Tithing in the New Testament ©. G, TULAND Pasar, linois Conference ; Is ‘THE. past, Seventh-day advent have been se- verely criticized for stresiny the obligation of paying 0 tithe by their church. mem- bers: This attitade, however, has" more recently” changed, and number of other de- nominations or individual churches have accepted this system, which we call system ale benevolence. We have to easily the problem of whether paying of tithe Is Te {ured in the New Testament. From the pen Of Ellen ©. White we vead: "The New Pes fament does not re-enact the lar of the tthe, as it does not that of the Sabbath; for the fairy of both is assumed, and their deep spiritual import explained"—Counsels on Sewaraship p.,Acordingly we ace problems: fst, there is apparently no direct Eommand in the New Tentament regarding tithe paying, and, second, we seemingly a rive at ou position by a method of dedue- tions and conclusions from Old Testament principles. Such reasoning might not sppeat tobe strong enough to enjoin an obligation upon New Testament. believers. Further more, the tithing system in the Old Testa ment difered considerably from. the one followed by this denomination (ef. Tie Mesterur, September, 1958, pp. #2, 43) These ‘considerations will, justify an in vestigation of this topic inthe light of New Testament scriptures. The one and only reference to tithing by ovur Lond is found ih Matthew 28:28, where Christ endorsed it as apart of religious uty. However, the affirmation of the prac: tice concerns primarily the Jews t0 whom He divected Himsel. “The objectives of thing in the Old Testament were clearly defined: the first tithe for the maintenance of the priest hood and the Levites, the second to enable che individual to participate in the annual religious feasts im Jerusalem, and the third iy the ‘Foatnat “of Near’ Eastera: Studer of the Uneeraty 10 for the poor. The few references in the New Testament with regard to the support fof the ministy make mo mention of the tithe. However, the texts afe clear enough to destroy the notions of some people whe Seny the institution. of 2. “prolesional ‘ministry in the New Testament as well as their right to. an adequate material com: ensation by the church, This is often done yy quoting’ 2 Corinthians Ue) (RSV) where Paul says: "Did T commit a sin tn basing myself so that you may be exalted, ‘because T preached God's gospel without cost {0 your” Such persons fail to read the eighth verse in which the aposde states: "L robbed other churches by accepting sup port "wages," Kif.V.] from them in order fo verve you.” That Paul up to that ume Was ind2bted to at least ‘one ‘church though he. mentions churches—is evident from Philippians 413. That church, had Supported him financially, but i sil was on a voluntary basis, a Christan partie: Sip. Beyond thete texts Paul diseases the Support of the Chistian minisuy inl Co thians 9:13, Td. There he refers to-nat ural lay, to the order ofthe Old Testament, snd the Temple service. ‘Then he con: odes: “In the same vay, the Lord com ‘manded that those who proclaim the gospel should. get their living by. the gospel” pe (@S.V.): Te appears that these conclusions sre very definite, for they are not only based.on the ordinances of the Old ‘Testa. sient for comparison but they end by say- ing that the Lord commanded that the ministers should get their living By the gospel, meaning, ‘rom the churches. As Eonerete is this afirmation of the apostle ip Test could be interpreted on the basis of voluntary contributions, not fixed in Simount or per capita, but not as acon mand 10. pay the. Our question, there fore, is whether there is any further scrip tural evidence chat either” establishes or Supports the principle of ‘ithe paying in the New Testament The Epistle to the Hebrews offers a com cise and complete comparison between the Services and rituals of the Old Testament and their fulfillment inthe ministry of Tue MisternyChrist. Probably intended to prepare the Jewish-Christian believers for the shock that would come to them through the de- struction of Jerusalem, the Temple and its services, together with the cessation of priesthood and sacrifice in a.p. 70, the apasle expounds the true meaning of the al Testament services, And by transler- ring the ministration from the passing glory of the Temple in Jerusalem to the Everlasting one of the heavenly sanctuary, he made the light of the new covenant shine forth. Step by step the different items are com. red, indicating that in every instance the fulfillment exceeded by far the service of the shadow of the Old ‘Testament; a better promise, a better covenant, a better blood, A better hope, a better sanctuary. At this point the apostle had to explain the ques Yion of the New Testament priesthood, Gould there be any better than that of Aaron? And, who is the high priest of the New Testament? In the seventh chapter of Hebrews this problem is solved. The an- swer is that God had provided for a better priesthood, and in order to change the priesthood, He also had to change the law Which determined that only those of the ‘aibe of Levi and of the family of Aaron could serve in the sanctuary, (Heb. 7:12), vis also stated that such a change was by no means an invention of the followers of Ghrist, but was based on two important factors: one, a wellknown historical inci dent, and wo, a promise and solemn oath bby God (Gen. 14:17-20; Ps. 110:4), Accord- ing to this promise the priesthood of the man who met their father Abraham and who was greater than he, would be an eternal priesthood that was not established on the basis of camal descent but on spit- tual merit. Thus, the story