"Each One as He Has Decided in His Heart": The Absence of a Mandatory Tithe in New Testament Ethics
Abstract
The widespread assumption that Christians are biblically mandated to tithe ten percent of their income rests on a conflation of Old Testament cultic obligations with New Testament ethical teaching. This article demonstrates that the Old Testament itself prescribed not one but multiple tithes embedded within the Levitical-agricultural economy of ancient Israel, that the New Testament nowhere reiterates a ten-percent obligation, and that the earliest Christian communities drew their institutional and liturgical patterns from the synagogue rather than the temple. A survey of the major Reformation confessions confirms that the magisterial Reformers consistently classified the tithe under the ceremonial law abrogated by Christ, articulating instead a theology of voluntary, proportional generosity. The New Testament articulates a theology of radical, voluntary, Spirit-led generosity that transcends any fixed percentage.
1. Introduction
Few financial doctrines in contemporary Christianity are as firmly held—and as poorly examined—as the mandatory tithe. Across denominational lines, pastors routinely instruct their congregations that God requires Christians to give ten percent of their income to the local church, usually citing Malachi 3:8–10 as proof that failing to do so constitutes robbery of God. Yet this common teaching conflates several distinct obligations from the Mosaic law, ignores the dramatically different framework of New Testament giving, and overlooks the ecclesiological reality that the early church modeled itself on the synagogue—a voluntary, community-funded institution—rather than the temple, which was sustained by mandatory levies tied to the Levitical priesthood and the land of Israel.
The purpose of this article is fourfold: first, to clarify the nature of Old Testament tithes, demonstrating that they were multiple, agricultural, and covenantally specific; second, to examine the New Testament's explicit teaching on giving, which is consistently voluntary and proportional rather than legislated; third, to show that the church's structural dependence on the synagogue model, rather than the temple model, has implications for how financial support should be conceived in the gathered community of believers; and fourth, to demonstrate that the magisterial Reformers and their confessional documents consistently rejected a binding tithe for the new-covenant church.
2. The Old Testament Tithes: Not One Obligation but Three
Modern tithing advocates typically speak of "the tithe" as though the Old Testament prescribes a single, straightforward ten-percent contribution. In reality, the Pentateuch legislates at least two and arguably three distinct tithes, each serving a different purpose within the theocratic economy of Israel.1
2.1 The Levitical Tithe
The foundational tithe appears in Leviticus 27:30–33 and Numbers 18:21–32. This tithe was given to the Levites, who had received no territorial inheritance in the land, in exchange for their service at the tabernacle and, later, the temple.2 The Levites in turn gave a tithe of the tithe (a "terumah") to the Aaronic priests. This was fundamentally an agricultural tax—it applied to the produce of the land and the increase of herds, not to monetary wages.3 Importantly, it was inseparable from the land-based economy of ancient Israel and the Levitical priesthood's unique position as landless servants of the sanctuary.4
2.2 The Festival Tithe
Deuteronomy 14:22–27 prescribes a second tithe, sometimes called the "festival tithe" or "pilgrimage tithe." This tithe was to be consumed by the worshiper and his household at the central sanctuary during the annual festivals. If the distance to the sanctuary was too great, the produce could be converted to money, which the worshiper would then spend on whatever he desired—"oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink"—and eat in the presence of the Lord.5 This tithe was not given away to religious officials but consumed by the giver as an act of covenant celebration. It was, in effect, a mandated worship expenditure.
2.3 The Poor Tithe
Every third year, a special tithe was collected for the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut 14:28–29; 26:12–15). Whether this replaced the festival tithe in the third year or was an additional levy is debated among scholars, but its distinct social-welfare purpose is clear.6
2.4 Cumulative Burden
When these tithes are considered together, the total annual obligation for an Israelite farmer was not ten percent but closer to twenty to twenty-three percent of agricultural produce, depending on the year in the three-year cycle.7 This already demonstrates that the popular notion of "the biblical tithe" as a flat ten percent dramatically underrepresents the Old Testament's actual requirements. Moreover, these tithes applied only to agricultural output from the land of Israel; they were not levied on wages, trade income, or other forms of non-agricultural wealth.8
3. The New Testament on Giving: Voluntary, Proportional, Cheerful
If the Old Testament tithe were intended as a permanent, trans-covenantal obligation binding on the people of God in every era, one would expect the New Testament to reiterate and clarify it—especially given the apostles' meticulous attention to ethical instruction for Gentile believers. What one finds instead is a striking silence on the tithe coupled with a rich and consistent theology of voluntary generosity.
