Your ShelfYour Projects

Questions Regarding Tithing

6%

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 6, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 18.

Read the full edition

Questions Regarding Tithing

By F. M. W.

SINCE the publication of our article, “The Test of Faith,” in the REVIEW of March 25, several inquiries have been received regarding the question of tithing. For the benefit of any who may be perplexed over some of the points involved, we consider them here:—
1. Should the tithe be paid on the income or on the increase?
The true income and the increase are the same. It would not be expected that one would pay tithe on his gross receipts. From them would first be deducted the money expended whereby the increase became possible. All income, either in money or its equivalent in the products of business or labor, which one uses or may rightly use for himself or family in providing physical or temporal benefits, such as food, raiment, homemaking, education, pleasure, etc., constitutes the income on which the tithe should be paid.
2. On what should a canvasser pay tithe who works on a fifty-per-cent basis, on the gross receipts from his deliveries, or on the profits of his deliveries?
On the gross receipts, less the amount which he pays for his books, together with freight, cartage, etc. If he paid one hundred dollars for a bill of books, five dollars for freight, two dollars for cartage, and received for the books two hundred dollars, ninety-three dollars would constitute his true income, and his tithe would be paid on this amount.
3. What amount of tithe should be paid by a manufacturer whose operating expenses, including cost of labor, material, etc., is twelve thousand dollars a year, and whose gross receipts are thirteen thousand dollars a year?
One thousand dollars would be this man's true income, and on this amount tithe should be paid.
4. What amount should be tithed by a farmer whose gross receipts are fifteen hundred dollars? He pays five hundred dollars for wages to hired help; two hundred dollars for fertilizer; fifty dollars for seed; two hundred dollars for cartage and commission to selling agents.
This farmer's expense of operation amounts to nine hundred fifty dollars. This would leave five hundred fifty dollars as his net income, and on this amount he should pay tithe. In this answer the matter of house rent is left an open question.
5. Should one operating a farm or hennery pay tithe on the farm produce or eggs used on his family table?
He should, most certainly. This is a part of his living, of his true income, and should be tithed at its value in money.
6. Should one who works for fifty dollars a month, including room and board, pay tithe alone on the fifty dollars, or include also the worth of his room and board?
He should do the latter. Even though he does not actually pay out cash for his room and board, it is a valuable consideration, an income to him of real worth. It forms a part of his living, and as such he should compute its value at a reasonable price, and tithe the amount the same as the money he receives.
7. Should one pay tithe on his income when he is in debt?
The tithe of man's income is not his own; it belongs to God. It would be manifestly wrong for him to steal from one of his fellows in order to pay an obligation to another. It could not, therefore, be right for him to take from God in order to pay therewith a debt to his fellow man.
No rule can be given which will cover every detail of human experience. These questions and answers will illustrate the application of the principle involved in the subject of tithing. Each individual must apply the principle in his own affairs and to the particular circumstances of his own experience. He who is inclined to be stingy with God, will always be able to discover some subterfuge by which he may avoid the discharge of his obligations. On the other hand, when one views this question from the standpoint of privilege and blessing rather than from that of stern duty, it is surprising to see how difficult questions adjust themselves. He who considers the manifold mercies of God, and whose study is to see how much he can render God in return, will have little difficulty in correctly determining every question which may arise. God will guide him by his Spirit in this as in every other Christian duty, and teach him how to walk before the Lord with a perfect heart.
F. M. W.