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Objection 1: It would seem that men are not bound by precept to pay
tithes. The commandment to pay tithes is contained in the Old Law
(Lev. 27:30), "All tithes of the land, whether of corn or
of the fruits of trees, are the Lord's," and further on (Lev.
27:32): "Of all the tithes of oxen and sheep and goats, that
pass under the shepherd's rod, every tenth that cometh shall be
sanctified to the Lord." This cannot be reckoned among the moral
precepts, because natural reason does not dictate that one ought to
give a tenth part, rather than a ninth or eleventh. Therefore it is
either a judicial or a ceremonial precept. Now, as stated above
(FS, Question 103, Article 3; FS, Question 104,
Article 3), during the time of grace men are hound neither to the
ceremonial nor to the judicial precepts of the Old Law. Therefore
men are not bound now to pay tithes.
Objection 2: Further, during the time of grace men are bound only
to those things which were commanded by Christ through the Apostles,
according to Mt. 28:20, "Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you"; and Paul says (Acts
20:27): "I have not spared to declare unto you all the counsel
of God." Now neither in the teaching of Christ nor in that of the
apostles is there any mention of the paying of tithes: for the saying
of our Lord about tithes (Mt. 23:23), "These things you
ought to have done" seems to refer to the past time of legal
observance: thus Hilary says (Super Matth. can. xxiv): "The
tithing of herbs, which was useful in foreshadowing the future, was
not to be omitted." Therefore during the time of grace men are not
bound to pay tithes.
Objection 3: Further, during the time of grace, men are not more
bound to the legal observances than before the Law. But before the
Law tithes were given, by reason not of a precept but of a vow. For
we read (Gn. 28:20,22) that Jacob "made a vow" saying:
"If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way by which I
walk . . . of all the things that Thou shalt give to me, I will
offer tithes to Thee." Neither, therefore, during the time of
grace are men bound to pay tithes.
Objection 4: Further, in the Old Law men were bound to pay three
kinds of tithe. For it is written (Num. 18:23,24): "The
sons of Levi . . . shall . . . be content with the oblation of
tithes, which I have separated for their uses and necessities."
Again, there were other tithes of which we read (Dt.
14:22,23): "Every year thou shalt set aside the tithes of
all thy fruits, that the earth bringeth forth year by year; and thou
shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall
choose." And there were yet other tithes, of which it is written
(Dt. 14:28): "The third year thou shalt separate another
tithe of all things that grow to thee at that time, and shalt lay it up
within thy gates. And the Levite that hath no other part nor
possession with thee, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the
widow, that are within thy gates, shall . . . eat and be filled."
Now during the time of grace men are not bound to pay the second and
third tithes. Neither therefore are they bound to pay the first.
Objection 5: Further, a debt that is due without any time being
fixed for its payment, must be paid at once under pain of sin.
Accordingly if during the time of grace men are bound, under necessity
of precept, to pay tithes in those countries where tithes are not
paid, they would all be in a state of mortal sin, and so would also be
the ministers of the Church for dissembling. But this seems
unreasonable. Therefore during the time of grace men are not bound
under necessity of precept to pay tithes.
On the contrary, Augustine [Append. Serm. cclxxcii], whose
words are quoted 16, qu. i [Can. Decimae], says: "It is a
duty to pay tithes, and whoever refuses to pay them takes what belongs
to another."
I answer that, In the Old Law tithes were paid for the sustenance
of the ministers of God. Hence it is written (Malach. 3:10):
"Bring all the tithes into My store-house that there may be meat in
My house." Hence the precept about the paying of tithes was partly
moral and instilled in the natural reason; and partly judicial,
deriving its force from its divine institution. Because natural reason
dictates that the people should administer the necessaries of life to
those who minister the divine worship for the welfare of the whole
people even as it is the people's duty to provide a livelihood for
their rulers and soldiers and so forth. Hence the Apostle proves this
from human custom, saying (1 Cor. 9:7): "Who serveth as a
soldier at any time at his own charge? Who planteth a vineyard and
eateth not of the fruit thereof?" But the fixing of the proportion to
be offered to the ministers of divine worship does not belong to the
natural law, but was determined by divine institution, in accordance
with the condition of that people to whom the law was being given. For
they were divided into twelve tribes, and the twelfth tribe, namely
that of Levi, was engaged exclusively in the divine ministry and had
no possessions whence to derive a livelihood: and so it was becomingly
ordained that the remaining eleven tribes should give one-tenth part of
their revenues to the Levites [Num. 18:21] that the latter
might live respectably; and also because some, through negligence,
would disregard this precept. Hence, so far as the tenth part was
fixed, the precept was judicial, since all institutions established
among this people for the special purpose of preserving equality among
men, in accordance with this people's condition, are called
"judicial precepts." Nevertheless by way of consequence these
institutions foreshadowed something in the future, even as everything
else connected with them, according to 1 Cor. 12, "All these
things happened to them in figure." In this respect they had
something in common with the "ceremonial precepts," which were
instituted chiefly that they might be signs of the future. Hence the
precept about paying tithes foreshadowed something in the future. For
ten is, in a way, the perfect number (being the first numerical
limit, since the figures do not go beyond ten but begin over again from
one), and therefore he that gave a tenth, which is the sign of
perfection, reserving the nine other parts for himself, acknowledged
by a sign that imperfection was his part, and that the perfection which
was to come through Christ was to be hoped for from God. Yet this
proves it to be, not a ceremonial but a judicial precept, as stated
above.