3.1 Jesus and the Tithe
Jesus mentions the tithe only twice in the Gospels (Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42), and in both instances he is addressing Pharisees who are still living under the Mosaic covenant in pre-resurrection Israel. He affirms that they should not have neglected the tithe—but his point is to condemn their hypocrisy in tithing herbs while ignoring justice, mercy, and faithfulness.9 This is not a prescription for the post-Pentecost church but a critique of Pharisaic casuistry within the still-operative old-covenant system. Notably, Jesus' most pointed teaching on financial generosity moves far beyond ten percent: he tells the rich young ruler to sell everything (Mark 10:21), commends the widow who gave her last two coins (Mark 12:41–44), and instructs his followers to give to everyone who asks (Luke 6:30).
3.2 The Apostolic Teaching
The apostolic letters contain extended treatments of financial giving—most notably in 1 Corinthians 16:1–4 and 2 Corinthians 8–9—yet none of them mention the tithe. In the Corinthian correspondence, Paul instructs believers to set aside money on the first day of every week "as he may prosper" (1 Cor 16:2), a phrase indicating proportional and voluntary giving rather than a fixed percentage.10 The absence of a specified percentage is conspicuous in light of Paul's well-known willingness to legislate on matters of sexual ethics, food offered to idols, and church order. If the tithe were binding, Paul's silence here would be inexplicable.
Paul's most developed theology of giving appears in 2 Corinthians 8–9, where he holds up the Macedonian churches as an example of generosity. The key operative principle is articulated in 2 Corinthians 9:7: "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."11 The Greek word translated "compulsion" (ἀνάγκη) denotes external necessity or constraint. Paul explicitly excludes the very kind of mandated, percentage-based obligation that a binding tithe would impose. The motivation for giving is joy, not legal duty; the measure is the believer's own heart and means, not a legislated fraction.12
Paul does invoke agricultural metaphors ("whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly," 2 Cor 9:6) and grounds generosity in Christological theology ("though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor," 2 Cor 8:9), but the theological framework is grace and koinonia, not legal compliance.13 The early Jerusalem community practiced radical sharing of possessions (Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–37), but even this was voluntary: Peter explicitly tells Ananias that the property was his to keep or sell as he chose (Acts 5:4).14
3.3 Hebrews and the Obsolescence of the Levitical System
The Epistle to the Hebrews is uniquely relevant to this question because it explicitly addresses the Levitical priesthood and its relationship to the new covenant. The argument of Hebrews 7 is that Jesus' priesthood is "according to the order of Melchizedek," not Aaron (Heb 7:11). Because the priesthood has changed, "there is necessarily a change in the law as well" (Heb 7:12). The author notes that the Levitical priests "have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people" (7:5) but argues that this entire system has been set aside (ἀθέτησις, 7:18) on account of its "weakness and uselessness."15
This is perhaps the most theologically decisive New Testament text for the question of tithing. The tithe was a commandment given to the Levitical priests. Hebrews explicitly argues that this priesthood and its associated legal ordinances have been superseded by Christ's high-priestly ministry. To insist on the continuing validity of the tithe while accepting the obsolescence of the Levitical priesthood is hermeneutically inconsistent: the tithe is structurally inseparable from the priesthood it funded.16
4. The Church as Heir of the Synagogue, Not the Temple
A frequently overlooked dimension of this question is ecclesiological. The early church's institutional form was patterned not on the Jerusalem temple but on the diaspora synagogue. Lee Levine's comprehensive study of the ancient synagogue demonstrates that it functioned as a community center for Scripture reading, prayer, and instruction—precisely the activities that characterized early Christian gatherings.17
The synagogue had no priesthood, no sacrificial cult, and no mandatory tithe. It was sustained by voluntary donations, patronage, and community contributions.18 When Paul planted churches across the Mediterranean, he established communities that met in homes, read Scripture, prayed, celebrated the Lord's Supper, and heard apostolic teaching—all activities with synagogue parallels, not temple parallels.19 The temple, by contrast, required a hereditary priesthood, daily sacrifices, and the tithe system prescribed in the Torah. The church inherited none of these structures.
