5. We cannot make an argument from silence

Tithing is never taught in the New Covenant; in fact after Jesus’ resurrection, even the figure of 10% is never mentioned again, except in the historical recounting of Abraham’s ‘tithe’. Some people are convinced that neither Paul nor anyone else in the early church ever taught on tithing because it was such an established practice that it never crossed their minds that the church would stop doing it.

But these people are making an unfounded ‘argument from silence.’ There are stronger indications that this silence is simply because tithing the Old Covenant way was no longer relevant to life in the New Covenant church. We could easily turn this argument around and say that the Apostle Paul never addressed the practice of tithing, because it never crossed his mind that the church might start relying on it for some of its blessings! Here are just four considerations.

The ministry of the Apostle Paul

The argument from silence might be a little more plausible if the apostle Paul had been ministering to fellow-Jews who already had the practice established in their lives; but he was the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 11:13). The bulk of his ministry was to Gentiles who were ignorant of Jewish law and custom (Gal 2:7-9). His letters were written to a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles; some were written to largely Gentile churches. Surely if this was to be a foundational practice in their lives, he would have had some opportunity to write about it. This is even more remarkable, given that it seems at times he did not have enough provision for himself personally and sometimes even supported himself financially. Yet instead of promoting tithing, he exhorted his churches to give only as much as they felt happy to give in their hearts – no more, no less (2 Cor 9:7).

The decisions of the Jerusalem Council

This lack of emphasis on tithing in the early church is also demonstrated strikingly by the records of the Jerusalem Council (Acts ch 15). Here, the largely Jewish apostles and leaders had to discuss whether or not the Gentile Christians were also required to follow Jewish law and customs. The result was a resounding no! It is noticeable that there is no mention of tithing here at all – the Gentiles were only required to follow four fairly simple guidelines (v 28-29). There is no mention of tithing, Sabbath keeping or circumcision – all very important practices under the Old Covenant. Undoubtedly, if the New Testament Christians were required to tithe, it would have also been listed here.

Qualities for early Church leadership

There are several lists of qualities of an elder, or a leader, in the early church (1 Tim 3:1-13, Titus 1:6-9, 2 Pet 5:2-3). Some are quite detailed, but once again tithing is conspicuous by its absence (in spite of the fact that the leaders referred to here were from largely Gentile, even pagan, areas). The focus is on the leaders’ attitude towards money – that they are not to be lovers of money (1 Pet 5:2, 1 Tim 3:3) – rather than any specific amounts given. Those who insist today that leaders or other church members must be tithers are adding requirements that are simply not there in the New Testament.

The teaching and examples on how to receive from God

There are a multitude of Scriptures showing that we receive what we ask solely according to our faith in Jesus Christ¹. In none of these Scriptures, is there any hint of our receiving also being dependent on our prior giving or our tithing. If this really was a truth, it should be clearly stated somewhere; instead, this idea is completely missing. Of the many miracles (of both healing and material/financial provision, experienced by both Jew and Gentile) recorded in the Gospels and Acts, there are many examples of Jesus or his disciples asking or observing whether the recipient had faith to receive, but they never once asked about, nor instructed them to tithe or give. It appears that neither Jesus nor his disciples considered a person’s tithing to be a condition for receiving from God.

• The ‘argument from silence’ seems to point away from tithing rather than towards it. The argument from silence is no argument: we simply cannot make an argument for tithing from silence.