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 BV 772 .S84 1903 
 Stewart, E. B. 
 The tithe 
 
THE TITHE 
 
 REV. E. B. STEWART 
 
 Pastor 
 
 Third United Presbyterian Church 
 
 Chicago, III. 
 
 INTRODUCTION BT LAYMAN 
 
 THE WINONA PUBLISHING CO. 
 CHICAGO, ILL. WINONA LAKE, IND. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1903 
 
 BY 
 
 THE WINONA PUBLISHING CO. 
 
THE TITHE 
 
PREI^ACE. 
 
 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 at- 
 tention 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 pre- 
 fer to be cautious about asserting that there was 
 a religious tithe in this remote period. Mr. Johns 
 in his valuable work, "Assyrian Deeds and Docu- 
 ments" Vol. Ill, 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 admi- 
 rably with that universally adopted custom among 
 Semitic peoples of paying a tithe to the govern- 
 ment." On the other hand Prof. Sayce positively 
 asserts that there is a word which should be trans- 
 lated tithe. The cautious ones say that he jumps 
 at conclusions. Some who do not jump stand 
 ever still and reach no conclusions. Which is bet- 
 
pretace 
 
 ter, 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 reve- 
 nue 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 direc- 
 tion 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. 
 
 VI 
 
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 Chris- 
 tians 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 them- 
 selves : — 
 
 1st. Who is most to blame for present condi- 
 tions ? 
 
 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 teach- 
 
 vii 
 
1[ntro^uctton 
 
 ers of our teachers. They must bear a very large 
 share of the responsibiHty. 
 
 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 every- 
 thing to God in general but nothing in particular, 
 nothing definite ; that the time of payment, man- 
 ner of payment, and even the amount of payment 
 of whatever we owe, or think we owe, or some- 
 body 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 provid- 
 ing means for carrying on the Master's work in 
 viii 
 
1[ntrot)Uction 
 
 discipling all Nations is founded on a few sen- 
 tences from a letter Paul wrote to the Chris- 
 tians in Corinth, urging them to make a generous 
 free will offering in aid of some suffering fellow 
 Christians down at Jerusalem. For obvious rea- 
 sons, the reason he gives for urgency in the mat- 
 ter is very rarely quoted : ''That there be no col- 
 lections when I come." Paul evidently had his 
 share of human nature, and special collections 
 which most Ministers so much dread was proba- 
 bly also his pet aversion. 
 
 During the past year I have had a very strik- 
 ing 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 "Honor- 
 ing 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 stu- 
 dent under your care if you or some one in your institu- 
 tion 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, 
 
 IX 
 
1Fntrot)Uctton 
 
 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 let- 
 ters, the envelope being addressed ''To That 
 Student Most Interested in the Subject of 'Hon- 
 oring God with our Substance/ " The letter en- 
 closed 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 re- 
 
 X 
 
1rntro^uctton 
 
 quired 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-opera- 
 tion, I remain 
 
 Yours very truly. 
 
 To my great surprise on-ly ten accepted this 
 offer, leaving 93 institutions devoted to training 
 preachers either indifferent or unwilling to per- 
 mit their students to accept and read, without 
 expense, the same literature on the subject of 
 Tithing that active Pastors have ordered in quan- 
 tities aggregating many millions during the last 
 27 years for circulation among their people. 
 
 In contrast with so much apathy and indiffer- 
 ence or opposition, many of the replies received 
 were of the most encouraging character, the writ- 
 ers expressing deep interest in the subject and 
 promising hearty cooperation. 
 
 Another obstacle, and second only In Impor- 
 tance, is found in the attitude of a large propor- 
 tion 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 nlne- 
 xi 
 
ITntrobuctton 
 
 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 Col- 
 lege, 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 publish- 
 ing serially In slip form suitable for printers' 
 proof, some of the results of the latest archaeo- 
 logical 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 let- 
 ter received from him dated July 8th, 1903: 
 
 Dear Mr. Kane— Your letter of the 23d June, quite 
 cheered me. I have circularized and sent slips to up- 
 wards of 1,250 editors in 114 countries, Kingdoms and 
 States, sending also with my offer in 167 cases an auto- 
 graph or dictated letter. Thus far the result is approxi- 
 mately 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 num- 
 ber of copies printed of four of these publications 
 xii 
 
1rntro^uctton 
 
 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 esti- 
 mate 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 ac- 
 cepted, 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. Grseco-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. 
 
 xiu 
 
•ffntrobuctton 
 
 Naturally the first three would have reference 
 to the very earliest history, including lately dis- 
 covered 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, occu- 
 pying about an inch of newspaper space, and sent 
 it with a personal letter asking publication to 
 practically all the Evangelical religious newspa- 
 pers 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 
 xiv 
 
Ifntrobuction 
 
 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 pros- 
 perity, our gifts to Missions show very slight in- 
 crease ; 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 w^orld 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 
 
Untto^uctton 
 
 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 con- 
 tinuously and persistently taught that we can give 
 money to God. We have even been exhorted and 
 urged to be systematically benevolent in the mat- 
 ter 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 w^hat w^e 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 King- 
 dom. 
 
 It is only fair in this connection to say that 
 xvi 
 
irntrobuctton 
 
 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 theo- 
 retical — 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 offi- 
 cers 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 Chris- 
 tion whose practice it is to give God the tithe, and send 
 me the Certificate of Membership * 
 
 ♦Yes, I know the stock answer to this. ''Jacob's Vow." But 
 what and where was Jacob when he used this language? A 
 sneak and a fugitive from the just wrath of his brother. It is safe 
 to say that never afterwards, certainly never after he became an 
 
 B xvii 
 
irntrot)uctton 
 
 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 di- 
 rected 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 rela- 
 tively retrograding. 
 
 A further word about the results of this teach- 
 ing. The Supreme message of Christ was un- 
 selfishness. Judging by what we professing 
 Christians give to spread His Name and Kingdom 
 outside of our own churches, which means Home 
 
 honest man did he speak of or regard the payment of the Tithe 
 as a "gift" to God. It looks as thoug-h the Pharisee boasted of 
 giving Tithes, but there is no use in painting him blacker than 
 he was. Let us hope he had in mind that he gave tithes to the 
 Temple service, in which case the word he used was correct. It 
 is unfair to charge even him with claiming that he gave Tithes 
 to God. So far as I recall Christ never mentioned Tithes but 
 twice. Once He said "Ye tithe;" in the other instance "Ye pay 
 tithes," and added his approval. 
 
 xviii 
 
ITntrobuctton 
 
 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 ex- 
 plains 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 Sab- 
 bath, or any other of God's laws. We may refuse 
 xix 
 
1Fntro^ucttott 
 
 to obey any or all of them. Our obedience is 
 voluntary, but our refusal to obey does not abro- 
 gate or repeal the laws. 
 
 I was rejoiced when I learned that Mr. Stewart, 
 the author of the following pages had been study- 
 ing this subject for years. I urged him to prose- 
 cute the work, and publish the results of his in- 
 vestigations 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 circu- 
 lation, and I bespeak for it careful and prayer- 
 ful 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 rem- 
 edy 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 shut- 
 ters and let the light inta hitherto darkened rooms. 
 I hope and believe it will also cause many putters- 
 up-of-shutters to hesitate and at least be neutral 
 
 XX 
 
IFntro^uction 
 
 rather than continue their thus far darkening 
 work. 
 
 When the teachings of this httle volume, and 
 others yet to be pubHshed 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 insti- 
 tution, 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 gener- 
 ous free-will offering from the churches in Cor- 
 inth 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 ma- 
 jority 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 sub- 
 ject, and that they will become active teachers of 
 the binding obligation of the Tithe?" 
 xxi 
 
IFntrobuctton 
 
 I have no such hope, but I do hope and expect 
 that they will be neutral and refrain from oppos- 
 ing. My belief is that active opposition and in- 
 difference 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. 
 
 xxn 
 
THE TITHE. 
 
 ITEMS O^ 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 Emer- 
 son's characterization of language as "fossil poe- 
 try" 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 ef- 
 fectually embody parts of history, or convictions 
 of the moral sense, as of the imagination or pas- 
 sion 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 
 
Zhc Uttbe 
 
 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, "li 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 there- 
 of. 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 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 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 
 IvOrd, 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, 2^, 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 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 Israel's askmg for a king (ist 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 offer- 
 ings and the tithes and the dedicated things faith- 
 fully," 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 multi- 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 ply transgressions ; and bring your sacrifices every 
 morning and your tithes after three years: for 
 this hketh 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 cap- 
 tivity 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 sub- 
 stance." (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. 
 10 137, 38, 39) the 'Xevites 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." 
 (Mai. 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 
 
Ubc Uitbe 
 
 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 scrupu- 
 lously 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 Mel- 
 chizedek. 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 1 1 '.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 cum- 
 min, 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 Phari- 
 see, who said, (Luke 18:12.) "I give tithes of all 
 that I get." The Revised Version is used in giv- 
 
trbe Uttbe 
 
 ing these qmotations because it more correctly 
 translates the verb in the first references which 
 should also be translated ''tithe" in the last refer- 
 ence, 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 
 ''Historic 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 his- 
 torical data respecting the tithe by those who 
 write upon that phase of the subject. Every ref- 
 erence book in the various libraries of this city, 
 and all the literature on the tithe, so far as con- 
 sulted, 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 litera- 
 tures 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 avail- 
 able 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 jjiven of the items that came 
 
Ubc xrttbe 
 
 to light in the course of a somewhat extensive and 
 at times tedious reading. 
 
 In the hterature of ancient China, (Li Ki, Book 
 III., Ch. IL, Sec. 27) we find this statement: "A 
 tenth of the year's expenditures was for sacri- 
 fices." Simcox (Primitive CiviHzations, Vol. II, 
 p. 36) comments as follows : ''This is nearly the 
 only recognition of a tithe for religious or quasi- 
 rehgious purposes in China and probably repre- 
 sents 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 ear- 
 liest Egypt : ''The gods of the side which was vic- 
 torious 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 
 
 8 
 
Ube Uitbc 
 
 tithe of the spoils into the coffers of their treas- 
 ury, he made over a part of the conquered coun- 
 try 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 civili- 
 zation 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 (Explora- 
 tions in Bible Lands during the 19th Century, re- 
 cently published) confirms this view. In giving 
 account of Rassam's discoveries in the ruins of 
 Abu Habba, the ancient Babylonian city of Sip- 
 para, he says (p. 275) the tablets discovered 
 ''make us acquainted with the duties and daily 
 occupations of the different classes of temple offi- 
 cers and their large body of servants, with the or- 
 dinary 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 vege- 
 
Ube mtbc 
 
 tables, 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 speak- 
 ing 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 ad- 
 ministration 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. 
 in., 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 
 
 10 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 work, as we know it from the fragment in the 
 British Museum, is accompanied with a Baby- 
 lonian translation of Sargon of Agade; and the 
 fragments recovered are those of a Ninevite trans- 
 cription made in the time of Asshurbanipal for his 
 library." The tablets are divided into two col- 
 umns, the left hand one giving the Akkadian and 
 the right hand one the translation. The trans- 
 lator 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 pre- 
 vious 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 say- 
 ing : "Those who have charge of the city are di- 
 vided into six bodies of five each." In enumer- 
 ating 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." 
 
