本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The following Bible scholars do not teach tithing. F. F. Bruce, Lewis Sperry Chafer, James Darby, Alfred Edersheim, Walter Elwell, C. H. Lenski, John MacArthur, J. Vernon McGee, Bruce Metzger, Dwight L. Moody, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, C. I. Scofield, Charles Swindoll, Merrill Unger, Spiros Zodhiates, There are some big names in the field of theology. But in addition,
Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of the Bible [p207], Walter A. Elwell, ed., (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996), s.v. "tithe." "Paul's vocabulary and teaching suggest that giving is voluntary and that there is not set percentage. Following the example of Christ who gave even his life (2 Cor. 8:9), we should cheerfully give as much as we have decided (2 Cor. 9:7) based on how much the Lord has prospered us (1 Cor. 16:2), knowing that we reap in proportion to what we sow (2 Cor. 9:6) and that we will ultimately give account for our deeds (Rom. 14:12).
Believer’s Bible Commentary, the editor William MacDonald. Malachi 3:8-10, The NT teaches believers to give systematically, liberally, cheerfully, and as the Lord has prospered them, that is, proportionately. But no mention is made of tithing…
Encyclopedia Americana [p6, 259]; “tithe” “It (tithing) was not practiced in the early Christian church but gradually became common (in the Roman Catholic church in western Europe) by the 6th Century. The Council of Tours in 567 and the 2nd Council of Macon in 585 advocated tithing. Made obligatory by civil law in the Carolingian empire in 765 and in England in the 10th Century… The Reformation did not abolish tithing and the practice was continued in the Roman Catholic church and in Protestant countries (until it was) gradually replaced by other forms of taxation. The Roman Catholic church still prescribes tithes in countries where they are sanctioned by law, and some Protestant bodies consider tithes obligatory.”
The Encyclopedia Britannica (s.v. “tithing”): The Christian Church depended at first on voluntary gifts from its members.
Luther. Martin (Sermon; August 27, 1525): “But the other commandments of Moses, which are not [implanted in all men] by nature, the Gentiles do not hold. Nor do these pertain to the Gentiles, such as the tithe…”
Unger’s Bible Dictionary [p12, 18, 119, 135, 144], Merrill Unger, Moody Press “Tithe”: “The tenth of all produce, flocks, and cattle was declared to be sacred to Jehovah by way, so to speak, of rent to Him who was, strictly speaking, the Owner of the land, and in return for the produce of the ground… Although the law did not specify the various fruits of the field and of the trees that were to be tithed, the Mishnah (Maaseroth 1.1) includes everything eatable, everything that was stored up or that grew out of the earth…” (italics mine). 12-11
Wesley, John, Explanatory Notes (s.v. “1 Cor 16:2) According to this lowest rule of Christian prudence, if a man when he has or gains one pound give a tenth to God, when he has or gains an hundred he will give the tenth of this also. And yet I show unto you a more excellent way. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Stint yourself to no proportion at all. But lend to God all you can. “On the Use of Money” from a sermon preached in 1744): Give all you can; or in other words, give all you have to God. Do not stint yourself, like a Jew rather than a Christian, to this or that proportion. Render unto God not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God’s (be it more or less) by employing all on yourself, your household, the household of faith and all mankind, in such a manner that you may give a good account of your stewardship when ye can be no longer stewards…
Justin Martyr [p252] (150 AD) “And the wealthy among us help the needy… When our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgiving, according to this ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and they strangers sojourning among us” (First Apology, chap 67). Also compare Dialogue with Trypho, chapters 17, 19, 33, 112.
Irenaeus [p254] (150-200 AD). Did not teach tithing. Against Heresies, book 4, chap. 13, para. 3 and chap. 18.
Tertullian [p242] [Church Father] (150-220 AD), 304. Did not teaching tithing. (Marcion, book 4 chap. 27) (Marcion, book 5, chap. 9) [Apology xxxix “Every man brings some modest coin once a month or whenever he wishes, and only if he is willing and able; it is a freewill offering. You might call them the trust-funds of piety; they are spent… on the support and burial of the poor.” [The following more compete quote is not in the book.]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 3 page 46, quotation of Apology, chapter 39. “The tried men of our elders preside over us, obtaining that honor, not by purchase, but by established character. There is no buying or selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made-up of purchase money, as of a religion that has its price. On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; buy only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety’s deposit fund.’ For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God’s church, they become the nurslings of their confession.”更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net