Did you tithe 10% ? What was the WT teaching on this subject?

by NotaNess 7 Replies latest jw friends

  • NotaNess
  • Crumpet
    Crumpet

    Tithing is not a dub concept - at least its not taught.

    I was recently given a tithe of a lovely woman's monthly income because she felt I had dramatically helped her life. In turn I tithed some of this back to someone who needed it on the board. I think its a great thing and any form of paying forward a blessing you receive is a kind and good thing to do.

  • gaiagirl
    gaiagirl

    I didn't keep track, but certainly didn't tithe. My thoughts were that, since I "contributed" for the magaizines in an amount which I felt was a tidy profit for the WTBTS, I didn't need to make much in the way of other contributions. I'm sure that I never even accumulated $100 in non-magazine contributions, probably (hopefully) much less than that.

  • blondie
    blondie

    Tithing has never been a JW teaching. Russell believed in anonymous voluntary donations or it meant God was not blessing them. I do believe the Mormons (LDS) and some Baptist and Pentecostal (and others) tithe. This is despite the fact that the WTS imposes OT concepts on their members in other ways.

    So far this is one teaching that has stayed the same. Of course, JWs write checks, etc., get tax forms for the IRS that reveals what they have given to some JWs who might have loose lips.

  • Nathan Natas
    Nathan Natas

    Herbert W. Armstrong, (dead former) head of the World Wide Church of God and publisher of PLAIN TRUTH magazine, used to impose a DOUBLE TITHE (20%) on his flock. Talk about getting fleeced!

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    They don't directly teach the tithe. What they do teach is that you should give 100% of your time, money, and energy to spread the Word. You belong to God, and why settle for a measly 10%? You are generally allowed just enough time, energy, and money for survival. After that, you are "stealing the Word of God" if you do not give the "surplus" after the bare necessities are met barely.

  • fullofdoubtnow
    fullofdoubtnow

    We were never asked for a tithe, just as much as we could afford. Having said that, it was never enough to hear them talk, they were always asking for more.

  • sir82
    sir82

    I fully expect, at some point in some "15th of the month" Watchtower in 2008 (the one to be printed just for JWs, containing the study articles, the one "not for distribution to the public"), a 2-part article on the tithe.

    Per their usual format, Part 1 will be a consideration of the "joyous giving" that the Israelites had because of the tithe, how it brough "glory to Jehovah" and all the usual claptrap.

    Part 2 will be the "modern day application". Somewhere about 3/4 of the way through the article (where they always place the main idea they want to put across) there will be a statement along the lines of ""while Jehovah does not require a tithe of his modern-day servants, cetainly that would be a commendable goal for us today. Surely Jehovah would bless such a generous spirit in our time, just as he did in ancient Israel!"

    The evidence (paperback Bibles, no subscriptions, reducing Awake to once a month, reducing "for the public" Watchtowers to once a month, etc.) indicates that contributions continue to shrivel. There are still buildings to sell in Brooklyn, but there certainly isn't an indefintie supply of those. And as word spreads that the Society is willing to settle child abuse lawsuits with multiple millions of dollars, the cash drain will only accelerate.

    They'll never put in a tithing requirement, as the Mormons have, but I expect it to be promoted as a "goal to strive for" as the years go on.

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