 II 
 
XTbe Ultbe 
 
 Added to these references to China, India, 
 Egypt, and Ancient Assyria and Babylonia, is the 
 array of evidence commonly presented in writ- 
 ings on the tithe, including testimony from the 
 Persians, Arabians, Phoenicians, Carthagenians 
 and .various other African communities, the an- 
 cient 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 conse- 
 crated money ; and also thereafter always col- 
 lecting 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 par- 
 took of the feast." A slab was set by the temple 
 having the inscription, "The sacred place of Ar- 
 temis. 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 
 
 12 
 
XTbe Ultbe 
 
 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 under- 
 stood 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 Liter- 
 ature Co. of New York. 
 
 Clement (30-100 A. D.), who is generally 
 agreed to be the one mentioned in Phil. 4 13, 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 knowl- 
 edge, 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 
 
 13 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 offerings (to be presented) and service to be per- 
 formed (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 con- 
 science, with becoming gravity, and not going be- 
 yond the rule of the ministry prescribed to him. 
 Not in every place, brethren, are the daily sacri- 
 fices offered, or the peace-offerings, or the sin- 
 offerings and the trespass-offerings, but in Jeru- 
 salem only. And even there they are not offered 
 in any place, but only at the altar before the tem- 
 ple, that which is offered being first carefully ex- 
 amined by the high priest and the ministers 
 already mentioned. Those, therefore, who do 
 
 14 
 
Zbc mtbc 
 
 anything beyond what is agreeable to His will, 
 are punished with death. Ye see, brethren, that 
 the greater the knowledge that has been vouch- 
 safed 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 sup- 
 port. 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 com- 
 mandment. 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 com- 
 mandment." 
 
 Justin Martyr (110-165) furnishes the follow- 
 ing testimony (Vol. I., p. 167) when speaking of 
 the changes that have taken place in the Chris- 
 tians. He says that, among other things, "we 
 who valued above all things the acquisition of 
 
 15 
 
TLbc Uttbe 
 
 wealth' and possessions, now bring what we have 
 into a common stock, and communicate to every 
 one in need." In describing a church service 
 (i86), 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 valu- 
 able discussion of the relation between the law and 
 the gospel, in which (Vol. L, pp. 476, 477 and 
 478) he says: "As in the law, therefore, and in 
 the Gospel (likewise), the first and greatest com- 
 mandment 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 abso- 
 lutely 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 
 
 16 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 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 bond- 
 age 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 lib- 
 eral 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 injunc- 
 tions) 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 
 
 17 
 
Zbc Uttbe 
 
 on pages 484 and 485. "And the class of obla- 
 tions 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 char- 
 acter 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 pur- 
 poseless, nor without signification, nor without de- 
 sign. 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, be- 
 stowing 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 treas- 
 ury of God." 
 
 Clement of Alexandria (153-217) writing about 
 200 A. D. says (Vol. H., 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, 
 
 18 
 
Ubc Uttbc 
 
 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 HberaHty, 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 suf- 
 fered 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 
 
 19 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 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 answer- 
 ing the objection to their feasts as wicked and ex- 
 travagant, he retorts, "The Salii cannot have their 
 feast without going into debt; you must get the 
 accountants to tell you what the tenths of Her- 
 cules and the sacrifical banquets cost." 
 
 Probably it will not be amiss to quote Tertullian 
 on what he so aptly styles ''the over-fed Chris- 
 tian," in view of the many appeals for money by 
 catering to the stomach of the saints. On the sub- 
 ject 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), *'Cel- 
 sus 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. XL, in Numeros), 
 
 20 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 "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 sep- 
 arated 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 per- 
 ceive them" ? 
 
 Cyprian (200-258) in his treatise "On the Unity 
 of the Church' ' (Vol. V., p. 429) states the condi- 
 tion 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; 
 
 21 
 
Ube trttbe 
 
 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 11. (Vol. VII., page 408) 
 has the heading, "Of First-fruits and Tithes, and 
 after what manner the Bishop is himself to par- 
 take 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 ac- 
 counts 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 pople. . . . 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 par- 
 
 22 
 
Ube XTitbe 
 
 take 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 dehvered 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 sprink- 
 lings, 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. 
 
 Jerome (345-420) writes in his letter to Nepo- 
 tian (Vol. VL, Second Series) as follows: '1, if 
 I am the portion of the Lord, and the line of His 
 heritage, receive no portion among the remaining 
 tribes ; but, like the priest and the Levite, I Jive on 
 the tithe, and serving the altar, am supported by 
 its offerings. Having food and raiment, I shall 
 be content with these, and as a disciple of the 
 Cross shall share its poverty." 
 
 Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary quotes 
 Jerome as saying on Mai. 3:10, "What we have 
 
 23 
 
Zbc xrttbe 
 
 said of tithes and first-fruits which of old used to 
 be given by the people to the priests and Levites, 
 understand also in the case of the people of the 
 Church, to whom it has been commanded to sell 
 all they have and give to the poor and follow the 
 Lord and Savior. . . . If we are unwilling 
 to do this, at least let us imitate the rudimentary 
 teaching of the Jews so as to give a part of the 
 whole to the poor and pay the priests and Levites 
 due honor. If any one shall not do this he is 
 convicted of defrauding and cheating God.'' 
 
 The same authority quotes Ambrose (340-397) 
 as saying (Sermon 34), "God has reserved the 
 tenth part to Himself, and therefore it is not law- 
 ful for a man to retain what God has reserved for 
 Himself. To thee He has given nine parts, for 
 Himself He has reserved the tenth part, and if 
 thou shalt not give to God the tenth part, God 
 will take from thee the nirn^ parts." Again in a 
 sermon on Ascension Day, *'A good Christian 
 pays tithes yearly to be given to the poor." 
 
 From the same authority also, we get this from 
 Augustine (354-430) who is quoted as saying 
 (Hom. 48), "Our ancestors used to abound in 
 wealth of every kind for this very reason that they 
 used to give tithes, and pay the tax to Caesar. 
 Now, on the contrary, because devotion to God 
 has ceased, the drain of the treasury has increased. 
 
 24 
 
Ube Uitbc 
 
 We have been unwilling to share the tithes with 
 God, now the whole is taken away." 
 
 We quote further from Augustine (Vol. VI., 
 First Series, page 367). "Let us give a certain 
 portion of it. What portion? A tenth? The 
 Scribes and Pharisees give tithes for whom Christ 
 had not yet shed His blood. The Scribes and 
 Pharisees give tithes; lest haply thou shouldst 
 think thou art doing any great thing in break- 
 ing thy bread to the poor, and this is scarcely 
 a thousandth part of thy means. And yet I am 
 not finding fault with this; do even this. So 
 hungry and thirsty am I, that I am glad even of 
 these crumbs. But yet I cannot keep back what 
 He who died for us said whilst He was alive, 
 'Except your righteousness shall exceed the 
 righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye 
 shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven.' The Scribes and Pharisees gave the 
 tenth. How is it with you? Ask yourselves. 
 Consider what you spend on mercy, what you re- 
 serve for luxury." 
 
 In commenting on Christ's saying in Luke 
 II :4i, "Give alms, and behold all things are clean 
 unto you," Augustine says (pages 435 and 436), 
 "When He had spoken thus, doubtless they 
 thought that they did give alms. And how did 
 they give them? They tithed all they had, they 
 
 25 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 took away a tenth of all their produce, and gave 
 it. It is no easy matter to find a Christian who 
 doth as much." . . . Christ saith to them, "I 
 know that ye do this, 'ye tithe mint and anise, 
 cummin and rue,' but I am speaking of other 
 alms : ye despise 'judgment and charity.' "... 
 What is ''in judgment"? Look back, and discover 
 thyself; mislike thyself, pronounce judgment 
 against thyself. And what is charity ? "Love the 
 Lord God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy mind ; love thy neighbor as thy- 
 self :" and thou hast done alms first to thine own 
 soul, within thy conscience. Whereas if thou 
 neglect this alms, give what thou wilt; reserve 
 of thy goods not a tenth, but a half; give nine 
 parts, and leave but one for thine own self: thou 
 doest nothing, when thou dost not alms to thine 
 own soul and art poor in thyself." 
 
 Once more we find Augustine saying (Vol. 
 VIII., page 668), "Cut off some part of thy in- 
 come; a tenth, if thou choosest, though that is 
 but little. For it is said that the Pharisees gave 
 a tenth. . . . He whose righteousness thou 
 oughtest to exceed giveth a tenth : thou givest not 
 even a thousandth. How wilt thou surpass him 
 whom thou matchest not." 
 
 Chrysostom (347-407) preaches in much the 
 same strain (Vol. XIII. , page 69). "They gave 
 
 26 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans, 
 widows and strangers; whereas some one was 
 saying to me in astonishment at another, "Why, 
 such a one gives tithes." What a load of disgrace 
 does this expression imply, since what was not a 
 matter of wonder with the Jews has come to be 
 so in the case of the Christians? If there was 
 danger then in omitting tithes, think how great 
 it must be now." 
 
 In preaching on Matt. 5 :20, he says (Vol. X., 
 pages 395, 396), ''So that, though thou give alms, 
 but not more than they, thou shalt not enter in. 
 And how much did they bestow in alms ? one may 
 ask. For this very thing, I am minded to say now, 
 that they who do not give may be roused to give, 
 and they that give may not pride themselves, but 
 may make increase of their gifts. What then did 
 they give? A tenth of all their possessions, and 
 again another tenth, and after this a third, so that 
 they almost gave away the third part, for three- 
 tenths put together make up this. And together 
 with these, first-fruits, and first born, and other 
 things besides, as, for instance, the offerings for 
 sins, those for purification, those at feasts, those 
 in the jubilee, those by the cancelling of debts, 
 and the dismissal of servants, and the lendings 
 that were clear of usury. But if he who gave the 
 third part of his goods, or rather the half (for 
 
 27 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 those being put together with these are the half), 
 if he who is giving the half, achieves no great 
 thing, he who doth not bestow so much as the 
 tenth, of what shall he be worthy? With reason 
 He said, ''There are few that be saved." . . . 
 "For nothing else do I hear you saying every- 
 where, but such words as these: 'Such a one has 
 bought so many acres of land ; such a one is rich, 
 he is building.' Why dost thou stare, O man, at 
 what is without ? Why dost thou look to others ? 
 If thou art minded to look to others, look to them 
 that do their duty, to them that approve them- 
 selves, to them that carefully fulfill the law, not 
 to those that have become offenders and are in 
 dishonor." 
 
