Tithes

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(Anglo-Saxonteotha, a tenth).

Generally defined as "the tenth part of the increase arising from the profits of land and stock, allotted to theclergy for their support or devoted toreligious orcharitable uses". A more radical definition is "the tenth part of all fruits and profitsjustly acquired, owed toGod in recognition of his supreme dominion overman, and to be paid to theministers of thechurch".

Thecustom of giving tithes reaches back into unknown antiquity. It is mentioned inGenesis 14, without anything to indicate that it was something newly instituted. Just asAbraham is there represented as offering tithes of the spoils of the enemy to the royalpriest,Melchisedech, so inGenesis 28,Jacob is recorded as giving a tithe of all hispossessions to theLord. Under theMosaic Law the payment of tithes was madeobligatory. TheHebrews are commanded to offer toGod the tenth part of the produce of the fields, of the fruits of the trees, and thefirstborn of oxen and of sheep (Leviticus 27:30;Deuteronomy 14:22). InDeuteronomy there is a mention not only of an annual tithe, but also of a full tithe to be paid once every three years. While it was toGod Himself that the tithes had to be paid, yet we read (Numbers 18:21) that He transfers them to Hissacredministers: "I have given to thesons of Levi all the tithes ofIsrael for a possession, for the ministry wherewith they serve me in thetabernacle of the covenant." In paying the tithe, theHebrews divided the annual harvest into ten parts, one of which was given to theLevites after the first-fruits had been subtracted. This was partitioned by them among thepriests. The remainder of the harvest was then divided into ten new parts, and a second tithe was carried by the head of the household to the sanctuary to serve as a sacred feast for hisfamily and theLevites.

If the journey to thetemple was unusually long, money could be substituted for the offering in kind. At the triennial tithe, a third decimation was made and a tenth part was consumed at home by the householder with hisfamily, theLevites, strangers, and thepoor. This triennial year was called the year of tithes (Deuteronomy 26:12). As the tithes were the main support of thepriests, it was laterordained that the offerings should be stored in thetemple (2 Chronicles 31:11). It is to be noted that thecustom of paying sacred tithes was not peculiar to theIsraelites, but common to all ancient peoples. In Lydia a tithe of cattle was offered to the gods; theArabians paid a tithe ofincense to the god Sabis; and the Carthaginians brought tithes to Melkarth, the god ofTyre. The explanation of why the tenth part should have been chosen among so many different peoples is said to be (apart from a common primitiverevelation) thatmystical signification of thenumber ten, viz., that it signifies totality, for it contains all thenumbers that make up the numerical system, and indeed all imaginable series ofnumbers, and so it represents all kinds ofproperty, which is agift of God. All species ofproperty were consequently reckoned in decades, and byconsecrating one of these parts toGod, the proprietor recognized the Source of hisgoods. However, the payment of tithes was also a civil custom. They were payable to theHebrew kings and to the rulers ofBabylon, and they are mentioned among thePersians,Greeks, Romans, and later theMohammedans.

In theChristian Church, as those who serve thealtar should live by thealtar (1 Corinthians 9:13), provision of some kind had necessarily to be made for thesacredministers. In the beginning this was supplied by the spontaneous offerings of thefaithful. In the course of time, however, as theChurch expanded and various institutions arose, it became necessary to makelaws which would insure the proper and permanent support of theclergy. The payment of tithes was adopted from theOld Law, and early writers speak of it as adivine ordinance and anobligation ofconscience. The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of thebishops assembled atTours in 567 and thecanons of the Council of Maçon in 585. In course of time, we find the payment of tithes madeobligatory by ecclesiastical enactments in all the countries ofchristendom. TheChurch looked on this payment as "ofdivine law, since tithes were instituted not byman but by theLord Himself" (C. 14, X de decim. III, 30). As regards thecivil power, theChristian Roman emperors granted theright to churches of retaining a portion of the produce of certain lands, but the earliest instance of the enforcement of the payment of ecclesiastical tithes bycivil law is to be found in the capitularies ofCharlemagne, at the end of the eighth century.English law very early recognized the tithe, as in the reigns of Athelstan, Edgar, andCanute before the Norman Conquest. InEnglish statutelaw proper, however, the first mention of tithes is to be found in the Statute of Westminister of 1285. Tithes are of three kinds: predial, or that derived from the annual crops; mixed, or what arises from things nourished by the land, as cattle, milk, cheese, wool; and personal or the result of industry or occupation. Predial tithes were generally called great tithes, and mixed and personal tithes, small tithes. Natural substances having no annual increase are not tithable, nor are wild animals. Whenproperty is inherited or donated, it is not subject to thelaw of tithes, but its natural increase is. There are many exempted from the paying of tithes: spiritual corporations, the owners of uncultivated lands, those who have acquired lawfulprescription, or have obtained a legal renunciation, or received aprivilege from thepope.

At first, the tithe was payable to thebishop, but later theright passed by common law toparishpriests. Abuses soon crept in. Theright to receive tithes was granted to princes and nobles, even hereditarily, byecclesiastics in return for protection or eminent services, and this species of impropriation became so intolerable that theThird Council of Lateran (1179) decreed that no alienation of tithes tolaymen was permissible without theconsent of thepope. In the time ofGregory VIII, a so-called Saladin tithe was instituted, which was payable by all who did not take part personally in thecrusade to recover the Holy Land. At the present time, in most countries where some species of tithes still exist, as inEngland (for theEstablished Church), inAustria, andGermany, the payment has been changed into a rent-charge. In English-speaking countries generally, as far asCatholics are concerned, theclergy receive no tithes. As a consequence, other means have had to be adopted to support theclergy and maintain the ecclesiastical institutions (seeCHURCH MAINTENANCE), and to substitute other equivalent payments in lieu of tithes. Soglia (Institut, Canon, II, 12) says "The law of tithes can never be abrogated byprescription orcustom, if theministers of theChurch have no suitable and sufficient provision from other sources; because then thenatural anddivine law, which can neither be abrogated not antiquate, commands that the tithe be paid." In some parts ofCanada, the tithe is still recognized bycivil law, and the Fourth Council of Quebec (1868) declared that its payment is binding inconscience of thefaithful.

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