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Saturday, September 29, 2018

Thomas Schreiner on Tithing, SBC Theologian


March 28, 2017  | Thomas Schreiner

Thomas Schreiner is the James Buchanan Harrison professor of New Testament interpretation and associate dean for Scripture and interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

The following is a greatly reduced essay with Schreiner’s original focal points.
Comments by Russell Earl Kelly, PHD. Kelly’s PHD thesis was on the subject of tithing. See his website for books and many more articles: www.tithing-russkelly.com

Why Tithing Is Not Required Today

1. Believers are no longer under the Mosaic covenant (Rom. 6:14–15; 7:5–6; Gal. 3:15–4:7; 2 Cor. 3:4–18). 
 
Kelly: Gentiles and the Church never were under the Old Covenant between God and national Israel.

Schreiner: And even if we use these distinctions, tithing is clearly not part of the moral law. It’s true the moral norms of the Old Testament are still in force today, and we discern them from the law of Christ in the New Testament, but tithing is not among these commands.

2. The examples of Abraham and Jacob are not normative patterns. 

Schreiner: Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek was a one-time event; there is no evidence he regularly gave God a tenth.

Kelly: Abram’s tithe as a Gentile did not qualify to be a holy tithe under law.

3. Tithes were given to the Levites and priests, but there are no Levites and priests in the new covenant. 

4. The tithe is tied to the land Israel received under the old covenant. 

Schreiner:  It related to the Jews as a nation—to Jews who lived in the land of promise.

Kelly: It was always only food from produce or clean animals inside holy Israel.

Schreiner: The earthly Jerusalem is no longer central in God’s purposes (Gal. 4:25).

Kelly: Eschatologically speaking, the unconditional promises of God to national Israel for a 1000-year literal Messianic reign of Christ on earth will again be central in God’s purposes.

5. If tithing is required today, how much should we give? 

Schreiner: As noted above, the number was certainly more than 10 percent and closer to 20 percent. Those who advocate tithing should probably settle on 20 percent.

6. When Jesus affirmed the tithe, it was before the dawn of the new covenant.

7. Nowhere is tithing mentioned when commands to give generously are found in the New Testament. 

Schreiner: Even though tithing isn’t required today, it does not follow that believers should hoard their possessions.
Since God is to be our treasure, believers are to give generously and freely. For many in the West, this will mean giving more than 10 percent.

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Alfred Edersheim Quotes


ALFRED EDERSHEIM QUOTES FROM MY WRITINGS:

Google: The Widow’s Mite, Russ Kelly for this article.

From: The Temple, Its Ministry and Services As They Were At the Time of Christ, Alfred Edersheim, D. D., Ph. D. died 1889, p48-49.

13 TREASURY CHESTS CALLED TRUMPETS

#1 thru #8 Mandatory Giving

#1 and #2 were for the half shekel Temple tribute.
#3: For women who had to bring doves [after their issues of blood and childbirth]. They dropped the equivalent in money and that many doves were offered daily. Mary used this when she met Simeon.
#4: Also received the value of the offerings of young pigeons.
#5: To buy the wood used in the Temple.
#6: To buy incense used in the Temple.
#7: To buy golden vessels for Temple ministry.
#8: For excess money after buying sin offerings.
--------------
#9 thru #13 Voluntary Giving

#9, #10, #11, #12, #13: For excess money after buying trespass offerings, offerings of birds, the offering of the Nazarite, of the cleansed leper and voluntary offerings.

(p379) “And it is remarkable that the law seemed to regard Israel as intended to be only an agricultural people --- no contribution being provided for [tithes] from trade or merchandise.”





STCTT p12; The Temple, ch 19, p379 softback
Alfred Edersheim: “And it is remarkable, that the Law seems to regard Israel as intended to be only an agricultural people—no contribution being provided for from trade or merchandise.”
STCTT, P42, CH5; Sketches, p18-19
Tithes originally could come from any part of the land of Israel used by Israelites. However, Alfred Edersheim states that this requirement later was made much more narrow rather than being expanded [Preachers expanded the definition; the Jews limited the meaning.] After the return from exile, the land was subdivided into three different zones of holiness. The second and third tithe could not come to the temple from land beyond the Jordan. While Israelite land which had been captured by King David [O.K.], parts of Egypt [not biblical], and part of Babylon [not biblical] could be used for lesser tithes to local Levites, most other land was considered defiled and incapable of producing acceptable holy tithes for the temple in Jerusalem.
STCTT, ch8, p57; Sketches p18-19
In Sketches of Jewish Social Life, Old Testament and Hebrew scholar, Alfred Edersheim devoted the first two chapters to discussions of the holy land of Israel which are well worth reading. After the exile, the country was subdivided into three different zones of "holiness." Only tithes from the most holy land-zone could be brought to the temple. Tithes from lesser holy land zones within Israel could provide for local shrines and the poor. However, since even the "dust" from pagan Gentile lands defiled, it is certain that no temple tithe could come from "defiled" ground.