 Cassian (died about 432) in the First Con- 
 ference of Abbott Thomas (Vol. XL, Second 
 Series, p. 503, Ch. I.), makes record of the 
 fact that certain young men, led by Thomas, were 
 "eager to offer tithes and first-fruits of their sub- 
 stance" to x\bbott John. This is said to be the first 
 instance on record of payment of tithes to a mon- 
 astery. In Ch. II. Abbott John thanks them for 
 these gifts and refers to Prov. 3 :g, 10 as promis- 
 ing a blessing for so doing. In chapters follow- 
 ing, he speaks of tithes and other offerings as 
 given by the Lord's commands and then instances 
 
 28 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 the cases of Abraham, David, and other saints 
 who went beyond the requirements of law. He 
 argues that we who are under the gospel should 
 sell all and give to the poor, "li even those who, 
 faithfully offering tithes of their fruits, are obedi- 
 ent to the more ancient precepts of the Lord, can- 
 not yet climb the heights of the gospel, you can 
 see very clearly how far short of it those fall who 
 do not even do this." While he holds that the law 
 is no longer exacted, he makes this significant 
 comment (p. 515). *'But when the multitude of 
 believers began day by day to decline from that 
 apostolic fervor, and to look after their own 
 wealth, and not to portion it out for the good of 
 all the faithful in accordance with the arrange- 
 ment of the Apostles, but having an eye to their 
 own private expenses, tried not only to keep it, 
 but actually to increase it, not content with follow- 
 ing the example of Ananias and Sapphira, then 
 it seemed good to all the priests that men who 
 were hampered by world care, and almost ignor- 
 ant, if I may say so, of abstinence and contrition, 
 should be recalled to the pious duty by a fast can- 
 onically enjoined, and be constrained by the neces- 
 sity of paying legal tithes, as this certainly would 
 be good for the weak brethren and could not do 
 any harm to the perfect who were living under 
 
 29 
 
UDc XTitbe 
 
 the grace of the gospel and by their voluntary 
 devotion going beyond the law." See also this 
 same thought enlarged upon in Ch. 33. 
 
 Four bishops who were members of the Second 
 Synod of Tours (567) issued a letter to the laity 
 in which they assert that the tithe should be paid. 
 (Hefele, Vol. L, p. 394). The Second Synod 
 of Macon (585) enjoined afresh the law of the 
 tithe under penalty of excommunication for re- 
 fusal to observe it. This is the first official en- 
 actment that is considered authentic by those who 
 are said to be authorities. From that time on its 
 endorsement and enforcement became common 
 and at length almost universal in the Church. 
 The first Christian emperors assigned land and 
 other property to ministers for their support, but 
 enacted no law respecting the tithe. The first 
 legal enactment was made by Charlemagne, king 
 of the Franks, 768-800, and Roman emperor, 
 800-814. His Capitularies established its prac- 
 tice in the Roman empire, and thence it spread to 
 other lands. Oflfa, king of Mercia, introduced the 
 tithe system into England about the close of the 
 eighth century, and Ethelwulf in the ninth 
 century, or according to Clarke (History of 
 Tithes), Athelstan 927, made it a law for the 
 whole English realm. To what the tithe was to be 
 devoted was optional until Innocent III., through 
 
 30 
 
TTbe trttbe 
 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1200, issued a de- 
 cretal requiring tithes to be paid to the clergy of 
 the parish to which the payee belonged, which 
 decree Clarke says was inoperative until reissued 
 by the General Council of Lateran, 121 5, when 
 the parson was finally given the parochial right 
 to the tithes. The tithe was introduced into Portu- 
 gal and Denmark in the eleventh century, into 
 Sweden in the thirteenth, and soon became a gen- 
 eral law of Christendom. 
 
 The Roman secular law provided that any one 
 who obtained a part of the public land in a con- 
 quered country should pay to the state a tenth of 
 the revenue he derived from its rent, and this 
 system was usually transferred to the colonies 
 settled on the soil. When the church tithe came 
 into prominence there arose two kinds, secular 
 and ecclesiastical tithes, which to a greater or 
 less extent have been associated and commingled 
 in almost every civilization from the earliest 
 times. It would be impossible, were it deemed 
 necessary, to state in a brief limit the minutiae of 
 this complicated tithe system. It was not abolished 
 by the Reformation. Luther and Calvin believed 
 in tithing for the support of the Church. It may 
 be worth while to quote from the First Book of 
 Discipline, which Knox heartily approved. One 
 section runs as follows : "The sums able to sustain 
 
 31 
 
Zbc Uitbe 
 
 the forenamed persons, and to furnish all things 
 appertaining to the preservation of good order 
 and policy within the Kirk, must be lifted of 
 tenths, the tenth sheaf of all sorts of corn, hay, 
 hemp and lint: tenth fish, tenth calf, tenth lamb, 
 tenth wool, tenth foal, tenth cheese. And because 
 that we know that the tenth reasonably taken, as 
 is before expressed, will not suffice to discharge 
 the former necessity" it directs other gifts and 
 rents. These Reformers, however, felt the burden 
 of the enforced tithe and the movement grew 
 apace to remove it. It was abolished in France in 
 1789. Other countries where any law obtains, 
 have largely commuted it to a fixed annual sum of 
 money, after the system in vogue in England to- 
 day. Enlightened Christendom is rightfully re- 
 belling against this enforced tribute and is looking 
 for a more spontaneous support. 
 
 33 
 
LINES OF ARGUMENT. 
 
 There are certain conclusions, it seems to me, 
 which may safely be drawn from this brief sum- 
 mary of the evidence now before us. First : The 
 Tithe is a Universai, Principle, not a Leviti- 
 CAL Institution. 
 
 It seems peculiar to one who has studied the 
 subject in the light of the new data which is now 
 being brought to light so abundantly, that one 
 should be so regularly confronted with the asser- 
 tion that the tithe is a Levitical institution. It is 
 stranger still that so many ministers continue to 
 assert this as a fact, when the unanimous testi- 
 mony of such men as Prof. Sayce, Prof. Maspero, 
 Dr. Hilprecht and others of their standing can 
 easily be gathered to the contrary. They all as- 
 sert that no matter how old the civilization there 
 is always abundant evidence of proportionate giv- 
 ing to the gods and almost invariably the tenth. 
 The only apparent exception is in the Laws of 
 Manu of Ancient India, wherein we find one- 
 tenth, one-eighth, and one-sixth specified as the 
 tribute to the king who doubtless saw to it that 
 
 3- 33 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 one-sixth became general in India. It is likely 
 that if we had the most ancient laws we would 
 find that the one-tenth prevailed, even in India. 
 
 Just as I had reached this stage in writing, there 
 came to my notice a communication from Rev. 
 Henry Lansdell, D. D., London, England, calling 
 attention to his investigations in the same line, 
 which abundantly confirm the statements made. 
 He gives two personal incidents which I deem 
 worthy of record here. ''The Rev. J. E. Padfield, 
 a missionary of my acquaintance, whose station at 
 Musulipatam I wisited in 1890, took the pains 
 to inquire systematically and in detail over his 
 large district, of every native Christian family in 
 each congregation, as to how much heathen in 
 their own social position would pay, or what 
 would have been the amount of their own re- 
 ligious offerings had they continued to be heath- 
 ens. This was done with a view to comparison 
 with what they gave for Christian religious pur- 
 poses of every kind. As a result of that inquiry 
 it was stated that the high caste Brahmins had 
 been wont to spend for religious purposes the 
 equivalent of a month's income per annum ; the 
 lower castes, such as farmers, cultivators, and 
 coolies spending less: but speaking of these par- 
 ticular Christians as a whole it appeared that 
 whilst they were heathen they had to expend upon 
 
 34 
 
XTbe mtDc 
 
 religious observances not less than one-thirteenth 
 of their net incomes. 
 
 Once more: when prosecuting my studies one 
 day at the British Museum, I was accosted by a 
 well-educated young Sikh, who came from Amrit- 
 sar, and was brother, or near relative, of the chief 
 priest of the Golden Temple, which I remember 
 to have visited. Upon my asking for any infor- 
 mation he could give relative to the subject I was 
 studying, he said that, in the time of Baba Aryan 
 Sodhi, the fifth Sikh Guru (or teacher), the peo- 
 ple gave a tenth part of their incomes for re- 
 ligious purposes ; but that in the present day, good 
 Sikhs give about one-twentieth, though the pro- 
 portion varies." These examples confirm what 
 I have learned from missionaries as to the present 
 status of the subject in India, and largely also in 
 many other countries. The latter instance tends 
 to prove that at times in the earlier history of 
 India the tithe has prevailed, which is the point 
 with which we are at present concerned. 
 
 Seeing that the tithe has been so universal, it 
 may be of interest to inquire why it should have 
 been so universal. It matters little whether you 
 take the portion offered to the gods or the tribute 
 to the kings as the Sons of Heaven and repre- 
 sentatives of the gods, why should we find in all 
 these ancient civilizations one-tenth as the uni- 
 
 35 
 
Ubc xrttbe 
 
 versal offering? Why should not all have had 
 one-sixth as in India at one time ? It surely can- 
 not be ascribed to the inherent generosity of the 
 priests and rulers. Seven is also a sacred num- 
 ber. Why did they not require one-seventh? 
 
 The tithe finds an interesting parallel in sacri- 
 fice with which it is closely connected. For when 
 one is commanded to sacrifice, the minimum at 
 least must be set to his sacrifice. Sacrifice, I be- 
 lieve, was a divine institution given to our first 
 parents in Eden. Most likely the tithe is seen, in 
 germ at least, in the offerings of Cain and Abel. 
 The Council of Seville viewed Cain's sin as one 
 of covetousness in withholding a portion of the 
 tithe or part that God required. The Septuagint 
 reading of Gen. 4:7, which the early Church 
 Fathers seem invariably to adopt, and a literal 
 translation of Heb. 1 1 4 point to this view. Per- 
 sonally I like to translate the latter ''more of a 
 sacrifice" which is simple and includes both the 
 idea of quantity and that of quality and spirit. 
 Wickliffe translated it "a. much more sacrifice." 
 Westcott maintains that this is correct. The 
 critical scholars generally admit that such is the 
 natural rendering, but claim not to be able to see 
 why such a thing should be said. Covetousness 
 played so prominent a part in the parent's fall, 
 why should it not in the son's sin, seeing that it 
 
 36 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 is one of the most persistent of the Satan brood? 
 Dr. John Brown, in his Commentary on He- 
 brews, Vol. IL, page 41, quotes another who says : 
 'It is easy to be demonstrated that sacrifices owe 
 their original to the will and appointment of God. 
 The Apostle says, as Moses said before him, that 
 Abel's sacrifice was acceptable to God. But it 
 would not have been acceptable if it had not been 
 of divine institution, according to that plain, ob- 
 vious and eternal maxim of all true religion. 
 Christian, Mosaic, and natural, 'In vain do they 
 worship God, teaching for doctrines the com- 
 mandments of men,' Mark 77. If there be any 
 truth in this maxim, Abel would have worshipped 
 God in vain, and God would have had no respect 
 to his offering, if his sacrifice had been merely a 
 commandment of his father Adam, or an inven- 
 tion of his own. The divine acceptance, there- 
 fore, is a demonstration of a divine institution." 
 This line of argument is almost unanimously 
 accepted among Christian scholars as an adequate 
 basis for the belief that sacrifice was a divine in- 
 stitution. Why is it not fully as applicable to ti- 
 thing? It is not stated in Scripture, prior to the 
 giving of the Mosaic law, that either is a divine 
 institution. But if "divine acceptance is a demon- 
 stration of a divine institution," the tithe has as 
 clear a demonstration of its origin as has sacrifice. 
 
 37 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 Now and then in Scripture the whole business of 
 sacrifice is spoken of in a deprecating way. Cf. 
 Heb. lo. Such is not the case in respect to the 
 tithe, unless Amos 4 '.4 be so taken. 
 