This distinction matters because the tithe was a temple institution. It funded the Levitical priesthood and the sacrificial system. When the church is understood as a community modeled on the synagogue—a gathering of the faithful for word, prayer, and mutual edification—the conceptual basis for a mandatory tithe disappears. The early church supported its teachers and cared for its poor through voluntary collections (1 Cor 9:3–14; Gal 6:6; 1 Tim 5:17–18), not through a levied tithe.20
5. Historical Considerations: The Patristic Era
The history of tithing in the post-apostolic church confirms this analysis. Stuart Murray's study of tithing in church history demonstrates that the earliest church fathers—including Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen—did not teach mandatory tithing.21 Irenaeus argued that Christians are freed from the obligation of tithes because they have been taught to devote all their possessions to the Lord's purposes, not merely a tenth.22 The mandatory tithe was not formally imposed in the Western church until the Synod of Mâcon in 585 CE, and it was not enforced as civil law until Charlemagne's legislation in 779 CE—more than seven hundred years after the apostolic period.23
6. The Reformation Confessions and the Tithe
The magisterial Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries produced a rich body of confessional literature that has defined Protestant orthodoxy for nearly five hundred years. It is therefore significant that none of the major Reformation confessions mandate a tithe. When these documents address financial giving at all, they consistently locate the tithe within the ceremonial or judicial law of Israel—categories of Mosaic legislation that the Reformers unanimously regarded as abrogated by the coming of Christ—and they articulate a standard of giving that is voluntary, proportional, and governed by the moral law of love rather than a fixed percentage.
6.1 The Three-Fold Division of the Law
Central to the Reformers' treatment of the tithe is their classification of the Mosaic law into moral, ceremonial, and judicial (or civil) categories. This hermeneutical framework, inherited from the medieval scholastic tradition but refined and sharpened by the Reformers, provided the mechanism by which they could affirm the abiding authority of the Decalogue while recognizing the obsolescence of the Levitical and civil codes. Calvin articulated this distinction with particular clarity in the Institutes, arguing that the ceremonies were "like a tutor" that pointed to Christ and were therefore annulled at his coming, while the judicial laws, given to Israel as a body politic, expired with the dissolution of that polity.24 Since the tithe belongs either to the ceremonial law (as a Levitical ordinance funding the priesthood) or to the judicial law (as a civil tax supporting the theocratic state), it falls on either reading into the category of abrogated legislation.
6.2 The Thirty-Nine Articles (1571)
The Anglican formulary addresses this question directly. Article VII, "Of the Old Testament," states that "although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral."25 The tithe, as a Levitical ceremony and a civil precept of the Israelite theocracy, is explicitly placed in the categories that "do not bind Christian men." The article makes no exception for the tithe or any other specific element of the ceremonial-civil code.
6.3 The Belgic Confession (1561)
The Belgic Confession, one of the Three Forms of Unity that define Continental Reformed orthodoxy, addresses the relationship between the testaments in Article 25: "We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law have ceased with the coming of Christ, and that all shadows have been fulfilled, so that the use of them ought to be abolished among Christians."26 While the article goes on to affirm the ongoing value of the Old Testament for instruction, it is categorical in asserting the cessation of ceremonial obligations. The tithe, as a ceremony embedded in the Levitical cultus, falls squarely within this abolition. The Belgic Confession nowhere introduces a replacement obligation of any specified percentage.
6.4 The Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
The Heidelberg Catechism treats financial ethics under the eighth commandment ("You shall not steal"). Question and Answer 111 defines the scope of this commandment positively: God requires "that I do whatever I can for my neighbor's good, that I treat others as I would like them to treat me, and that I work faithfully so that I may share with those in need."27 The catechism's treatment of financial obligation is entirely governed by the moral law of neighbor-love, not by any ceremonial percentage. The standard is "whatever I can" and "share with those in need"—language that is open-ended and proportional, not fixed at ten percent.
6.5 Calvin on the Tithe
John Calvin's exegetical treatment of the tithe is particularly important given his immense influence on the Reformed tradition. In his commentary on Malachi 3:8–10, Calvin acknowledges the original force of the passage within its old-covenant context but does not apply the tithe as a binding obligation for the Christian church. In the Institutes, he argues that the ceremonial laws were given to the Jews "until the fullness of time should come" and that to reimpose them would be to obscure the clarity of the gospel.28 In his commentary on 2 Corinthians 8–9, Calvin emphasizes that Paul's collection for the saints in Jerusalem was governed by the principle of voluntary equality (ἰσότης), not by a legislated fraction.29 Calvin does insist that Christians must give generously and that ministers deserve support, but his framework is one of moral obligation rooted in gratitude, not ceremonial compliance with a fixed rate.