and relation- ship of Melehizedek to Jesus Christ is the topic of Hebrews, chapter seven. Accord- ingly, Melchizedek was king of Salem and alo a priest of the most high God. And while he is a king of righteousness and a King of peace, he also bears the priestly office. ‘What now follows in the third verse has Deena topic for many discussions and manifold interpretations. ‘The one fol owed by the writer is accepted by many conservative scholars, In order to” under- stand the language of the apostle one has {o ben in mind that he diected himself to a group of people accustomed to a cer Ocronen, 1961 tain religious terminology. When, there- fore, the text, states concerning the man ‘Melchizedek that “he is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither be- ginning of days nor end of life” (RS-V.), it is obvious that something different than natural relationship is intended. Every Is raelite was most concemed about his gene- alogy. It was important lor several reasons, but especially im questions of inheritance, Not to have a father simply meant not to have an Isvaclite father (see John 8:39-41; Ezra 2:59). When someone’ claimed the priesthood similar reasoning might be used tn tracing the genealogy, The meaning. of our text, therefore, Bae ia “[Melchize- deg) is'without a fpinty) thes, ora [prot] mother of a pest) geneal gy.” But inspite of these facts he sll wae a priest recognired by God. This fs the int of comparison: as Melchiredek, 50 Jesus, for He, tc, had no pee lather. io priestly mother, and no priest for “our Lord was descende Fudan, and in connection with that tbe Moses said, nothing about ‘priests (Heb, Tis, RSV). The apostle had made his point: it i nothing mew that there sere ests outside of the Aaronitic and even fore the Aaronitie priesthood. Wis nent task was to demonstrate the superiority ofthat priesthood over_the ‘Adronice priesthood. "This is done throxgh Fefezence fo several factors 35 for instance, spt meri gain cal decent, and cath of God. But the apostle wanted to establish his arguments, though more than bis interpretation of Psalm 110: eneal- from 1‘Thus, he quotes an incident from the To. rah, the inspired instruction from God. What happened when Abraham our father, met Melchizedek, the priest he had just spoken about? Abraham paid tithe to Mel- chizedek and was, in turn, blessed by that God-appointed priest. With this he con- cludes: “Ie is beyond dispute that the inferior [Abraham] is blessed by the supe rior [Melchizedek]” (Heb. 7:7, RSV.) thus establishing that Christ’s priesthood Fe greater than that of Aaron. With these preliminaries settled, we re- turn to the subject of tithing in the New Testament. The superiority of Melchize dek’s priesthood has been established—but on what grounds? “See how great he [Mel- cchizedek] is! Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of the spoils” (Heb. 7:4, RSV,). The significant argument, there- fore, is the payment of tithe by Abraham to Melchizedek, a material substance serv- ing as confirmation of a spiritual truth that not only recognizes Melchizedek as priest of an order superior to that of Aaron but also that in this priestly order tithing was an accepted institution. This point is stressed from different angles by the apos- He in verses § to 10. The one of greatest interest to us is the perpetuity of tithing in A Sixth-Generation Adventist “I now baptize you in the mame of the Father, the Som, and the Holy Ghost”—with dese words Ellowya’ Oster war baptized into the Seventhdlay Adventist Chasch on the beaudful campus of ‘Middle Eart College, Belzut, Lebanon, June 5, 1961. Ie was not so much the baptism’ dhat was re iarkable 48 the fact that Ellowyn is 2 member of ‘he sixth generation to be received into. cures {ellombip. Her father, Elder Kenneth Oster, Ihead of the Bible department at Middle East Col ges her grandfather, Elder Frank Oster, was a ploncer misionary to” Persia, beginning the work ‘here in T9KL; her greatgrandfather, W. B. White, haelped to organize the North Pacific Union Com ference; am her greatgreatgreatgrandfather wat dJohn Hyington, fst president of the General Con: ference. ‘Ellowym is not the only sixthaeneration Advent int in her familys her older brother Doaald is also aptired. But one wonders how many other sixth: ‘generation Adventists exist in the world church. "Elwyn is certainly fortunate to be able to trace ther gencalogy back to the frst General Conference president G, ARTHUR KEOUGH Public Afieies Secretary Middle East Diision ra ey sm Ping oe re mortality, for otherwise he would still be Berea ray eh eee End the perpetuity of Chrat's priesthood as well ab Hs eternal kingship by which the hope of all believers will be fulfilled. ‘The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews had carefully developed the significance of the Old Testament prototypes and demon. strated that the institutions of the Temple service found their fulfilment in the per. fect ministry of Christ. In doing so he had to prove that Christ was not only the high priest of the New Testament but also that His priesthood was far superior to that of Aaron. ‘The historical incident which he used to prove his point—besides the refer- ence to God's promise—was the encounter of Abraham with Melchizedek, the proto: type of Christ. And as Abraham paid tithe toa priest superior to that of the Jews, so all who accept Christ_as their high priest should give tithe to Christ, for He is the one “of whom it is testified that he lives.” The seventh chapter of Hebrews seems to furnish sufficient evidence for establishing the tithing system as a part of New Testa- ment teaching. Tae Mixisay