 But whatever view one may take of the origin 
 of the tithe, there can be no reason for the claim 
 that it is a Jewish institution. It is true that there 
 are some people who seem to think that Adam 
 was the first Jew and that everything from Adam 
 to Christ was Jewish. In the very region whence 
 came Abraham, the first Jew, the tithe was in 
 force as early as 3800 B. C, which is nearly 2000 
 years before there was a Jew. It was as well de- 
 fined in Babylonia at that period as it was in 
 Judea in the time of Moses and would much better 
 be called Babylonian than Jewish.* 
 
 In conclusion, we may reiterate the words of 
 Dr. Kennicott. ''Whatever custom has prevailed 
 over the world, among nations the most opposite 
 in polity and customs in general, nations not 
 united by commerce or communication (when that 
 custom has nothing in nature or the reason of 
 things to give it birth, and establish to itself such 
 
 * After the above was written, the following- came to my notice 
 from Prof. Sayce in a late work entitled, "The Religions of 
 Ancient Egypt and Babylonia.'' In speaking- of the custom of 
 the authorities, he says, " A tithe of all that the land produced 
 was theirs, and it was rigorously exacted, for the support of the 
 temples and priests. Babylonia, in short, was the inventor of 
 the tithe." 
 
 38 
 
Ube Uithc 
 
 a currency), must be derived from some revela- 
 tion, v^hich revelation may in certain places have 
 been forgotten, though the custom introduced by 
 and founded on such a revelation still continued ; 
 and further, this revelation must have been ante- 
 cedent to the dispersion at Babel, when all man- 
 kind, being but one nation and living together in 
 the form of one large family, were of one lan- 
 guage and governed by the same laws and cus- 
 toms." With sacrifice, the tithe went abroad 
 over the face of the whole earth and survived long 
 after its origin was forgotten. If ''in the annals 
 of all times none are found which did not pay 
 tithes" among the nations of the past, either as 
 an offering to the gods or as a tribute to the 
 rulers, the evidence certainly warrants the con- 
 clusion that ''offerings of at least one-tenth to 
 God, was a primeval appointment not for the 
 Jews, but for all nations." 
 
 Second: Ai^though Univkrsai, it Was In- 
 corporated Into and Made the Basis of the 
 Mosaic System of Tithes. 
 
 In the Mosaic system there was a general tithe, 
 conforming in every feature to this universal 
 tithe. Then there was a second tithe, of national 
 significance only, used as material for a feast at 
 a designated place the first and second year. But 
 the third year it was to be eaten at home, the* poor 
 
 39 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 sharing in the feast. This is the best view, I 
 think, of what some call the third tithe. Hence 
 every Jew offered two-tenths each year besides 
 the first-fruits and all other offerings free-will 
 and required. Counting the first-fruits at from 
 one-thirtieth to one-sixtieth (as rabbis tell us 
 they were estimated) the Jew must needs give 
 about twenty-five per cent of all his yearly in- 
 come. Chrysostom figures it at a third to a half, 
 but the probability is that he has it too high. 
 Those of us who speak on the tithe are often 
 accused of trying to put the Church back on the 
 Jewish basis, which is another of those foolish 
 things that even some fairly intelligent people 
 seem to never tire of saying, no matter how little 
 sense there is in them. To reach a Jewish basis, 
 the average Christian would have to give at least 
 ten times what he is now giving, not merely one- 
 tenth of his income. Let us get up to the heathen 
 standard, before we worry too much about being 
 Judaized. 
 
 Third: Be:ing Universai, the; Principle of 
 THE Tithe is not to be Counted as Abrogated 
 When the Oi.d Testament Economy Ended, 
 Unless it be so Stated or at Least by Fair 
 Inference be Implied. 
 
 It certainly is not stated anywhere in the New 
 Testament that the tenth is no longer the Lord^s. 
 
 40 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 Neither can any fair inference be drawn showing 
 that it is no longer holy to the Lord. The two 
 incidents cited, it is true, contain rebukes to the 
 Pharisees who were tithers, but the tithing is not 
 condemned any more than is prayer or fasting. 
 It is the manner, not the principle, that is con- 
 demned. On the contrary, tithing is emphatically 
 commended. For the Savior says, "These ought 
 ye to have done and not to have left the other 
 undone." I am well aware that it is the reply of 
 many that Christ merely commended their doing 
 what was a plain duty under the Mosaic law, but 
 that he in no way implies that such a duty was 
 binding on others. Granting that the first state- 
 ment is an assumption, then we have it answered 
 by another assumption, with the result that the 
 whole statement of Christ is of no weight in the 
 matter. Christ did not always fall in with the 
 teachings of the Mosaic system, as for example 
 in the matter of granting divorce. If He had 
 wanted to do away with the tithe, certainly He 
 could have said so, as clearly as He did in matters 
 of divorce. He does not here, or elsewhere, offer 
 any substitute for this universal standard, and He 
 spoke often on the subject of money and of covet- 
 ousness. One verse in every four in the gospels by 
 Matthew, Mark, and Luke have to do with these 
 subjects, and one verse in every six in the whole 
 
trbe trttbe 
 
 New Testament. Certainly if a new standard 
 were to be revealed, there is abundance of oppor- 
 tunity. 
 
 The objection may be stated here that sacrifice 
 was likewise universal. True enough, but we 
 have fulfillment of all its obligations and typical 
 significance in the perfect sacrifice, ''The Lamb of 
 God which taketh away the sin of the world," 
 "Our High Priest who needeth not daily like 
 those high priests who offer up sacrifices, first for 
 his own sin and then for the sins of the people. 
 For this he did once for all when he offered up 
 himself." 
 
 I have also met this objection. Circumcision 
 and polygamy were universal, and your argument 
 would establish them. In the first place circum- 
 cision was never universal, and even if it had 
 been, we have numerous statements in the New 
 Testament denying its further claim and a seal 
 of the covenant, as I believe, clearly revealed 
 which was to supersede it. As to polygamy, it 
 may be safely affirmed that it never was divinely 
 commanded, it is contrary to a definite law of 
 God, announced to our first parents, and reaf- 
 firmed in the New Testament. 
 
 With sacrifice all the rites of ceremonial sig- 
 nificance and the retinue of priests and Levites 
 which administered them came to an end. All 
 
 42 
 
Zbc Uttbe 
 
 moral obligations, however, were not abolished, 
 but many of them were more strictly interpreted. 
 The Sermon on the Mount reveals a higher con- 
 ception of moral obligation and requires a purer 
 motive than any precept of the Old Testament. 
 The laws of home relationship are made more 
 binding. The bill of divorcement is swept away 
 and only the great principle recognized, namely, 
 faithlessness to the universal law, ''Thou shalt not 
 commit adultery." Even in the case of ritual 
 offering this is true. Take an example. While 
 incense is abolished, that which is symbolized, 
 the great heart beat of humanity which we call 
 prayer, is not abolished but is enlarged to a pre- 
 cept of exceeding broad scope, "Pray without 
 ceasing." 
 
 Now we demand some word of fair implication 
 at least, or some example to show that the uni- 
 versal obligation of the tithe has been set aside in 
 the general shaking up of the earth. It was not 
 removed as being one of "the things that are 
 made," but, as I believe, it remains as one of "the 
 things which cannot be shaken." This statement 
 is borne out by the evidence afforded from its 
 history. "These thing ought ye to have done" 
 is a word that justifies our conclusion. 
 
 Fourth: Not Be:ing Abrogated When the 
 O1.D Testament Economy Ended^ it is Uni- 
 
 43 
 
Ubc Uitbc 
 
 ve:rsai.i.y Binding in thi: New Te:stame;nt 
 Dispe:nsation. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been written to the 
 contrary, I am firmly persuaded that this was 
 recognized by the early Church. The quotations 
 cited are abundantly sufficient to prove this state- 
 ment, if fairly interpreted. And this leads me to 
 enter a protest against the unfair presentation 
 of this evidence on the part of many writers. This 
 can be illustrated by the case of Irenaeus who is 
 invariably, so far as I have seen, set down as on 
 the side of the abrogation of the law of the tithe, 
 because he said in one place as quoted on page 17 
 ''instead of the law enjoining the giving of tithes, 
 (He told us) to share all our possessions with the 
 poor." Certainly nothing could be found, nor is 
 found, more explicit than that statement. Yet 
 any one who reads the whole context will see that 
 Irenaeus is contending for just the opposite thing. 
 He classes the tithe, not with the ceremonial 
 things, but with the natural precepts, by which 
 he means the moral law as is clearly shown. To 
 argue that Irenaeus is abrogating the tithe, is to 
 argue that he is doing away with the law of 
 adultery and murder, for he mentions them in 
 exactly the same language. The same thing 
 would be true of the commandment to love our 
 neighbors. But why should we debate this point 
 
 44 
 
XTbe Uitbc 
 
 when Irenaeus distinctly says, "all these precepts, 
 as I have already observed, were not (the injunc- 
 tions) of one doing away with the law, but of one 
 fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us." 
 
 Now I should like to know how it comes that 
 all these learned men who speak so surely of 
 Irenaeus have always neglected to quote Irenaeus 
 as to what he really meant? Personally, I am 
 willing to stake the whole case on Irenaeus. For 
 I do not know a better presentation of the whole 
 question than he makes. When he includes ti- 
 thing under the head of the moral precepts of the 
 law and then says emphatically ''that the Lord 
 did not abrogate the natural (precepts) of the 
 law," I am sure that he stated the whole truth 
 in respect to this subject. That he enlarged their 
 scope and raised the maximum of moral require- 
 ment, he rightly affirms. When that is under- 
 stood there is no more room for debate. 
 