6.6 The Westminster Standards (1646–1648)
The Westminster Confession of Faith, the doctrinal standard of Presbyterian and Reformed churches worldwide, is perhaps the most detailed of the Reformation confessions on the relationship between the covenants and the law. Chapter 19 ("Of the Law of God") explicitly articulates the three-fold division: the moral law binds all persons in all ages (19.5); the ceremonial laws "are now abrogated under the New Testament" (19.3); and the judicial laws "expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any other, now, further than the general equity thereof may require" (19.4).30 Since the tithe is a Levitical-ceremonial ordinance inseparable from the priesthood and the temple system, WCF 19.3 places it among the abrogated laws. And since it functioned simultaneously as a civil tax within the Israelite theocracy, WCF 19.4 further classifies it among the expired judicial laws.
The Westminster Larger Catechism addresses financial ethics in its exposition of the eighth commandment. Question 141, on the duties required, includes the obligation of "giving and lending freely, according to our abilities, and the necessities of others."31 The operative standard is "our abilities" and "the necessities of others"—a proportional, situational standard that varies with the giver's capacity and the recipient's need. Question 142, on the sins forbidden, condemns "covetousness, inordinate prizing and affecting worldly goods" and "injustice and unfaithfulness in contracts."32 Nowhere in the catechism's detailed treatment of financial ethics does a ten-percent obligation appear. The silence is telling: the Westminster divines, who were meticulous in their precision, chose to frame financial obligation in terms of ability and need rather than a fixed percentage.
6.7 The Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
Heinrich Bullinger's Second Helvetic Confession, widely adopted across Reformed churches in Switzerland, Hungary, and Scotland, addresses church property and the support of ministers in Chapter 28. Bullinger affirms that "the possessions of the Church" should be administered faithfully and that ministers deserve adequate support, but he grounds this obligation in apostolic precedent (1 Cor 9; Gal 6:6) rather than in the Levitical tithe. Chapter 28 refers to "tithes" in a historical register, acknowledging their former use, but treats the support of the ministry as a matter of Christian duty governed by the moral law, not as a continuation of the Mosaic tithe.33 Bullinger's approach is characteristic of the broader Reformed position: ministers must be supported, but the basis is new-covenant generosity, not old-covenant legislation.
6.8 Luther and the Lutheran Confessions
Martin Luther's position on the tithe underwent significant development. In his earlier writings, Luther accepted the tithe as a civil obligation owed to secular authorities, but he consistently denied that it was a binding divine commandment for the new-covenant church. In his treatise On Trade and Usury (1524), he addressed economic obligations in terms of neighbor-love and the golden rule, not Levitical percentages.34 In his Lectures on Deuteronomy (1523–1524), Luther explicitly classified the tithe among the judicial laws of Moses that applied to the Israelite polity and not to the Christian church.35 The Augsburg Confession (1530) does not mention the tithe. The Formula of Concord (1577), in its discussion of the third use of the law, limits the binding force of divine law to the Decalogue and does not extend it to ceremonial or judicial statutes.36 The Lutheran confessional tradition thus provides no basis for a mandatory tithe.
6.9 Summary: The Confessional Consensus
The confessional consensus of the Reformation is clear and remarkably uniform across its Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed branches: the tithe belongs to the ceremonial and/or judicial law of Israel, both of which have been abrogated by Christ. No major Reformation confession mandates a ten-percent contribution. Where financial obligation is addressed, it is consistently framed in terms of the moral law—proportional generosity governed by ability and need, motivated by gratitude and love, and directed by the believer's own conscience. The modern practice of teaching the tithe as a binding divine commandment thus lacks not only New Testament warrant but also the support of the confessional tradition that most Protestant churches claim as their doctrinal heritage.
7. Conclusion
The evidence presented here converges on a clear conclusion: the New Testament does not mandate a tithe. The Old Testament tithes were multiple, agricultural, and bound to the Levitical priesthood and the land of Israel. The New Testament teaching on giving is explicitly voluntary, proportional, and grounded in grace rather than legal obligation. The Epistle to the Hebrews declares the Levitical system—including the commandment to tithe—superseded by the priesthood of Christ. The church's structural inheritance from the synagogue rather than the temple removes the institutional basis for a mandatory levy. The earliest church fathers did not teach mandatory tithing. And the Reformation confessions—across Lutheran, Anglican, and Reformed traditions—unanimously classify the tithe as abrogated ceremonial or judicial law, articulating instead a standard of voluntary, proportional generosity rooted in the moral law of love.37
None of this implies that Christians should give less generously. Precisely the opposite: the New Testament envisions a generosity uncapped by any percentage, motivated by the grace of Christ and the power of the Spirit, and directed by the believer's own conscience. The Macedonians gave beyond their ability (2 Cor 8:3). The Jerusalem church shared everything (Acts 4:32). The early Christians were known for their generosity to the poor and to one another. The Reformers themselves insisted that Christians owe everything to God and that the moral law demands lavish generosity toward the neighbor—a standard that may well exceed ten percent for those with means. The question is not whether Christians should give, but on what basis—and the answer of the New Testament, the church fathers, and the Reformation confessions alike is not law but love, not compulsion but cheerful, sacrificial freedom.