There is this difference between the ceremonial and judicial precepts
of the Law, as we stated above (FS, Question 104, Article
3), that it is unlawful to observe the ceremonial precepts at the
time of the New Law, whereas there is no sin in keeping the judicial
precepts during the time of grace although they are not binding.
Indeed they are bound to be observed by some, if they be ordained by
the authority of those who have power to make laws. Thus it was a
judicial precept of the Old Law that he who stole a sheep should
restore four sheep (Ex. 22:1), and if any king were to order
this to be done his subjects would be bound to obey. In like manner
during the time of the New Law the authority of the Church has
established the payment of tithe; thus showing a certain kindliness,
lest the people of the New Law should give less to the ministers of
the New Testament than did the people of the Old Law to the
ministers of the Old Testament; for the people of the New Law are
under greater obligations, according to Mt. 5:20, "Unless your
justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven," and, moreover, the ministers
of the New Testament are of greater dignity than the ministers of the
Old Testament, as the Apostle shows (2 Cor. 3:7,8).
Accordingly it is evident that man's obligation to pay tithes arises
partly from natural law, partly from the institution of the Church;
who, nevertheless, in consideration of the requirements of time and
persons might ordain the payment of some other proportion.
This suffices for the Reply to the First Objection.
Reply to Objection 2: The precept about paying tithes, in so far
as it was a moral precept, was given in the Gospel by our Lord when
He said (Mt. 10:10): "The workman is worthy of his hire,"
and the Apostle says the same (1 Cor. 9:4 seqq.). But the
fixing of the particular proportion is left to the ordinance of the
Church.
Reply to Objection 3: Before the time of the Old Law the ministry
of the divine worship was not entrusted to any particular person;
although it is stated that the first-born were priests, and that they
received a double portion. For this very reason no particular portion
was directed to be given to the ministers of the divine worship: but
when they met with one, each man of his own accord gave him what he
deemed right. Thus Abraham by a kind of prophetic instinct gave
tithes to Melchisedech, the priest of the Most High God, according
to Gn. 14:20, and again Jacob made a vow to give tithes [Gn.
28:20], although he appears to have vowed to do so, not by
paying them to ministers, but for the purpose of the divine worship,
for instance for the fulfilling of sacrifices, hence he said
significantly: "I will offer tithes to Thee."
Reply to Objection 4: The second kind of tithe, which was reserved
for the offering of sacrifices, has no place in the New Law, since
the legal victims had ceased. But the third kind of tithe which they
had to eat with the poor, is increased in the New Law, for our Lord
commanded us to give to the poor not merely the tenth part, but all our
surplus, according to Lk. 11:41: "That which remaineth, give
alms." Moreover the tithes that are given to the ministers of the
Church should be dispensed by them for the use of the poor.
Reply to Objection 5: The ministers of the Church ought to be more
solicitous for the increase of spiritual goods in the people, than for
the amassing of temporal goods: and hence the Apostle was unwilling to
make use of the right given him by the Lord of receiving his livelihood
from those to whom he preached the Gospel, lest he should occasion a
hindrance to the Gospel of Christ [1 Cor. 9:12]. Nor did
they sin who did not contribute to his upkeep, else the Apostle would
not have omitted to reprove them. In like manner the ministers of the
Church rightly refrain from demanding the Church's tithes, when they
could not demand them without scandal, on account of their having
fallen into desuetude, or for some other reason. Nevertheless those
who do not give tithes in places where the Church does not demand them
are not in a state of damnation, unless they be obstinate, and
unwilling to pay even if tithes were demanded of them.
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