Historical
Theology can be a tricky discipline. It isn't enough to simply list
people off who agree with your particular theological stance. Even
giving a citation could be misleading. Instead, getting to the reason
they believed what they believe is important. Too many times the
reasoning has been left out of the discussion with tithing.
Other times a more full-orbed perspective on the ancient document
or person is needed to grasp their reasoning.
DeYoung
cites three historical sources that advocate tithing: the Apostolic
Constitutions, Irenaeus, and Augustine. Let's look at those in order.
1)
The Apostolic Constitutions
(300s)– This document truly is an
early and strong advocate for tithing. Two things
should be considered when citing this document for tithing. First,
the Constitutions
equated/likened bishops to priests and Levites and the tabernalce to
the Holy Catholic Church. Those two views seem to have driven its
stance on tithing. If you disagree with either of those views, you
may want to reconsider using this document as a source to back up
your views on tithing. Second, in the introductory notice to the
Ante-Nicene
Fathers
(Volume 7), on page 388, the editors noted that books 1-6 are the
earliest portions, with book 7 being “somewhat later,” though
still very old. The portion in the Apostolic
Constitutions
that contains the advocacy for tithing is found in book 7. Also,
DeYoung rightly notes that the section in the Constitutions
that advocates tithing says to utilize “freewill offerings” to
support the poor. However, it should be noted that tithing was used
for this function in the Old Covenant.
 |
| Irenaeus |
2)
Irenaeus (died in 200 A.D.) - Admittedly, the quote from Irenaeus
given by DeYoung (from Against Heresies,
4.18.2) is a difficult one to interpret. DeYoung believes that
Irenaeus was mandating tithing. However, note these scholars who
appear to differ from DeYoung's interpretation of the ambiguous
Irenaeus quote:
-
Powers (dissertation titled “An Historical Study of the Tithe in
the Christian Church to 1648”) said: “the whole spirit of
Irenaeus was that the law of the tithe had been abrogated” (Powers,
page 21).
-
Charles Feinberg (in The Zondervan
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible,
5:758) concluded only that the church fathers emphasized Christian
freedom in giving.
-
Stuart Murray (Beyond Tithing,
99-101, 106) said that Irenaeus rejected tithing.
Irenaeus'
quote, when read in context, is much more ambiguous than DeYoung
leads on.
 |
| Augustine |
3)
Augustine (around 400 A.D.) - I readily admit that Augustine did
truly advocate tithing. But two factors need to be considered. First,
Augustine clearly misunderstood the Old Testament's teaching on
tithing. He is crystal clear in his belief that Jews gave 10% of
their income under the Mosaic Law. This misunderstanding of
Augustine's fed into his advocacy for tithing. Second, Augustine
believed (and practiced) that Christians should sell their
possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. This is truly the
command of Christ. However, since Christians are so unwilling to do
that, they should at least give what the scribes and Pharisees gave,
especially since our righteousness needs to exceed that of the
scribes and Pharisees. That is a summary of Augustine's teaching. So
recognize his view that tithing isn't really the command for
Christians, but sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor. He
actually lessened the command down to only 10% of income. I've never
actually heard someone utilize that argument in a pulpit, but that
was Augustine's. Jerome, John Chrysostom, and Augustine all argued
that way.
So
while those three sources argued for the continuation of tithing (and
there are more), what DeYoung did not mention in his sermon were the
early sources that went in the other direction, arguing against the
continuation of tithing. I'm not going to get into the specifics of
their reasoning (as I don't necessarily agree with how they reach
their conclusions and I've done this already in You
Mean I Don't Have to Tithe?), but here
are a few early sources arguing against the continuation of tithing:
 |
| Epiphanius |
1)
Didascalia Apostolorum
(about 225 A.D.)
2)
Origen (died about 255)
3)
Epiphanius (about 370) – This last ancient source, though he is not
well-known today, is interesting as he was known as a defender of
orthodoxy.
After
studying the doctrine of tithing throughout church history, I've
concluded that their were godly men on both sides of this debate. The
early church was divided in her views, in the Middle Ages advocacy
for tithing grew, but division occurred leading up and in to
the Reformation. There has not been a consistent view on this issue
over the last 2,000 years. The key thing to remember when studying
tithing (or other doctrines) in church history is not so much “who
concluded what” but more “why and how did they come to that
conclusion.” Then we can weigh their arguments and not just say
“I'm with Augustine” or “I'm with Epiphanius”!
This
series will have one more concluding post.
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