On Tithing

[WANDERER]

23 Behold, now it is called today until the coming of the Son of Man, and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming. (D&C 64:23)

What does this mean to you?

[VisionOfLehi]

19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

[skalenfehl]

Tithing is an important law of sacrifice that goes back as far as the beginning of the Old Testament. Malachi, a prophet of the OT rebuked the Israelites in Malachi 3:7 for they did not pay their tithing to the Lord, therefore "robbing God".

Today we pay ten percent of our income for the building up of the Lord's kingdom. Everything in life that we have, even our very lives, is a gift from God. All he asks of us (or commands) is to return a small portion of that to build up His church, which really is for the sake of man's salvation (see Moses 1:39).

My two cents.

[WANDERER]

But like, you'll be burned for not tithing? No telestial heaven thingy?

[skalenfehl]

I guess I really don't know how else to interpret that scripture. I don't want to test it, if you know what I mean?

[VisionOfLehi]

I believe it's fire as in this sense:

• Mosiah 2: 38

  38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

[skalenfehl]

I believe it's fire as in this sense:

• Mosiah 2: 38

  38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.

Yeah, that sounds about right, too.

[WANDERER]

Gordon B. Hinckley

Some years ago one of our brethren spoke of the payment of tithing as “fire insurance.” That statement evoked laughter. Nonetheless, the word of the Lord is clear that those who do not keep the commandments and observe the laws of God shall be burned at the time of his coming. For that shall be a day of judgment and a day of sifting, a day of separating the good from the evil. I would venture a personal opinion that no event has occurred in all the history of the earth as dreadful as will be the day of the Second Coming—no event as fraught with the destructive forces of nature, as consequential for the nations of the earth, as terrible for the wicked, or as wonderful for the righteous. (Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 576.)

Sounds like a real fire, not a metaphorical one. Marshmellow?

[Elgama]

not paying tithes and offerings to God is serious you are stealing from him. Was it in the New Testament a couple were struck dead for not paying their offerings? I'll look it up but maybe someone else knows the story.

-Charley

[Iggy]

not paying tithes and offerings to God is serious you are stealing from him. Was it in the New Testament a couple were struck dead for not paying their offerings? I'll look it up but maybe someone else knows the story.

-Charley

They were struck dead for not telling the truth about it. They did not pay a FULL tithe and then they lied about it.

[pam]

Paying tithing was always considered to be fire insurance.

[WANDERER]

Tithing's not the real question here. The thing is I wasn't sure that the whole fiery burning hell thingy damnation existed in terms of LDS beliefs...an outer darkness I think I've heard of...just wondering how it all fits in together?

[skalenfehl]

Hell has always been metaphorical. There are no literal flames, but living in hell has been described in the scriptures as "unquenchable fire", meaning the sheer regret of what we will throw away for eternity if we don't do what God commands. Outer darkness has no glory. It is a place all its own specially prepared for Satan and that one third of the hosts of heaven who rejected the plan of salvation and for those like Cain who rejected God's glory.

As for the Telestial, Terestrial and Celestial, they are all degrees of glory, but even then, only progress can be made through exaltation. Hence anything other than exaltation, is in a sense an unquenchable fire.

If I may make a silly analogy, think of the V8 commercial where you bop yourself on the head for not having a V8 and magnify that infinitely.

Edit: But to return to the fire insurance thing, when Christ returns, the Earth will burn as a fiery furnace. That part is literal.

[Heavenguard]

Is 'pay' the usuasl word used in the context of tithing? I just usually hear it as 'give' rather than 'pay'.

(Random question?)

[skalenfehl]

In the biblical times, people would give one tenth of their income in flocks and grains, etc. Even the pioneers, I believe, would pay this way and the church storehouses would be filled this way for the benefit of the membership.

Today, we really aren't an agricultural society as much so we give in the form of our income, which is money, so we tend to say 'pay' instead. Just my two cents.

[Flyonthewall]

Tithing's not the real question here. The thing is I wasn't sure that the whole fiery burning hell thingy damnation existed in terms of LDS beliefs...an outer darkness I think I've heard of...just wondering how it all fits in together?

I have heard it described as: if you end up in less than the Celestial Kingdom, it will still be a kingdom of glory, but it will be "hell" getting there. Meaning there will be things that you wil not be able to use the atonement of Christ for(unrepented sins) and you will pay the price yourself(go through hell).

[Elgama]

They were struck dead for not telling the truth about it. They did not pay a FULL tithe and then they lied about it.

thanks Iggy - I just remembered they hadn't paid their tithing.

-Charley

[VisionOfLehi]

I have heard it described as: if you end up in less than the Celestial Kingdom, it will still be a kingdom of glory, but it will be "hell" getting there. Meaning there will be things that you wil not be able to use the atonement of Christ for(unrepented sins) and you will pay the price yourself(go through hell).

I've also heard that the "eternal" and "everlasting" punishment described does not actually go on for all Eternity, but it is used to describe the punishment given by the Eternal and Everlasting. And thus, it is finite.

In fact, that's in D&C 19.

Doctrine and Covenants 19

[WANDERER]

Thanks guys...lucked out on a thread "The Problem of Hell" on the Mormon Apologetics Discussion Board. Google was nice for a change. Lehi, you just provided the missing piece of the puzzle in the discussion that I was following. Correction, trying to follow : ) Thanks for the link.