier passage in that same book describes the Son of Heaven as retaining nine-tenths of the produce of his domains for his own use, and employing the other tenth to defray the charges of the public offices.”

Prof. Maspero (The Dawn of Civilization, p. 302) writes thus concerning the customs in earliest Egypt: “The gods of the side which was victorious shared with it in the triumph and received a tithe of the spoil as the price of their help.” Again (p. 706) in speaking of a king in relation to the gods among the ancient Chaldeans, he says: “As soon as he had triumphed by their command, he sought before all else to reward them amply for the assistance they had given. He poured a tithe of the spoils into the coffers of their treasury, he made over a part of the conquered country to their domain, he granted them a tale of the prisoners to cultivate their lands or to work at their buildings.”

Prof. Maspero is writing of the earliest civilization which dates from 3000 to 4000 B. C., while Moses, it needs to be borne in mind, lived and wrote not more than 1500 years before Christ.

Prof. Hilprecht’s splendid summary (Explorations in Bible Lands during the 19th Century, recently published) confirms this view. In giving account of Rassam’s discoveries in the ruins of Abu Habba, the ancient Babylonian city of Sippara, he says (p. 275) the tablets discovered “make us acquainted with the duties and daily occupations of the different classes of temple officers and their large body of servants, with the ordinary tithes paid by the faithful, and with many other revenues accruing to the sanctuary from all kinds of gifts, from the lease of real estate, slaves, and animals, and from the sale of products from fields and stables. As tithes were frequently paid in kind, it became necessary to establish regular depots along the principal canals, where scribes stored and registered everything that came in. Among the goods thus received we notice vegetables, meat, and other perishable objects which the temple alone could not consume, and which, therefore, had to be sold or exchanged before they decayed or decreased in value. No wonder that apart from its distinct religious sphere the great temple of Shamash at Sippara in many respects resembled one of the great business firms of Babel or Nippur.” He further says (p. 311), in speaking of some ancient tablets found in the ruins of ancient Nippur by the party of which he was a member, “they consisted of business documents referring to the registry of tithes, and to the administration of the temple property.” These tablets discovered in 1888 proved to be a part of the great Temple Library discovered by Prof. Hilprecht in 1900. Many of them date back to the third millennium before Christ and some bear such names as that of the now famous author of the code of laws, Hammurabi; and others belong to the time as remote as that of Sargon, 3800 B. C.

In “Records of the Past” (edition of 1890, Vol. III., p. 96) we read “In a field of a tenth, he takes a tenth.” “As for the tithe, he gives one part as tithe to the palace.” Among the various kinds of divisions or land tenures, we find these two: “The division of a tenth,” and “The division with a tithe.” G. Bertin, the translator, says: “The work, as we know it from the fragment in the British Museum, is accompanied with a Babylonian translation of Sargon of Agade; and the fragments recovered are those of a Ninevite transcription made in the time of Asshurbanipal for his library.” The tablets are divided into two columns, the left hand one giving the Akkadian and the right hand one the translation. The translator further says: “The tablet from which the above is a translation is of great importance as giving us information and particulars as to the system of land tenure and cultivation of land in the early Akkadian period.” The date of this Sargon is now pretty well fixed at about 3800 B. C. This extensive system of land tenure being in vogue at that date argues that it had been in use in a less extensive form for a long time previous to the date of this publication.

The Pundit Dutt (Ancient India, Vol. II., p. 38), writing on “The Rationalistic Period, B. C. 1000-242,” quotes Megasthenes of the Fourth Century B. C., who gives an account of the civil administration of a city during that period as saying: “Those who have charge of the city are divided into six bodies of five each.” In enumerating the duties of each, he says: “The sixth and last class consists of those who collect the tenth of the prices of the articles sold.”

Added to these references to China, India, Egypt, and Ancient Assyria and Babylonia, is the array of evidence commonly presented in writings on the tithe, including testimony from the Persians, Arabians, Phœnicians, Carthagenians and various other African communities, the ancient Britons, the Grecians and the Romans. One familiar instance from the Greeks will suffice for illustration.

In Xenophon’s Anabasis, book V, chapter 3, we are told that “they divided the money raised from the sale of captives and of the tenth which they took out for Apollo and for the Ephesian Artemis (Diana of the Ephesians), the generals took each a part to keep for the gods.” Referring to Xenophon’s own home in Scillus, we read: “He made both an altar and a temple with the consecrated money; and also thereafter always collecting a tithe of the fruits of the season from the land, he offered sacrifice to the goddess; and all the citizens and neighboring men and women partook of the feast.” A slab was set by the temple having the inscription, “The sacred place of Artemis. Let the one who has possession and enjoys the fruit thereof (i. e., of the estate) offer the tithe each year, and from the surplus repair the temple. If any one does not do this, it will be a care to the goddess,” i. e., she will punish him as an offender.

We now come to the era of the Church Fathers. Here we will quote more at length because of the importance of this testimony to the minds of many who are dealing with this subject. It is understood that these witnesses are not to be regarded as final authorities to those of us who believe in the inspired revelation, but they are important and interesting because they reflect the practice of the Church when it was making its first great effort to preach the gospel to every creature and was making that effort, as is generally supposed, in use of methods sanctioned by the Apostles. The quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the edition of The Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, published by the Christian Literature Co. of New York.

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.”

The Apostolic Constitutions, connected in a literary way with The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, belong, at least so far as the first six books are concerned, to the third century. Dr. Riddle says: “The first six books are the oldest; the seventh, in its present form, somewhat later, but, from its connection with the teaching, proven to contain matter of a very ancient date. The eighth book is of latest date. It now seems to be generally admitted that the entire work is not later than the fourth century, although the usual allowance must be made for textual changes, whether by accident or design.”

Chapter 25 of book II. (Vol. VII., page 408) has the heading, “Of First-fruits and Tithes, and after what manner the Bishop is himself to partake of them, or to distribute them to others.” The following sentences are culled out of this chapter: “Let him use those tenths and first-fruits, which are given according to the command of God, as a man of God; as also let him dispense in a right manner the free-will offerings which are brought in on account of the poor, to the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in distress, as having that God for the examiner of his accounts who has committed the disposition to him.... The Levites, who attended upon the tabernacle, partook of those things that were offered to God by all the people.... You, therefore, O bishops, are to your people priests and Levites, ministering to the holy tabernacle, the holy Catholic Church.... As, therefore, you bear the weight, so have you a right to partake of the fruits before others, and to impart to those who are in want.... For those who attend upon the Church ought to be maintained by the Church, as being priests, Levites, presidents, and ministers of God.”

Again in Chapter 35 (page 413) we read, “Now you ought to know, that although the Lord has delivered you from the additional bonds, and has brought you out of them to your refreshment, and does not permit you to sacrifice irrational creatures for sin-offerings, and purifications, and scape-goats, and continual washings and sprinklings, yet has He nowhere freed you from those oblations which you owe to the priests, nor from doing good to the poor.” Other references will be found also on pages 471, 494, and among the Canons, page 500.