Backlash Against Tithing?
The Backlash Against Tithing
Comment: I have mixed feelings about this article. The Christian certainly needs to generously and faithfully support his local church. I'm not convinced what some call tithing is really tithing at all (based upon my studies in the Old Testament).
Excerpt:
The anti-tithing movement has found support in some unlikely places: theologically conservative divinity schools and church pulpits. At Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., professor Andreas Kostenberger challenges tithing in classes on the New Testament. He teaches that if you add up all taxes paid by the ancient Israelites, they exceed 10%, and that in the New Testament there's no percentage rule. He says pastors perpetuate the 10% figure out of "pragmatism, tradition and ignorance, quite frankly."
After 25 years leading Union Missionary Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Ohio, the Rev. Bob Barbour stopped preaching about tithing a few years ago. He now promotes what he calls "grace giving" -- a voluntary, unspecified amount -- because, he says, it squares better with Scripture. The church still receives enough to cover expenses, he says. And if it falls short, so be it: "You can't beat people over the heads."
Hi, I am Rob Fox, moderator of an internet forum called Tithing Study. I set up the forum “Tithing Study” for the sole purpose of discussing this topic. If you want to join, send an e-mail to:
ReplyDeleteTithing-Study-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Among it's members includes Dr. Russell Kelly, author of the book "Should the Church Teach Tithing". Dr. David Croteau, who wrote his doctor's thesis on Tithing, Kevin Rohr, pastor who was mentioned in the article because he lost his job over his views, and Richard Wayne Garganta, local television anchor in Rhode Island.