Tithing, Giving and the New Testament: An Introduction (Post 2)

Tithing, Giving and the New Testament: An Introduction

Tithing is a hot topic, maybe partly because whatever has to do with money has the potential of becoming a hot topic. I would like to take the opportunity to review this topic together with the topic of giving in general. Is tithing for today? Is tithing valid in the New Testament era, in the age of grace in which we live, or is it obsolete? What does the New Testament say about giving? Starting from the first question, by looking at what is taught today from the pulpit of most of the churches one could easily conclude that tithing is a principle to be applied today. This is something so much established in the ecclesiastical order and thinking that we no longer hear about gifts and givers but about tithe and tithers.

As much established as this view may seem, there is, in the minds of many ordinary believers, a discrepancy between what they often hear from the pulpit and what they see in the New Testament. In the New Testament there is simply nothing mentioned about tithing, as there is nothing mentioned about sacrificing bulls or following other similar Old Testament laws and practices. At least nothing is mentioned in the sense of keeping and going along with it. What the New Testament speaks about is givers, free gifts and support of the poor saints through these voluntary and happily given gifts. But let’s look at these matters in more detail.

Tassos Kioulachoglou