By Dr. David A. Croteau
The following arguments are arranged in order of weakest to strongest.
Furthermore, advocates of tithing sometimes have provided reasons for tithing that do not qualify as arguments. These are not included.
The arguments have also been broken into three categories:
- A. Deceptively Attractive Arguments
- B. Unconvincing Arguments,
- C. Arguments Deserving Consideration.
A. Deceptively Attractive Arguments
(1) Argument from the Garden: God has always set aside a sacred portion for himself. The fact that he did this in the Garden of Eden by setting aside a portion of the trees demonstrates the universality of tithing.
(2) Continuity Argument: The people of God have always given a tenth and Christians should also.
(3) Concession Argument: Christians are supposed to give all, but since they have failed in this, they should at least give a tenth.
(4) Exceeding Righteousness Argument: Christian giving should exceed the giving of the Jews, since Christians have received so much grace. Sometimes Matthew 5:20 is cited for a proof-text.
(5) Anecdotal Argument: God’s blessing on those who have faithfully tithed demonstrates that this is his method for giving in the current era.
(6) Tithing as the Eleventh Commandment: Since Leviticus 25:1–2 places the context of Leviticus 25–27 on Mt. Sinai, and since tithing is commanded in Leviticus 27:30–33, tithing should be considered as binding as all the Ten Commandments.
B. Unconvincing Arguments
(7) Argument from Genesis 4: Tithing goes back to Abel (who tithed) and Cain (who did not), based upon the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) and Hebrews 11:4.
(8) Historical Argument: Tithing is a well-tested, ancient form of giving that has been validated throughout church history.
(9) Pragmatic Argument: Tithing is easy to understand, it is easy to do, and it is systematic. This is the only reasonable method of giving based upon Scripture.
(10) Argument from the Sabbath: Just as the Sabbath is still binding, so is tithing.
(11) Argument from Malachi 3: Since Malachi 3 declares that withholding tithes is equivalent to robbing God, Christians should tithe. One form of this argument relates the withholding of tithes to the commandment against stealing.
(12) Jerome’s Argument: The clergy are in the line of the Levites; their portion is God. Therefore, the clergy today are due tithes just as the Levites were due tithes in the Old Testament.
(13) Argument from Jesus’ Example: Since Jesus was never accused of failing to tithe, and since the Pharisees ate with him (demonstrating that he was not a law breaker on tithing), he must have tithed. Since Jesus tithed, so should we.
(14) The Caesarian Argument: Matthew 22:21b says to give to God the things that are God’s. These “things” refer to tithes.
C. Arguments Deserving Consideration
(15) Argument from the Mosaic law: Since Deuteronomy 16:17 commands proportional giving, and Paul is referencing Deuteronomy 16:17 in 1 Corinthians 16:2, tithing, the prescribed proportion, is still binding.
(16) The Argument from Hebrews: Hebrews 7 proves that Christians should tithe. Since tithes were due to Melchizedek, and Jesus is in the line of Melchizedek, tithes are now due to Jesus.
(17) The Argument from Jesus’ Teaching: Matthew 23:23 should be understood as Jesus commanding Christians to tithe. Rather than referring to Matthew 23:23 as a command, some use commend, endorse, approve, or sanction. Furthermore, if Jesus wanted to abrogate the law, this was the perfect time to do that.
(18) Moral Law Argument: Tithing is a part of the moral law (within the view that the Mosaic law has 3 parts: civil, ceremonial, and moral) and therefore continues.
(19) Paul commended tithing conceptually: Though Paul never mentioned tithing explicitly, the concept is present in his epistles (especially 1 Corinthians 9:13; 16:2).
(20) The Argument from Natural Law: Since tithing was practiced before the Mosaic law and by almost all nations in the history of the world, it is a part of natural law or is a universal law (typically based upon its ancient practice).
Dr. David A. Croteau is a Bible scholar with indepth knowledge in New Testament Greek and had done countless hours of research in the topic of tithing.
Miscellaneous:
For example, “the excuse argument” says that the reason people argue against the tithe is because they do not want to tithe; the reason they do not want to tithe is because they lack faith that God will provide for them (Charles Stanley); the greed argument says that people argue against tithing because they want to hold on to their money (Duncan and Charles Stanley). Also not included is a hermeneutical argument: if a law is not explicitly repealed, then it is still binding.
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