 But why such dreadful alarm over this tithe 
 law? Why, for example, should the writer in 
 Smith and Cheetham's Dictionary try to minimize 
 all this testimony of the Father's ? He is anxious 
 to prove that ''the evidence belonging to this 
 period would seem to show that payment of tithe 
 was first regarded as a duty soon after A. D. 
 350. By that time the idea generally prevailed 
 that the priest of the Christian Church had suc- 
 
 45 
 
Ube Ultbe 
 
 ceeded to the office of the Levitical priests, and 
 consequently to their rights and privileges." His 
 bogy comes to light in the following: ''Cyprian 
 (Epist. 1 :9, Ed. Erasmus, 66 Pamel.) writes to 
 dissuade a presbyter from accepting the position 
 of guardian, on the ground that the clergy are 
 separated from all secular business. The tribe of 
 Levi had no inheritance but was supported by 
 tithes, that they might devote themselves en- 
 tirely to divine service; 'the same plan and form 
 is now preserved in regard to the clergy' that they 
 may not be diverted from their sacred duties, 
 but 'receiving as it were tithes may not depart 
 from the altar.' Here the phrase tanquam deci- 
 mas is decisive against the payment of tithe as 
 a fixed legal due, for decimae paid as legal dues 
 could not be tanquam decimae. There is analogy, 
 not identity in the method of support." The word 
 "legal" is the key to all this twisting and tremb- 
 ling. This will be explained, perhaps, when we 
 recall that he is an Englishman, and comes of a 
 race that has suffered much from enforced ti- 
 thing. Uhlhorn's Christian Charity in the Ancient 
 Church is marred by the same tremendous 
 anxiety to kill off any hope of this legal monster 
 ever getting loose again. Hence it seems that it 
 is now time to say that the tithe never was in 
 Bible times, the legal monster that it afterward 
 
 46 
 
XTbe xrttbe 
 
 became. Under Old Testament teaching and 
 practice, the tithe was vohmtary. No hand of 
 force was used to collect it, but as in the time of 
 Hezekiah, the people brought in the tithes willing- 
 ly and abundantly. It was a moral precept, en- 
 forced by appeals to the conscience. Hezekiah 
 does not reckon on the tithes in a way that indi- 
 cates that he would compel them to be brought in, 
 but expresses his gratitude when he finds that so 
 much was brought in by the people. The appeal 
 of Malachi to the nation that had robbed God is 
 a moral appeal and is based upon the same 
 thought that we find in all such appeals of Scrip- 
 ture. That the Pharisees by their traditions 
 had reduced it to a burdensome legal requirement 
 need not be questioned. So did they weigh down 
 every moral precept that the Lord ever laid upon 
 the conscience of men. The advocacy of the tithe 
 in this country is always on the voluntary basis, 
 so far as I know. I feel that it would be a 
 calamity were it put on any other basis, and I 
 know that all who are working in this line, so far 
 as I have become acquainted with their work, 
 have the same feeling. What we believe is that 
 this is God's standard of giving, a minimum be- 
 low which one cannot fall and be entitled to a 
 claim on God's rich promises of blessing to those 
 who give money for His work. The maximum 
 
 47 
 
Ube Uttbe 
 
 claim is the one of which the Fathers so often 
 speak. Matt. 19:21. ''Sell that thou hast, and 
 give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in 
 heaven." Between these two claims love finds 
 its field of operation and its measure of perfect- 
 ness. This is our view and the view which I 
 think prevailed in the early Church. 
 
 Clement's Letter to the Corinthians, the nearest 
 writing to the inspired books of the New Testa- 
 ment, says : ''Those who present their offerings at 
 the appointed times are blessed ; for inasmuch as 
 they follow the laws of the Lord they sin not." 
 (See page 14.) The context clearly shows that he 
 has in mind the laws governing the offerings to 
 the priests and Levites. The Teaching speaks of 
 "giving according to the commandment," which 
 must mean the Levitical commandment, or one 
 similar to it. Justin Martyr first says that they 
 put what they "have into a common stock" and 
 later says "they who are well-to-do and willing, 
 give what each thinks fit,'' and in both cases 
 seems to intimate that what is contributed is 
 given to the dependent. (See page 16.) His 
 last instance of giving as each one thinks fit, may 
 be a description applicable to those who sought 
 to follow the law of the free-will offering which 
 is laid down in Deut. 16:10, 17, and reaffirmed 
 by the Apostle in I Cor. 16:2. A special con- 
 
 48 
 
XTbe Uitbc 
 
 tribution to the poor would be made now on the 
 same basis in any of our churches and does not 
 touch the subject of the regular support of the 
 Church. Yet many ministers who ought to know 
 better, insist on saying that this is the New Testa- 
 ment law of giving. It is most decidedly not a 
 New Testament, but an Old Testament law, con- 
 firmed by the New Testament, and by common 
 sense apart from any question of Scripture au- 
 thority. 
 
 If Justin meant to affirm that this regulation 
 was in force, well and good. But if he meant to 
 say, as some would have us believe, that the 
 Church had thus early gotten on the basis of 
 every man doing exactly as he pleased, then all 
 we have to say is that from our modern experi- 
 ence with that sort of teaching, we cannot com- 
 mend his judgment or the practice of the Church 
 of which he was a part, for no such principle, 
 ever had, or ever can have, the sanction of God. 
 Again how this can be reconciled with the state- 
 ment that they have put all into the common stock 
 is more than I can see. How could men be well- 
 to-do who had sold all and put it into the hands 
 of others? It may be for convenience of his ar- 
 gument that he describes in the first case what 
 some few have done, perhaps himself among the 
 number, and that in the Church service, he is 
 
 4 49 
 
XTbe Ultbe 
 
 telling of either the observance of the rule of the 
 free-will offering, or else is letting us into a 
 state of anarchy respecting the proper teaching 
 on the subject of giving, which led to the diffi- 
 culties of the later centuries. The same com- 
 ment may be made on the statements of Tertul- 
 lian. It will be noted that he does not tell how 
 the aggressive work of the Church is to be sup- 
 ported, but only of what is secured for what we 
 commonly call charitable purposes. 
 
 It may be that the reason we begin to hear of 
 shortcomings in giving as early as in the time 
 of Origen and Cyprian, is that this every-man- 
 do-as-he-thinks-fit teaching is bearing its legiti- 
 mate fruit and that now there must be some 
 heroic measures taken to offset its fatal influence. 
 From what these witnesses tell us, the Church of 
 the third century was reaping the fruit of some 
 erroneous teaching and practice in respect to the 
 giving of money. From that time on the call is 
 to a recognition of duty, as all the extracts go to 
 show. The gift of the maximum had been made 
 by the few. The many had followed their own 
 will and the result was disastrous to the Church, 
 and we are not surprised that the later writings 
 abound in appeals to the people to meet even the 
 minimum demands of the tithe, if they ever ex- 
 
 50 
 
Xlbe xritbe 
 
 pected to exceed the righteousness of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees. 
 
 But it is to be noted that only Justin Martyr 
 and TertulHan seem to endorse a hit and miss 
 plan of giving. With these exceptions, the Fath- 
 ers agree that the laborers in the kingdom of 
 Christ take the place of the ministers of the 
 Mosaic period, and deserve to be as well sup- 
 ported, according to the teaching of Christ in 
 Matt. io:io and Luke 10:7, enforced by that of 
 Paul in I Cor. 9 7-11 and I Tim. 5 :i8. And here 
 it may be said in passing, that Paul justifies his 
 plea for support in the work of the Gospel by — 
 '*Saith not the law the same also?" If the law 
 confirms the justice of the laborer's claim under 
 the Gospel, is it such a perversion of the spirit of 
 the Gospel to urge that one do not fall short of 
 a plain requirement of that same law? This 
 identification of the teachers of both dispensations 
 and of the method of their support is not a later 
 growth, as the Smith and Cheetham's writer 
 would have us believe, but is found in the very 
 earliest writings. It is quite likely that different 
 practices prevailed at different times and in dif- 
 ferent places in the Church. But it is to be borne 
 in mind that with the two exceptions named, the 
 testimony is for meeting God's requirement, 
 
 51 
 
Zhc Uitbe 
 
 whether it be that the requirement was con- 
 sidered to be the whole or the tithe, and that there 
 is no approval given to the do-as-you-please plan 
 in matters of conduct. 
 
 Here I think it in place to repeat some things 
 said in Tithe Conferences at Winona and else- 
 where during the past year in regard to one of 
 the most persistent and misguided of all the ob- 
 jections with which we are confronted. It is 
 urged that the New Testament bases all action 
 on love and that one must give according to his 
 love and that this is the only Christian standard 
 of life and service. This is confusion much con- 
 founded. It is a fixed principle of ethics that men 
 cannot be a law to themselves and civilization be 
 preserved and conduct properly regulated. 
 Though good men may fail to see it, this method 
 of giving according to the measure of one's love 
 is, at the bottom, anarchy pure and simple. Every 
 man is left to determine what he shall do accord- 
 ing to the impulse of the moment and without any 
 regard to a fixed standard of right. Such a prin- 
 ciple cannot be tolerated in social life. There is 
 a standard of law which makes the right for one 
 the right for all and to set this aside in any case 
 is to invite trouble. In all human conduct, a 
 fixed standard, apart from men, must be the basis 
 of right. It must be invariable and must obtain 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 in one life as much as in another. Hence this 
 high-sounding plea for love as the basis of all 
 action is pure anarchy in Christian guise. Law- 
 less grace is as loveless as lawless humanity. 
 License claimed on account of standing under 
 grace, though put on a heavenly plane, is hell- 
 born just the same. License means anarchy, and 
 anarchy is devilish though concerned with the 
 holiest of occupations. To make love a standard 
 of action is to confuse a motive and a standard. 
 Love is variable, not the same in any two indi- 
 viduals, and not the same in any individual at 
 different times. 
 
 Has love no place in God's scheme ? Certainly 
 it has, and a very large place at that. God's plan 
 does not limit love in its maximum which is all 
 "that thou hast." But what we contend is that 
 God does have a minimum standard below which 
 one cannot fall and claim to have the love of Christ 
 constraining him. Love fulfills law, doesn't abro- 
 gate it as so many seem to think. The law says, 
 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Love 
 says, I will make that day and every day holy 
 unto the Lord, but does not say, I will do away 
 with the law altogether as to that which God has 
 made the minimum requirement of the race. Love 
 may go beyond the law's requirement, but will not 
 fall below it. Love does not and cannot repeal 
 
 53 
 
Ube TLitbc 
 
 law, but obeys it and furnishes the only true mo- 
 tive to obedience. Grace alters and exalts the 
 motive but cannot free from the obligations of 
 law. 
 
 A little clear thinking at this point would do 
 much to set many people right on this question 
 and on many other questions of Christian life. 
 The large amount of Pharisaical floundering and 
 pietistic mouthing with which the Church is per- 
 secuted on this behalf is not creditable to our in- 
 telligence or to our Christianity. So simple and 
 fundamental is this point both from the stand- 
 point of ethics and of religion that it seems 
 strange that sane men should ever call it in ques- 
 tion. But men were troubled with it when Paul 
 wrote his letter to the Romans and are still 
 troubled with it and strangest of all quote Paul's 
 words which were written to set people straight 
 on this matter as the justification of the very 
 thing he was trying to correct. To me this is one 
 of the most peculiar perversions of Scripture 
 which has ever arisen in the history of the 
 Church. That the epistle to the Romans which 
 has for its key word righteousness (which I think 
 means rightness according to God's standard and 
 which can have no other satisfactory meaning), 
 should be taken as the authority for Antinomian- 
 
 54 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 ism which practically annihilates law is certainly 
 a singular proof of the fact that some people have 
 the logical faculty in a very rudimentary state. It 
 seems to me that we ought to be able to see that 
 if God's standard of right is abrogated, then 
 nothing can control a man's life but his own 
 promptings. What is a law but God's standard of 
 right in respect to that particular line of conduct 
 to which it applies? What is the abrogation of 
 law but the doing away with God's standard and 
 the substitution of a human standard ? We have 
 become so afraid of the charge of legalism that 
 we have swung far to the side of anarchy, and, as 
 between the two, legalism is the least to be feared, 
 as bad as it is. Plain speech is needed for we 
 must not palliate the consequences of such teach- 
 ing. Paul meant well as a persecutor, but Paul 
 the preacher greatly deplored his course of action 
 in such a role. Men may think they are doing 
 God and humanity service by such advocacy, but 
 to me it is the devil's work and makes for law- 
 lessness which is sin and which when finished 
 brings forth death. Lawlessness abounds in 
 teaching of school and Church and is it any won- 
 der that we stand horrified at some of its out- 
 breaks in our very midst? Herein I find a most 
 urgent call to advocate the right as God has in- 
 
 55 
 
zhc zmc 
 
 dicated it in respect to giving as well as to any 
 other of the lines of conduct which go to make 
 up a well-rounded life. 
 