STCTT, ch9, p63; The Temple, p378
Concerning the gleaning law, Edersheim wrote, "Bicurim, terumoth, and what was to be left in the corners of the fields for the poor were always set apart before the tithing was made." He added that a poor person with less than five sheep was not required to bring the firstfruits of the fleece. Certainly the poor did not tithe from gleanings!
STCTT, ch14, p117-118; Sketches 52, 215
The Pharisees were hypocrites concerning tithing! Alfred Edersheim explained how the Pharisees actually paid less tithe than did others. When John Hyrcanus (135-100 B.C.) enacted a new law which required the buyer to pay tithes rather than the seller, the Pharisees vowed to only trade within their own fraternities, or chabura. Thus, while others paid certain tithes every time produce exchanged hands, the Pharisees declared all except the first time to be “free” from subsequent tithing (p. 215). In addition to this, the rabbis had excluded themselves from Jewish local taxation. Thus, while the typical citizen paid at least an extra ten percent (10%) in local Jewish taxation, the Pharisees had that much extra to pay in tithes--and boasted about tithing (p. 52). Therefore, in reality, the Pharisee paid less tithes in two different ways than others who did not boast.
STCTT, ch22, p185; The Temple, p102-103
According to Edersheim, priests received income from 24 sources and their tenth of the tithe was one of the least.
STCTT, ch22, p195; Sketches 169, 172, 173
“Thus…to come to the subject of this chapter…we now understand how so many of the disciples and followers of the Lord gained their living by some craft; how in the same spirit the Master Himself condescended to the trade of his adoptive father; and how the greatest of his apostles throughout earned his bread through the labor of his hands, probably following, like the Lord Jesus, the trade of his father. For it was a principle, frequently expressed, if possible ‘not to forsake the trade of the father’” (p. 169). Furthermore, although its origins is unknown, Roman law required that a son should follow in the trade of his father (per the life of Martin, an early monk).

“And this same love of honest labor, the same spirit of manly independence, the same horror of trafficking with the law, and using it either as a ‘crown or as a spade,’ was certainly characteristic of the best Rabbis” (p. 172).
“For, in point of fact, with few exceptions, all the leading Rabbinical authorities were working at some trade, till at last it became quite an affectation to engage in hard bodily labor…” (p. 173).
………………………………………
 STCTT, ch29, p247; The Temple, ch19
A noted authority on Judaism, Alfred Edersheim, gives several important points which prove that tithing did not exist in the early centuries of the church. He reminds us of the Jewish customs which were surely followed by at least the Jewish-Christian apostles and disciples. First, tithing was not universal, even in Israel, because it did not apply to crafts and trades, “And it is remarkable, that the law seems to regard Israel as intended to be only an agricultural people—no contribution being provided for from trade or merchandise.”
STCTT, ch29, p248; Sketches 15-17, 118, 172-173
Second, proper tithes could only come from the holy lands of Israel (p. 15-17). Third, most Jews considered it a sin to make a profit from teaching the law, “Then, as for the ­ occupation of ordinary life, it was indeed quite true that every Jew was bound to learn some trade or business. But this was not to divert him from study; quite the contrary. It was regarded as a profanation—or at least declared such—to make use of one’s learning for secular purposes, whether of gain or of honor. The great Hillel had it (Ab. I. 13); ‘He who serves himself by the crown [the Torah] shall fade away’” (p. 118). Fourth, rabbis, such as Paul, were not expected to earn a living from teaching the law, “For, in point of fact, with few exceptions, all the leading Rabbinical authorities were working at some trade, till at last it became quite an affectation to engage in hard bodily labor…” (p. 173). And, fifth, honest labor was considered a cherished virtue, “And this same love of honest labor, the same spirit of manly independence, the same horror of trafficking with the law, and using it either as a ‘crown or as a spade,’ was certainly characteristic of the best Rabbis.” (p. 172).[1][2] Edersheim leaves no room in his conclusions for any idea that rabbis might have taught God’s Law to provide for their own financial sustenance. This very strong tradition among Jews certainly would have been extended into the Jewish Christian church by former Jewish rabbis such as Paul.
STCTT, ch29, p250; Sketches 169
Alfred Edersheim (Anglican), in his book, Sketches of Jewish Social Life, devoted an entire chapter to the Jewish work ethic. “Thus…to come to the subject of this chapter…we now understand how so many of the ­ disciples and followers of the Lord gained their living by some craft; how in the same spirit the Master Himself condescended to the trade of his adoptive father; and how the greatest of his apostles throughout earned his bread through the labor of his hands, probably following, like the Lord Jesus, the trade of his father. For it was a principle, frequently expressed, if possible ‘not to forsake the trade of the father.’”