Tithing

• D&C 64:23

"He that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming."

Hence tithing has become known colloquially as "Fire Insurance."

• D&C 119:1-5

1) Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion,

2) For the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church.

3) And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.

4) And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

5) Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.

• Leviticus 27:30-33
• 30) And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.
• 31) And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.
• 32) And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.
• 33) He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

• Deuteronomy 14:22-29
• 22) Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
• 23) And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.
• 24) And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord thy God hath blessed thee:
• 25) Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose:
• 26) And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,
• 27) And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee.
• 28) At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
• 29) And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.

• Matthew 23:23

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."

• Elwin C. Robison, "The Orange Car", Ensign, June 2007

A story about how the Lord will bless us for paying our tithing.

• Charlotte Arnold, “Groceries or Tithing?,” Ensign, Oct. 2006, 65–66

How the advice of a home teacher helped a family to muster the faith to pay tithing during hard times and realize great blessings.

• Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, "Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith", p. 68

On the 29th of November 1833, Joseph Smith an Oliver Cowdery offered to start paying a tithe if the Lord would bless them to be able to repay their debts.

• First Presidency letter, 19 Mar. 1970

Cited in "Lesson 17: The Law of Tithing and the Law of the Fast," Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, 93

"The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay 'one-tenth of all their interest annually,' which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this"

Notes

Three words are commonly used to describe the amount to be tithed; interest, income, and increase.

Often these words are translations and the context in which the instruction was given has local cultural understanding that may be clearer to the hearer than it is to us now. At this time, the commandment does not seem clear at all, and the First Presidency letter dated, 19 March 1970, does not clarify the point at all, and appears to assert that there is no intention for the point to be clarified.

Commonly the discussion over what ought to be tithed comes down to net v. gross. To be more specific, one philosophy asserts that tithing ought to be paid after taxes on one's net income, and another asserts that tithing ought to be paid before taxes on one's gross income. In some ways this feels like the difference between the modern understanding of "income" and how people at the time of Joseph Smith would have understood "interest". ("Interest" being one's part, or share, of some profit or investment.) Taxes, then would be the government's interest, and the remainder might be considers our interest. Nevertheless, even considering the word "income", I have pointed out to people that taxes are usually pulled out by our employers before the money ever hits out bank accounts, and hence, since it never came in, it cannot possibly be income. (One can see that I have always favored the net income interpretation over the gross income interpretation.) I have also reasoned that if the tax rate is ever higher than 90%, (as it was for some top earners in the United States between 1944 and 1963) then one could be paying more in taxes and tithing combined than the amount of money there is to be divided between the two.

Following on the idea of the last point, I have tended to think of tithing as being levied on my "increase". The philosophy here is that, if I am worth $50,000 today, and my worth increases to $53,000 over the course of a year, then I owe tithing on the $3,000; a flat profit minus expenses. Now, I don't calculate it exactly like that. Really, nobody can, it is too complex. Net income is a good approximation of this idea. But, one could easily also look at one's mortgage and say that the principal is tithed because it increases one's ownership of the house, but the interest and escrow are not tithable, because it does not increase one's ownership of the house. Philisophically, there are aspects of "value" that are hard to quantify, and, of course, the dollar is an unstable measure of value. My children, of course, are my increase. I can tithe what I feed them and I can tithe the value of other goods I accumulate to care for them. But, if one dies, would I suddenly start deducting for a loss? (The book of Job suggests that I would not. Death is not accounted as a loss in Job.) Divorce also gets potentially hairy.

If anything is clear, it is that paying tithing perfectly is not possible, nor is it the point. The point is not to be thinking about what we owe, but rather, to think about how to properly thank God for the growth he has blessed us with. Much like humility is not humility if we either overestimate or underestimate our own self-worth, gratitude is not proper gratitude when we either over or under-estimate the value of God's blessings. Overvaluing the blessing can amount to ingratitude inasmuch as we refuse to receive a portion (or, in the extreme case, all) of what God would have us keep. Undervaluing the blessing amounts to ingratitude as we fail to demonstrate recognition for the blessing received.

Cross-References

• Commandments
• Consecration
• Gratitude
• Sacrifice