 Giving is not left to the emotions of men, no 
 matter how pure and holy they may seem to be. 
 Giving is to be according to God's measure or 
 requirement. To this it seems we ought all to 
 agree. Has God a measure? If so, what is it 
 and how does it operate ? Some of us think that 
 He has and that it is fixed and invariable, the 
 same always and for all. Why should he not 
 have? Honest people of business ability do not 
 sell wheat by whim, potatoes for appearance sake, 
 or calico by hysterics. Produce is measured by 
 well-defined standards and disposed of in due re- 
 gard to and careful consideration of the principles 
 of economic distribution. Why be so careless in 
 respect to moral conduct? Ethical principles 
 ought to be, and I believe are more clearly defined 
 than are economic principles. What is the rule, 
 what the standard, are the first questions concern- 
 ing any moral act. When this is known the char- 
 acter of the act is easily determined. Every grace 
 or fruit of the spirit is to be tested by this vital in- 
 quiry. Faith, the first fruit, has a unit of meas- 
 ure. Belief unto salvation is the minimum of 
 faith. Beyond that faith may reach to heights 
 that seem to have no limit. But it must measure 
 
 56 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 up to that minimum, or fail to merit the name of 
 faith. Love the final fruit, as we sometimes say, 
 has its unit, namely, the gift of self. No gift 
 without the giver, no love without the lover. 
 These minimum requirements are agreed upon by 
 all teachers of the gospel of redemption from sin 
 through the blood of Jesus Christ. No one sup- 
 poses for a moment that such teaching involves 
 the idea that faith and love shall never go beyond 
 this minimum. They must go on to perfection. 
 
 This brings us to answer that provoking mis- 
 representation of the position of tithers which 
 claims that men ought to give more than the 
 tithe and that love to Christ should lead to the 
 consecration of all to Him. I do not know of 
 any tither who feels that the tenth is all that he 
 ought to give. Most pastors know that if extra 
 money is wanted, the tithers are not the last to 
 respond. Further, I have never heard such doc- 
 trine advocated by any tither. We persistently 
 say that we are dealing with the minimum, not 
 with the maximum, not with the outgoings of 
 hearts full of love to Christ, but with those who 
 are robbing God of eve'n His minimum and are 
 thus guilty of the awful crime of covetousness, 
 which the New Testament places among the vilest 
 of crimes and says that it will shut out of the 
 kingdom. The fifth chapter of I Corinthians 
 
 57 
 
Ube Zitbc 
 
 clearly teaches that the covetous brother is to be 
 shut out of the fellowship of Christians, even in 
 this life. How does the treatment of the rich man 
 by many churches and communities square with 
 this plain teaching ? The early Fathers were very 
 faithful in teaching concerning the crime of covet- 
 ousness, following in the footsteps of the Apostles 
 and of Christ Himself. How about the minister 
 who considers himself above the business of men- 
 tioning money matters to the congregation ? This 
 rank Phariseeism needs to be driven out of the 
 minds of ministers and theological teachers who 
 train ministers. If they spoke on this subject as 
 often as Christ did, they would need to preach on 
 it about once a month. Mr. Kane's experience 
 wherein after three heroic efforts, he only suc- 
 ceeded in finding theological professors and stu- 
 dents in about half the seminaries in this country 
 and Canada who were willing to receive literature 
 which he offered to furnish gratis, speaks of an 
 awful perversion of Scripture teaching on this 
 subject and a failure to grasp the vital questions 
 of Christian life which it touches. Is it any won- 
 der that there is a constant "drain of the treas- 
 ury'' as Augustine said? Wrestle with it as we 
 may, the consecrate-all-to-the-Lord and all such 
 plans, have proved a dismal failure in respect to 
 bringing "meat" into God's house, and the crying 
 
 58 
 
Ube Uftbe 
 
 need of the hour is money to send workers into 
 all the world to preach the gospel. Whatever be 
 your scheme for getting the money, you know, 
 brother pastor and fellow-workers, that the great 
 hindrance to enlargement of the Church's work 
 is money to meet necessary expenditures. Some 
 one always bobs up with the mystical dic- 
 tum that it is prayer, or consecration, or some- 
 thing to that effect. But that is only beating the 
 Devil around the bush. For the promised result 
 of the prayer, or the consecration, or whatever 
 one may suggest, is that money will be forth- 
 coming. So after all it is money that must be 
 gotten, by whatsoever means one may employ. 
 The giving of all to the Lord is the only New 
 Testament method which is offered us as an al- 
 ternative. I am free to say that it has failed to 
 meet the case not only in our age, and in the age 
 of the Fathers who rang the changes on it, but 
 I am persuaded also that it did not meet the 
 case in the days of the Apostles. It must always 
 be remembered that it was voluntary, as Peter 
 said to Ananias, and though voluntary, it did not 
 fail to present difficulties very early in the history 
 of the Church, as the sixth chapter of Acts shows. 
 Again it should be remembered that the very fact 
 that Paul was instructed to call for a collection 
 for the poor saints in Jerusalem proves two things 
 
 59 
 
Ubc Zitbc 
 
 at least. That the needs of the Church were not 
 met by this voluntary communism, and that this 
 communism had not been adopted elsewhere to 
 any great extent, else the appeal to people to lay 
 aside for this free-will offering as God had pros- 
 pered them would have been a piece of pious non- 
 sense. 
 
 The Jewish Encyclopedia (Vol. III., p. 668) 
 gives an interesting bit of evidence as to the effect 
 of this movement. We read that * 'against the 
 tendency prevailing in Essene and Christian 
 circles to sell all one had and 'give to the poor' 
 in order to have 'treasure in heaven' (Matt. 
 19:21), the rabbis at the Synod in Usha ordained 
 that *no one should give away more than the fifth 
 of his fortune lest from independence he may 
 lapse into a state of dependence' " (Ket. 50 a). 
 While the evil effect of anything Christian is apt 
 to be overstated by these Jewish writers, still 
 may it not be that here we have proof that com- 
 munism, tried under the most favorable circum- 
 stances, as it certainly was under the early 
 Church management, fails to meet the case, and 
 that Christ's saying, ''The poor always ye have 
 with you," was still true and even more empha- 
 sized under this method of social life? The fact 
 seems to stand out even on the pages of the book 
 of Acts with special emphasis that such a method, 
 
 60 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 with the very best management, does not take 
 away the problem of the dependent, but really in- 
 tensifies it. 
 
 The Apostle Paul seems to have had to deal 
 with this tendency toward abuse of charity and in 
 doing so laid down some very fundamental propo- 
 sitions to which the Church ought always to give 
 heed. "For even when we were with you, this 
 we commanded you, that if any would not work, 
 neither should he eat. For we hear that there are 
 some which walk among you disorderly, working 
 not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are 
 such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat 
 their own bread." II Thess. 3:10-12. "li any 
 provide not for his own, and specially for those of 
 his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is 
 worse than an infidel." I Tim. 5 :8. These posi- 
 tive teachings certainly argue that Paul did not 
 approve of the communistic plan, for how could 
 one eat his own bread or provide for his own 
 household, if he had put all into the common 
 fund? In short, Paul, as the great organizer of 
 the Church, does not give a single hint that he 
 approved of such a method. All his statements 
 are emphatic on the other side. Even his own 
 custom of working for his living argues his dis- 
 approval of the communistic idea. This should 
 
 61 
 
Ubc Uftbc 
 
 be borne in mind by those who are so sure that 
 Christian SociaUsm as they choose to call it, will 
 solve all the problems respecting the poor. Per- 
 sonally, I believe that Paul's method is the better 
 one and will come nearer than any other to the 
 solution. 
 
 The question is often asked, why does not the 
 New Testament say more about the tithe, if it is 
 still the universal law? The answer to this has 
 usually been, that all the peoples to whom the 
 apostles preached had been accustomed to give at 
 least a tenth for religious purposes and they found 
 no particular need to lay emphasis upon what was 
 a universal practice. Also that the enthusiastic 
 support through voluntary communism and other 
 large free-will offerings made it unnecessary for 
 them to dwell upon it. These answers have 
 weight and might be counted sufficient, if it were 
 not that they seem to assume that the New Testa- 
 ment is silent on this great question. Attention 
 has been called to Christ's commendation of the 
 tithing principle and to Paul's appeal to the law. 
 But it seems to me that not enough is made of 
 the treatment of this subject in the one book in 
 which we would naturally expect it, that is, in the 
 book of Hebrews. The writer was trying to con- 
 vince these Hebrews of the incomparably su- 
 perior character of Christ and His priesthood to 
 
 62 
 
Zbc xrttbe 
 
 that to which they were so attached. We would 
 naturally suppose that here, if anywhere, we 
 would have some discussion of the tribute to this 
 great High Priest and that is just what we have 
 in the seventh chapter. 
 
 Rev. Henry Constable (Gold or the Gospel) 
 has well said, ''The Levitical priesthood, by the 
 command of God, received tithes of their people. 
 It follows as certainly that Melchizedek had the 
 same claim to a tenth from Abraham which they 
 had from the Jews, i. e., a divine command. For, 
 surely, if a tenth were Levi's right by divine ordi- 
 nance, while Melchizedek had no such right at all, 
 he is in this respect inferior to Levi, and Paul's 
 argument from his reception of a tenth from 
 Abraham an inconclusive one." Why, too, if 
 Christ does not have such a right and does not 
 receive the tithe is He not in that respect at least 
 inferior to Levi? 
 
 Again, we quote Dr. John Owen. ''When 
 Abraham himself gave tithes to Melchizedek, he 
 did it not in his own name only, but in the name 
 of himself, and his whole posterity." He argues 
 the significance of the act as follows. Abram 
 was called to be "the foundation of a new 
 church;" he "had now received the promise" not 
 only for himself, but for "all his seed in him," 
 and whatever he "did in obedience unto God, he 
 
 63 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 did undertake in it for his posterity." Where- 
 fore ''Abraham, in this solemn address unto God 
 by Melchizedek the type of Christ, wherein he 
 expressed his covenant obedience unto him, was 
 the representative of all his posterity and in par- 
 ticular of Levi and all the priest that descended 
 from him. And having now received the whole 
 land, by virtue of a covenant, in behalf of his pos- 
 terity, that it should be theirs, though he himself 
 had never possession of it nor in it, he doth in 
 the name of his posterity, and as their representa- 
 tive, give the tenth unto God by Melchizedek; as 
 the chief rent which God forever reserved unto 
 himself, upon the grant." This is a remarkable 
 argument from one who earlier in his comments 
 rather hesitatingly tries to break the force of the 
 tithe argument in general, largely, it is evident, 
 because of the misuse of it under the monstrous 
 enforced system of his day. However, if we, as 
 Paul contends in Galatians, are children of faith- 
 ful Abraham, and "there are not two churches, 
 but two states of the same church" as Dr. Owen 
 puts it, then either Scripture contradicts itself, or 
 we prove false to our covenant relationship and 
 dishonor Christ when we do not do homage to 
 Him in person, as our father Abraham did in 
 type in the paying of tithes. I see no escape from 
 this alternative. 
 
