Why is tithing 10%?

[moonman239]

Why not 8% or 20%?

My belief is that perhaps 10% is kind of a happy medium. The Lord doesn't want us to pay too little, which would force the Church to rely on loans or other sources of income. Yet, He knows that some of us can't afford to pay more than that. 

[Vort]

11 minutes ago, moonman239 said:

Why not 8% or 20%?

Because then it wouldn't be called "tithing".

[Guest]

That wasn't a flip answer, by the way. Tithing is, by definition, an offering of a tenth of something. 

 

noun

1.

Sometimes, tithes. the tenth part of agricultural produce or personalincome set apart as an offering to God or for works of mercy, or thesame amount regarded as an obligation or tax for the support of thechurch, priesthood, or the like.

2.

any tax, levy, or the like, especially of one-tenth.

3.

a tenth part or any indefinitely small part of anything.

verb (used with object), tithed, tithing.

4.

to give or pay a tithe or tenth of (produce, money, etc.).

5.

to give or pay tithes on (crops, income, etc.).

6.

to exact a tithe from (a person, community, parish, etc.).

7.

to levy a tithe on (crops, income, etc.).

verb (used without object), tithed, tithing.

8.

to give or pay a tithe.

[NeuroTypical]

Tithing is one tenth by the power of the dictionary definition of 'tithe'.  

If you can/want to give more, fast offerings is the place to do it.  (Or humanitarian aid - kind of an important thing with the worldwide refugee crisis.  Or the Perpetual Education Fund.)  

Edited April 18, 2016 by NeuroTypical

[zil]

To answer the question more directly: we don't know.  At least, I don't recall any scripture wherein the Lord says, "This is why I want 10% instead of some other percentage."

[Blackmarch]

12 hours ago, moonman239 said:

Why not 8% or 20%?

My belief is that perhaps 10% is kind of a happy medium. The Lord doesn't want us to pay too little, which would force the Church to rely on loans or other sources of income. Yet, He knows that some of us can't afford to pay more than that. 

No idea. He doesn't say why just 10% rather than something else.

Were I to guess, it's an easy number to deal with, and its a small one.

[Guest]

I'm guessing that the math worked out best with that number.  And it is simple math for anyone to do.

[zil]

32 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I'm guessing that the math worked out best with that number.  And it is simple math for anyone to do.

What, you don't want to deal with rounding and binary-to-decimal conversion when dealing with 7%?

[Guest]

Remember, there are 10 kinds of people in this world:  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

[The Folk Prophet]

2 hours ago, zil said:

To answer the question more directly: we don't know.  At least, I don't recall any scripture wherein the Lord says, "This is why I want 10% instead of some other percentage."

The Lord wants well more than 10%, just to be clear. The 10% is merely the standing commandment that we donate to the fund dedicated for the Lord's purposes for that fund...but we are obligated to donate much, much more that that to Him. Of course He would have us use those donations to sustain ourselves, our families, etc., but also to do a great many things that we're probably not doing in many cases.

[Vort]

To build on TFP's observation:

We have been given a stewardship, and we have been told to tithe our increase on a yearly basis. But most of us have gone well beyond that, and have already freely pledged ourselves -- both our possessions and our very lives, including our time -- to the Lord's kingdom. Tithing is an opportunity to make good on that promise in an explicit way, but everything we do should be our gift to God. And we should be willing to walk away from our stuff, freely and without hesitation, if such is required of us, or even just requested of us by someone with authority to make the request. This is the law of sacrifice.

[Edspringer]

Tithing is a gospel law given since the old times, therefore a commandment of God. 

Why is it 10%? Maybe because the Lord wants us to star from the bottom and see how faithful we are before asking us to consacrate everything. Tithing is not a matter of money, but of faith. The Lord has already been asking us to give part of our week (sabbath day) our day (prayer and scripture study). As the Savior stated that the Sabbath was made for men and not the opposite, I believe tithing and offerings were made for the same reasons.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Vort said:

-- both our possessions and our very lives, including our time --

You're dating yourself.

[Vort]

18 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

You're dating yourself.

I'm a great kisser.

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, Vort said:

I'm a great kisser.

But are you a good dancer?

[Vort]

16 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

But are you a good dancer?

No, but I pick good movies.

[NeedleinA]

I used to enjoy the fact on my Spanish speaking mission that tithing was called "diezmo". The number 10 is "diez", so explaining 10% was easy as pie