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Objection 1: It would seem that men are not bound to pay
first-fruits. After giving the law of the first-born the text
continues (Ex. 13:9): "It shall be as a sign in thy hand,"
so that, apparently, it is a ceremonial precept. But ceremonial
precepts are not to be observed in the New Law. Neither therefore
ought first-fruits to be paid.
Objection 2: Further, first-fruits were offered to the Lord for a
special favor conferred on that people, wherefore it is written (Dt.
26:2,3): "Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits . . .
and thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to
him: I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come
into the land, for which He swore to our fathers, that He would give
it us." Therefore other nations are not bound to pay first-fruits.
Objection 3: That which one is bound to do should be something
definite. But neither in the New Law nor in the Old do we find
mention of a definite amount of first-fruits. Therefore one is not
bound of necessity to pay them.
On the contrary, It is laid down (16, qu. vii, can.
Decimas): "We confirm the right of priests to tithes and
first-fruits, and everybody must pay them."
I answer that, First-fruits are a kind of oblation, because they
are offered to God with a certain profession (Dt. 26); where the
same passage continues: "The priest taking the basket containing the
first-fruits from the hand of him that bringeth the first-fruits,
shall set it before the altar of the Lord thy God," and further on
(Dt. 26:10) he is commanded to say: "Therefore now I offer
the first-fruits of the land, which the Lord hath given me." Now
the first-fruits were offered for a special reason, namely, in
recognition of the divine favor, as though man acknowledged that he had
received the fruits of the earth from God, and that he ought to offer
something to God in return, according to 1 Paral 29:14, "We
have given Thee what we received of Thy hand." And since what we
offer God ought to be something special, hence it is that man was
commanded to offer God his first-fruits, as being a special part of
the fruits of the earth: and since a priest is "ordained for the
people "in the things that appertain to God" (Heb. 5:1), the
first-fruits offered by the people were granted to the priest's
use." Wherefore it is written (Num. 18:8): "The Lord said
to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the charge of My
first-fruits." Now it is a point of natural law that man should make
an offering in God's honor out of the things he has received from
God, but that the offering should be made to any particular person,
or out of his first-fruits, or in such or such a quantity, was indeed
determined in the Old Law by divine command; but in the New Law it
is fixed by the declaration of the Church, in virtue of which men are
bound to pay first-fruits according to the custom of their country and
the needs of the Church's ministers.
Reply to Objection 1: The ceremonial observances were properly
speaking signs of the future, and consequently they ceased when the
foreshadowed truth was actually present. But the offering of
first-fruits was for a sign of a past favor, whence arises the duty of
acknowledgment in accordance with the dictate of natural reason. Hence
taken in a general sense this obligation remains.
Reply to Objection 2: First-fruits were offered in the Old Law,
not only on account of the favor of the promised land given by God,
but also on account of the favor of the fruits of the earth, which were
given by God. Hence it is written (Dt. 26:10): "I offer
the first-fruits of the land which the Lord hath given me," which
second motive is common among all people. We may also reply that just
as God granted the land of promise to the Jews by a special favor, so
by a general favor He bestowed the lordship of the earth on the whole
of mankind, according to Ps. 113:24, "The earth He has
given to the children of men."
Reply to Objection 3: As Jerome says [Comment. in Ezech.
45:13,14; cf. Cap. Decimam, de Decim. Primit. et
Oblat.]: "According to the tradition of the ancients the custom
arose for those who had most to give the priests a fortieth part, and
those who had least, one sixtieth, in lieu of first-fruits." Hence
it would seem that first-fruits should vary between these limits
according to the custom of one's country. And it was reasonable that
the amount of first-fruits should not be fixed by law, since, as
stated above, first-fruits are offered by way of oblation, a
condition of which is that it should be voluntary.
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