 64 
 
XTbe trttbe 
 
 Calvin is the only commentator, so far as ] 
 have seen, that has given a consistent interpreta- 
 tion to the 8th verse. He says, "For he thus 
 reasons — those to whom the Law assigns tithes 
 are dying men; by which it was indicated that 
 the priesthood would some time be abrogated, as 
 their life came to an end : but the Scripture makes 
 no mention of the death of Melchizedek, when it 
 relates that tithes were paid to him, so the author- 
 ity of his priesthood is limited by no time, but on 
 the contrary, there is given an indication of per- 
 petuity. But this is added for this purpose, lest a 
 posterior law, as it is usual, should seem to take 
 away from the authority of the former law. For 
 it might have been otherwise objected and said, 
 that the right which Melchizedek formerly pos- 
 sessed is now void and null, because God had in- 
 troduced another law by Moses, by which He 
 transferred the right to the Levites. But the 
 Apostle anticipates this objection by saying, that 
 tithes were paid to the Levites only for a time, 
 because they did not live: but that Melchizedek, 
 because he is immortal, retains even to the end 
 what has been given to him by God." 
 
 The editor, Rev. John Owen, adds this com- 
 ment: ''The obvious meaning of this verse is 
 given by Calvin. The Levites were dying men, 
 which shewed the character of their office ; Mel- 
 
 65 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 chizedek is represented as not dying, which be- 
 tokens that his office as a priest, is perpetual.'' 
 The tribute to the priesthood was only a tempor- 
 ary right of the Levites, it will be noted Calvin 
 claims, and that it is the perpetual right of the 
 priesthood which is after the order of Melchize- 
 dek. How clear and luminous is this interpreta- 
 tion when compared with that of many who stum- 
 ble around over that verse and pretend not to be 
 able to see just how it fits into the Apostle's ar- 
 gument. It seems to me that we strike the most 
 triumphant of all the notes in this great address 
 to the Hebrews in this very verse. Our High 
 Priest has as His type one that liveth. This is 
 preparing the way for the "power of an endless 
 life" and ''He ever liveth" which come later on in 
 the chapter. We are dealing with that which has 
 no end, which is true as much in respect to the 
 tithes paid as to any other part of this divine ar- 
 rangement. Any claim that the Levites had was 
 only for the time. Any claim that Christ has had 
 is living, is perpetual and no posterior grant can 
 make it null and void. Here, then, we have a 
 strong and inconvertible statement of the claim 
 that Christ has on the tithe and that at just the 
 point where we might be led to expect it. It seems 
 to me that a man must be hunting for something 
 when he passes this by and cries out for proof. 
 
XTbe xrttbe 
 
 It may be worth while to call attention to this 
 fact that the oldest Babylonian reference shows 
 that the tithe was centuries before in force in the 
 near vicinity of this same Melchizedek and that 
 it is not any longer a question where Abraham 
 got his idea of a tithe. 
 
 Rev. Henry Constable also makes this further 
 point which is worth notice. The tithe is not 
 ceremonial as is shown by the fact that "no part" 
 of Jacob's offering ''was for the use of the priest- 
 hood. The priest of Jacob's household was 
 Jacob himself. When there was no ministry to 
 support it was yet God's claim and accorded to 
 Him." 
 
 It scarcely seems necessary to prolong this dis- 
 cussion. The universality of the tithe, as a moral 
 obligation, seems to me to be beyond question. It 
 is the universal minimum of the race in the mat- 
 ter of giving to the gods and the conclusion seems 
 inevitable that it is the original requirement of 
 God. Forms, materials, and incidents of giving 
 may have varied, but the standard never. There 
 does not appear any satisfactory reason for be- 
 lieving that it does not survive the changes from 
 the Old to the New Dispensation. The voluntary 
 tithe was recognized and urged on all hands until 
 in the sixth century A. D. The general confusion 
 of Church and State and every thing else that fol- 
 
 ^7 
 
Ube Uitbc 
 
 lowed gradually took away its voluntary charac- 
 ter. It became a sort of enforced tribute to that 
 monstrous duality which presided with such mock 
 dignity over all interests, sacred and otherwise, 
 until the time of reformation when divine truth 
 and order began once more to appear. In all the 
 mighty overturnings of the era of Wicklifife, 
 Luther, Calvin and Knox, these ''stalwart old 
 iconoclasts" all contended for the tithe. While 
 they lashed unmercifully the lazy monks and 
 worldly clergy, yet with Wicklifife they preferred 
 ''the good old custom of paying tithes, according 
 to one's own free-will, to good and godly men, 
 who were able to preach the gospel." 
 
 Possibly it would be well to say of Selden who 
 is generally quoted as opposed to the tithe, that 
 he himself says of his famous book, "It was not 
 written to prove that tithes are not due by the 
 Law of God. . . . Neither is it anything else but 
 itself, that is, a mere narration, and the Historic 
 of Tithes." It comes out in the course of the nar- 
 rative, however, that he was contending for the 
 voluntary tithe, just as has been done in this dis- 
 cussion. He was suffering, as many others like 
 him have suffered, from the oppression of human 
 enactment and perversion in respect to that which 
 God intended to be a gracious and wholesome 
 provision. Hence arises the odium which at- 
 
 68 
 
XLbc 'c:itbe 
 
 taches to the word tithe. But odium is not enough 
 to excuse the retention of a principle represented 
 by a name. Like the name Christian which we 
 bear, it can by God's help be made an honorable 
 one. It was so perverted in the time of the kings 
 of Israel, as God had warned them it would be. 
 Hezekiah, however, restored its proper usage. 
 The tithe was never intended for a national tax 
 to support the State. Its support was at first vol- 
 untary as it seems (i Sam. 10:27). It came to be 
 a fixed tribute by the demand of such kings as 
 Rehoboam. It is to be remembered that odium, 
 and perversion, and the plea of heavy taxes, did 
 not prevent Malachi from accusing the whole 
 Jewish nation of robbing God. The tithe is still 
 holy to Him and ought to be brought into His 
 house and must, if large blessings are to come. 
 
 The facts adduced lead inevitably to the main 
 conclusions reached, if I understand the prin- 
 ciples of logical induction. This method of in- 
 duction is quite popular at present, when applied 
 to certain historical data. I am persuaded that if 
 as much surplus ingenuity and lauded scholarship 
 were expended on these data as are expended on 
 other data to establish useless hypotheses, the 
 Church of God would be more edified and would 
 become ''liberal" in a manner more pleasing to 
 God. Strictness in doctrine and liberality in giv- 
 
 69 
 
Zbc xrttbc 
 
 ing surely are more compatible with divine teach- 
 ing than liberality in doctrine and stinginess in 
 giving. Liberality has affected the wrong thing. 
 The slackening of doctrinal teaching has bene- 
 fited nothing, but has brought a flood of Ration- 
 alism, Infidelity, and Unbelief on the Church. 
 Loosen the purse strings and cherish "the faith 
 once delivered to the saints" as God gave it, and 
 we have His word that the floods of evil shall be 
 driven back by the floods of heavenly blessings 
 which He challenges us to receive. 
 
 The sweep of the facts is broad. The conclu- 
 sions are inevitable. The tithe is universal. Its 
 duty remains to be performed. It seems an un- 
 necessary trespass on time and patience to try to 
 meet all the quibbles that may be started. It is 
 not time for sentiment, nor is it well to bring in 
 the poor, as if God did not know how to provide 
 for them. Pastors know that the poor are not the 
 grumbiers. Many complain against the law that 
 the one-seventh of time is God's. The Sabbath 
 is not counted a burden, neither is it annulled on 
 that account. Complaint settles nothing. People 
 complain of everything under the sun and often 
 of things above the sun. We are not called upon 
 to adjust the relations of capital and labor which 
 make the Sabbath and the Tithe an oppression 
 (if you please to call them such), in order to 
 
 70 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 prove the obligation of the Sabbath and the 
 Tithe. One-seventh of time and one-tenth of 
 money belong to the Lord. Who takes either for 
 his own robs God, His v^^ord being vv^itness. The 
 same question arises as to why both are not more 
 distinctly taught in the New Testament. Both 
 are old and well established. Each is a minimum 
 demanded without reservation. If this be not true 
 of the tithe, then there is no law governing that 
 grace of God in which we are to abound, unless 
 it be that we should hold with some of the 
 Fathers that "those who have received liberty 
 should set aside all their possessions for the 
 Lord's purpose." This is the only other method 
 that has the much demanded New Testament ap- 
 proval, so far as amount is concerned. I do not 
 find even our brethren who are so strenuous for 
 New Testament teaching and practice, falling 
 over themselves to adopt this method. Our own 
 denomination is reckoned as a liberal one, but 
 counting its income according to government re- 
 ports which place the average income of every 
 man, woman, and child at 55 cents per day, we 
 have never paid for all purposes more than one- 
 third of one-tenth of our income into the Lord's 
 treasury. Some other branches of the Church 
 may be a little better, but many of them are un- 
 questionably worse. Well might Chrysostom ex- 
 
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Ube Uitbe 
 
 claim, "O what a shame ! that what was no great 
 matter among the Jews should be pretended to 
 be such among Christians !" Instead of giving a 
 tithe, we fall so far below it that the tithe actu- 
 ally seems visionary to us. The most careful cal- 
 culations show very clearly that God knows how 
 much money he wants for His work and that with 
 the tithe of the Church's income at present, the 
 world could be evangelized in this generation. 
 The early Christians gave often all their means 
 and all their time. We complain of one-seventh 
 of time and one-tenth of money. If the Jews 
 could give 25 per cent from the produce of Ju- 
 dean hills and valleys, why cannot we give cheer- 
 fully at least one-tenth to the kingdom of Him 
 who though He was rich yet for our sakes became 
 poor that we through His poverty might be rich ? 
 He who falls below one-fourth gives less than the 
 Jew. Having a better covenant, established on 
 better promises, and administered by a better 
 Mediator, shall we grumble at one-tenth, the 
 tribute of a heathen or savage to a god he dreads 
 and with no spark of divine love to call forth his 
 offering? To fail to pay the tithe is not only 
 worse than Jewish but even worse than heathen- 
 ish. Nowhere do we find such niggardliness, no 
 not even in a heathen. 
 
 No one has ever been the worse off for doing 
 
 72 
 
Ubc Uitbe 
 
 his duty toward God. "The Path to Wealth" by 
 "A Blacksmith" contains a chapter of voluntary 
 testimonies given at a public meeting. Twenty- 
 nine testimonies were given either directly or in- 
 directly. The occupations of the persons were 
 as follows: Five not named, six ministers, four 
 farmers, two merchants, and one each of the fol- 
 lowing: General agent, Y. M. C. A. secretary, 
 student, clerk, lady stenographer, principal of 
 schools, shoemaker, young lady telegraph oper- 
 ator who had a mother and sister to support, and 
 a missionary from India, who told the story of 
 one of his native helpers, Bhelsari Naiah, who 
 had been tithing for three months when this con- 
 versation took place. "Well, Bhelsari, how does 
 the tithing system work?" "Capitally, sir." "Ah, 
 how is that? You were always complaining of 
 being hard up, and even in debt, when you used 
 your whole income for self; now, you give one- 
 tenth to God, you have no complaints." "Ah, 
 sir, the nine-tenths, with God's blessing, is better 
 far than the ten-tenths used to be without it." 
 I have received many testimonies to the same ef- 
 fect. Mr. Thomas Kane, of Chicago, has had 
 thousands and thousands of such replies, so that 
 we may safely say that Bhelsari's answer must 
 stand as the voice of general experience. 
 