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 23–27, Anchor Bible 3B (New York: Doubleday, 2001), 2187–2191.
Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions, trans. John McHugh (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 140–141, 380–382.
David A. Croteau, You Mean I Don't Have to Tithe? A Deconstruction of Tithing and a Reconstruction of Post-Tithe Giving (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2010), 31–57.
Numbers 18:21–32. See also Milgrom, Leviticus 23–27, 2192–2195.
Deut 14:22–27. Cf. Peter C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), 232–234.
Deut 14:28–29; 26:12–15. See also de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 381.
Croteau, You Mean I Don't Have to Tithe?, 52–57. Croteau estimates the combined burden at approximately 23.3% of agricultural produce annually.
Craig L. Blomberg, Neither Poverty nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions, NSBT 7 (Downers Grove: IVP, 1999), 84–86.
Matt 23:23; Luke 11:42. See D. A. Carson, Matthew, EBC (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 480–481.
Blomberg, Neither Poverty nor Riches, 131–132. See also Heb 7:5, 12, 18 on the obsolescence of Levitical ordinances.
David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 407–410.
2 Cor 9:7. See Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 635–640.
2 Cor 8:1–5; 9:6–15. Cf. Ralph P. Martin, 2 Corinthians, WBC 40 (Waco: Word, 1986), 256–260.
Acts 2:44–45; 4:32–37. See Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 160–162.
F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, rev. ed., NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 160–167.
William L. Lane, Hebrews 1–8, WBC 47A (Dallas: Word, 1991), 165–172. Lane argues that the Melchizedek typology functions precisely to demonstrate the abrogation of the Levitical system, including its financial structures.
Lee I. Levine, The Ancient Synagogue: The First Thousand Years, 2nd ed. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 124–159.
Levine, Ancient Synagogue, 380–427. Levine's treatment of communal organization and financing demonstrates that synagogues were sustained through voluntary patronage and donations, not through any mandatory levy analogous to the temple tithe.
Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 586–590.
Levine, Ancient Synagogue, 135–148; Ferguson, Backgrounds, 587–589.
Stuart Murray, Beyond Tithing (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2000), 83–110.
Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 4.18.2. Cf. Justo L. González, Faith and Wealth: A History of Early Christian Ideas on the Origin, Significance, and Use of Money (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990), 108–112.
Murray, Beyond Tithing, 111–135. Murray documents the reintroduction of mandatory tithing under Charlemagne in 779 CE as a civil tax, not a recovery of apostolic practice.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, Library of Christian Classics (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1960), 4.20.14–16; cf. 2.7.16 on the abrogation of ceremonies.
Philip Schaff, ed., The Creeds of Christendom, 6th ed., 3 vols. (1931; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 3:492. Article VII, "Of the Old Testament."
Belgic Confession, Article 25, in Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions (Grand Rapids: CRC Publications, 1988), 95–96.
Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 111, in Ecumenical Creeds and Reformed Confessions, 57.
Calvin, Institutes, 2.7.16; 4.20.15. See also Ronald S. Wallace, Calvin's Doctrine of the Christian Life (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1959), 148–153.
John Calvin, The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians and the Epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, trans. T. A. Smail, Calvin's New Testament Commentaries 10 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 108–115.
Westminster Confession of Faith 19.3–4, in The Westminster Standards (Suwanee, GA: Great Commission Publications, 2007), 63–64.
Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 141, in The Westminster Standards, 193.
Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 142, in The Westminster Standards, 194.
Heinrich Bullinger, The Second Helvetic Confession (1566), Chapter 28, in Schaff, Creeds of Christendom, 3:304–306.
Martin Luther, On Trade and Usury (1524), in Luther's Works, American Edition, vol. 45, ed. Walther I. Brandt (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1962), 233–310.
Martin Luther, Lectures on Deuteronomy (1523–1524), in Luther's Works, American Edition, vol. 9, ed. Jaroslav Pelikan (St. Louis: Concordia, 1960), 141–148.
The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), 587–591 (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article VI).
Thomas R. Schreiner, 40 Questions About Christians and Biblical Law (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2010), 215–220.