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The Covenantal Tithe
Within the church today, few practices have been abandoned with such disregard as mandatory tithing.
While the church global effectively wrote off tithing decades ago, seminary professors are now calling it heresy, saying that teaching the mandatory tithe is tantamount to embracing "another gospel."
But why?
Did the tithe really become obsolete with the coming of Christ, or do Christians still owe 10% of their income to the church?
Not only are several different tithes taught and mentioned in Scripture, but according to Gary North, tithing carries more significance than contemporary theologians are willing to admit—covenantal significance representing submission to our High Priest, Jesus Christ.
Back with his second book on this timely subject, Gary North clearly demonstrates how the priestly authority of the risen Christ and the Father's everlasting covenant with his elect are bound together in the continuing validity of the tithe as first found in Genesis 14.
With an eye for the covenantal function and present-day application of Old Testament law, Dr. North draws from his broad scriptural expertise to break down the anatomy of the biblical tithe and defend its the abiding validity in the New Covenant while rebutting the claims of contemporary theologians.
While the church global effectively wrote off tithing decades ago, seminary professors are now calling it heresy, saying that teaching the mandatory tithe is tantamount to embracing "another gospel."
But why?
Did the tithe really become obsolete with the coming of Christ, or do Christians still owe 10% of their income to the church?
Not only are several different tithes taught and mentioned in Scripture, but according to Gary North, tithing carries more significance than contemporary theologians are willing to admit—covenantal significance representing submission to our High Priest, Jesus Christ.
Back with his second book on this timely subject, Gary North clearly demonstrates how the priestly authority of the risen Christ and the Father's everlasting covenant with his elect are bound together in the continuing validity of the tithe as first found in Genesis 14.
With an eye for the covenantal function and present-day application of Old Testament law, Dr. North draws from his broad scriptural expertise to break down the anatomy of the biblical tithe and defend its the abiding validity in the New Covenant while rebutting the claims of contemporary theologians.
- GenresTheology
159 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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18 people want to read
About the author
Gary North
173 books96 followersGary North received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside. He served on the Senior Staff of the Foundation for Economic Education, in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, and was the president of the Institute for Christian Economics. Dr. North’s essays and reviews have appeared in three dozen magazines and journals, including The Wall Street Journal, National Review, The American Spectator, and others.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 10, 2012
Read this book quickly over the weekend. Gary North is economically brilliant, as usual.
He bases his entire argument for the continuation of the tithe in the New Covenant era based on the nature of the covenant. He introduces Ray Sutton's five point approach to the covenant: 1) God is transcendant, 2) God establishes a hierarchy, 3) God establishes an ethical code, 4) God establishes positive and negative sanctions for ethical (dis)obedience, and 5) God establishes a system of inheritance/continuation of the covenant.
He presents the argument through Melchizedek, Jacob, the Levites, and the Church. Each argument is persuasive in itself, although I felt the Melchizedekian argument was strongest. From the perspective of the Levites and Mosaic tithe, he goes off on an explanation of the three OT tithes and the appropriateness to the argument. It gets a little muddled there, but an appendix helps to clarify what his point is.
This is a good read for any pastor, or a layman seeking to understand the tithe better.
He bases his entire argument for the continuation of the tithe in the New Covenant era based on the nature of the covenant. He introduces Ray Sutton's five point approach to the covenant: 1) God is transcendant, 2) God establishes a hierarchy, 3) God establishes an ethical code, 4) God establishes positive and negative sanctions for ethical (dis)obedience, and 5) God establishes a system of inheritance/continuation of the covenant.
He presents the argument through Melchizedek, Jacob, the Levites, and the Church. Each argument is persuasive in itself, although I felt the Melchizedekian argument was strongest. From the perspective of the Levites and Mosaic tithe, he goes off on an explanation of the three OT tithes and the appropriateness to the argument. It gets a little muddled there, but an appendix helps to clarify what his point is.
This is a good read for any pastor, or a layman seeking to understand the tithe better.
Displaying 1 of 1 review