 Not only have men tried it for themselves, but 
 
 73 
 
Zbc Uttbe 
 
 it has been tried in business where firms have 
 kept a strict account of the Lord's part and dis- 
 bursed it for charity and have not found the 
 Lord's promise wanting. Of late years it has 
 come to be a prominent part in the system of 
 finance of various congregations. What is 
 known as the Tithe Covenant Plan originated in 
 Wesley Chapel in Cincinnati about eight years 
 ago. The central idea of this plan is based upon 
 the literal interpretation of Mai. 3:10, ''Bring ye 
 the whole tithe into the storehouse, etc." The 
 members bring in every week in an unmarked 
 envelope the tithe of their income for that week 
 and all is counted together and then distributed 
 by the officers of the Church according to a pre- 
 viously arranged schedule. This congregation, 
 being a downtown one, was about to give up from 
 lack of support, when this plan was started and 
 now it is one of the most active churches in that 
 city and is the most liberal of any church in the 
 city or conference in its support of charity and 
 missions. 
 
 The Third United Presbyterian Church of Chi- 
 cago adopted this plan April i, 1901. The Meth- 
 odist Church of Shelbyville, Ind., adopted it on 
 June I, 1 901. The Memorial Presbyterian Church 
 of Indianapolis, Ind., adopted it on July i, 1901. 
 These were the churches that had made actual 
 
 74 
 
Ube ^itbe 
 
 trial of it, when the Tithe Conference was held at 
 Winona in August, 1902. Since then several have 
 taken it up, notably the Delaware Avenue Baptist 
 Church of Buffalo, N. Y., and the Eighth Presby- 
 terian Church of Chicago. Mr. Blynn Yates of 
 Buffalo, N. Y., has consented to act as the dis- 
 tributer of information in respect to the working 
 of this plan and after the Conference at Winona 
 this year literature will be issued which will give 
 data concerning what some of us believe promises 
 to be a mighty factor in the Church's progress in 
 the years to come. In all these congregations 
 where this plan has been given a fair trial it has 
 wrought wonders and the testimonies that will 
 soon be at your disposal will be a revelation, I 
 judge, to many who have been in despair almost 
 over the problem of financing the kingdom. It 
 will show that God has a plan and that the plan 
 will meet the needs of the Church to-day, as it 
 always has in the past, when honestly adminis- 
 tered. No congregation need fear to give it a 
 fair trial. As the colored preacher said, **I hab 
 nebber known a church killed by too much gibbin 
 to de Lawd. If der should be such a church, 
 and I should know about it, I'll tell you what I'd 
 do. I'd go to dat church, and I'd clamber up its 
 moss-covered roof, and I'd sit straddle of its ridge 
 pole, and I'd cry aloud, 'Blessed am de dead dat 
 
 75 
 
Ube Uitbe 
 
 die in de Lawd.' " If any one tries this method 
 and faithfully proves the Lord therewith, and 
 then goes under, it certainly will be time to say, 
 "Blessed am de dead dat die in de Lawd." 
 
 Many give more than the tenth and should do 
 so. I know some who give one-fifth, and higher 
 proportions up to that height attained by one 
 whom it has been my privilege to meet who gives 
 nine-tenths of his income and lives on the one- 
 tenth. When we have paid our due to the Lord, 
 we still have nine-tenths out of which to meet the 
 call of the gospel in such words as these, ''Give 
 good measure. Freely ye have received, freely 
 give. Abound in this grace. Sell that thou hast 
 and give to the poor." A man once gave such a 
 large gift to missions as to call forth words of 
 surprise. He said, ''It is one-quarter of what I 
 own. I found that as I was prospered my money 
 engrossed more and more of my thoughts. I am 
 not going to be a slave to the money God gave 
 me, and I am going to conquer the love of money 
 by giving it away.^' That was in accord with 
 the word of Christ to the rich young ruler and 
 any one who is becoming a slave of money ought 
 not only to give a tenth, but might better give a 
 quarter or a half or even all his money away, 
 rather than die as the fool died who laid up treas- 
 ure for himself and was not rich toward God. 
 
 1^ 
 
Ubc Uttbe 
 
 Christ commended the widow who gave all and 
 cared for her as he will for all who honor Him 
 with their substance. The tithe has been given by 
 all races and conditions in the past and no ob- 
 jection on account of race or condition can hold 
 against it now. 
 
 While we might have cut short much debate by 
 saying that the tithe is not a Jewish institution 
 but is an ancient law of the race and we are no 
 more called upon to prove its obligation than we 
 are that of the law of the Sabbath or of marriage, 
 yet we have tried to present the case as briefly 
 and yet thoroughly as possible within reasonable 
 limits. But, as I said at Winona last year, sup- 
 pose you deny all this evidence and refuse to be 
 convinced of its obligation, there is one plea that 
 you cannot gainsay. It is the one system that has 
 never failed to get the money. The history of the 
 past shows this. The enemies of the Evangelical 
 Church recognize it. The Mormons, the Seventh 
 Day Adventists, the Dowieites all find the tithe 
 sufficient to carry on their wonderful propagandas 
 and demonstrate the argument that God's tenth 
 if rightly used by His Church would enable us 
 soon to take the world for Christ. All other 
 methods of raising money pale into insignificance 
 when compared with this which has always, in 
 all ages, and among all classes of peoples proved 
 
 77 
 
Ube xrttbe 
 
 sufficient to do great things in the name of the 
 reHgion or irrehgion in behalf of which it was 
 used. The simple argument, It works, ought to 
 appeal to the many struggling Church workers 
 who are at their wits' end to know how to meet 
 expenses. That mere tithe-paying will bring 
 spiritual blessing, I do not claim. The reverse is 
 true, as the Pharisee testifies. But tithing ac- 
 cording to God's plan and in the spirit which He 
 has laid down in His word must and will bring 
 great blessing. 
 
 One of our missionaries in India tells of a 
 native who was an earnest Christian and a be- 
 liever in tithing. He had a friend who was con- 
 verted and he was anxious to have him tithe also. 
 After some effort to persuade him and seemingly 
 without avail, he gave his friend a sound thrash- 
 ing and enforced the tithe by brawn and not by 
 persuasion of conscience. This was zeal without 
 knowledge. You can no more make a man give 
 than you can make him pray. You can make a 
 man say words, but it is not prayer. You may 
 make him hand out money unwillingly, but that 
 is not giving as I view it. I like to define giving 
 as follows : Giving is a cheerful, willing, liberal, 
 intelligent, quiet, regular and prayerful exercise 
 of a God-given grace. This grace of giving, like 
 all God's gifts, comes with the asking and stays 
 
 78 
 
Xlbe Uitbe 
 
 with the using. It is no more possible for a man 
 to have the grace of giving without asking for it 
 and making proper use of it, than it is to have the 
 Spirit for service without asking for and making 
 use of that gift. I would not attempt to force 
 this system on any unprayerful person or people. 
 But, Oh that the Church might awake to its glori- 
 ous provision and its wonderful privilege in this 
 conformity to the law of giving! When a man 
 asks for the grace of giving and receives the im- 
 pulse to open his purse to abound in this grace, 
 then comes to him God's rule, The Tenth is holy 
 unto Me as a first-fruit of this grace, and immedi- 
 ately he begins to see where it is that a man 
 crosses over the boundary line of selfishness and 
 steps into the plane of devotion to God, and he 
 takes the step and rejoices in it. As he walks on 
 in the glad consciousness of duty done, he begins 
 to rejoice in larger manifestations of this grace 
 and meets other and larger opportunities for the 
 gospel's sake and for the Master's sake, and thus 
 the fulness of the blessing of this grace flows into 
 his soul and he knows the meaning of abounding 
 in this grace also. 
 
 What has been said of individual experience, 
 may be just as truly said of the experience that 
 comes to any congregation that will follow this 
 same plan of God, as some of our congregations 
 
 79 
 
XTbe TLitbc 
 
 can testify. The blessing is not only financial, 
 but it is spiritual in a large and increasing sense. 
 Would that John Knox might stir up the minis- 
 try now as he is said to have done in his day in 
 Scotland when he said, ''There is no impiety 
 against which it is more requisite you set your- 
 selves in this time. Repent, therefore, and amend 
 your own neglect in this behalf and call upon 
 others for amendment." Max Mueller is said 
 also to have written to a young minister, "When 
 one thinks what this world of ours would be, if 
 at least this minimum of Christianity were a real- 
 ity, one feels that you are right in preaching this 
 simple duty in season and out of season, until 
 people see that without fulfilling it, every other 
 profession of religion is a mere sham." 
 
 The ringing words of Bishop Potter at the dedi- 
 cation of Grace Chapel in New York city, while 
 they may apply peculiarly to the Episcopal 
 Church, yet are wholesome words to all God's 
 people. 
 
 "The growth of wealth and of luxury, wicked, 
 wasteful, and wanton, as before God I declare 
 that luxury to be, has been matched step by step 
 by a deepening and deadening poverty which has 
 left whole neighborhoods of people practically 
 without hope and without aspiration. At such a 
 time, for the church of God to sit still and be 
 
 80 
 
XTbe Uitbe 
 
 content with theories of its duty outlawed by time 
 and long ago demonstrated to be grotesquely in- 
 adequate to the demands of a living situation, this 
 is to deserve the scorn of men and the curse of 
 God! Take my word for it, men and brethren, 
 unless you and I and all those who have any gift 
 or stewardship of talents, or means, of whatso- 
 ever sort, are willing to get up out of our sloth and 
 ease and selfish dilettanteism of service, and get 
 down among the people who are battling amid 
 their poverty and ignorance — young girls for 
 their chastity, young men for their better ideal of 
 righteousness, old and young alike for oie clear 
 ray of the immortal courage and the immortal 
 hope — then verily the church in its stately splen- 
 dor, its apostolic orders, its venerable ritual, its 
 decorous and dignified conventions, is revealed as 
 simply a monstrous and insolent impertinence !" 
 Seeing that this indictment is well placed, why 
 should not any person or people pay to God at 
 least the tenth, as His minimum requirement? 
 The need has not ceased. We have the poor with 
 us. The ministry is appointed to live by the gos- 
 pel. The field is not Judea alone, but the world. 
 Opportunities of beneficence are multifold. Men 
 are waiting and hungering for the gospel. Men 
 are longing to take it to them. Means we must 
 
 8i 
 
Zhc Zitbc 
 
 have. Our greatest need, as before stated, from 
 the human side is money, not men or machinery. 
 As Mr. Gladstone said, "The inculcation and 
 practice of systematic beneficence will prove the 
 moral specific for this age." Will the people rob 
 God? ''Bring ye the whole tithe into the store- 
 house, that there may be meat in mine house, and 
 prove me now herev/ith, saith the Lord of hosts, 
 if I will not open you the windows of heaven and 
 pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be 
 room enough to receive it." Why not make the 
 test? Then God even our own God will bless us 
 with the riches of His grace, to whom be glory in 
 the Church of Jesus Christ throughout all ages, 
 world without end. Ameu 
 
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