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Untitled Article
what must be the c morale * of a community in which , through the apathy of our legislature , these things are yet endured . And n . ow allow me to say a few words on what has been profanely termed « the divine institution of tithes . ' It would be mere trifling to argue that there is no divine authority for supporting our existing establishment by tithes ; but I allude to the assertion a thousand times repeated , and never , that I have seen , contradicted , that the tithe system is copied from the institutions of Moses . I must take leave to deny the fact , and I cannot at the same time but express my astonishment that among the multitude of bible readers that everywhere abound , no one has yet come forward to do justice to the Jewish lawgiver . Do I deny that tithes are plainly recognised in the Old Testament ? by no means . But observe the important distinction;—tithes among the Jews were collected once only in three years , — the tithe of the third year ' s crop , and of that year alone , was allotted for the support of the Levites and of the poor ; the Levites being provided for in this manner , because to them no inheritance in the land was assigned . See Num . xviii . 20 . The Jewish tithes , therefore , embraced but the thirtieth part of the gross amount of the produce of the land , and very willing would our farmers be to adhere to the literal text of the bible , if our divines would abandon legal for scriptural authority .
As , however , the position I assume may be new to many of your readers , I will briefly refer to the evidence of the fact . Deut . xiv . 28 . — ' At the end of three years , thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase , the same year , and shalt lay it up within thy gates . 29 . —* And the Levite , because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee , and the stranger , and the fatherless , and the widow , which are within thy gates shall come and eat and be satisfied , that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest . '
Again . Deut . xxvi . 12 . — When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase , the third year , which is the year of tithing , and hast given it unto the Levite , the stranger , the fatherless , and the widow , that they may eat within thy gates and be filled . '
We may further remark that tithes among the Jews appear to have been a voluntary tax . We may look in vain in the books of Moses for any power given to the Levites to distrain and sell the goods of those who might be unable or unwilling to pay . When the Pharisee said , 1 pay tithe of mint , and anise , and cummin ,
and of all I possess , ' it is plain he would not have adduced this as any proof of merit if any power existed to enforce the payment . The distinction between a voluntary and a compulsory tax is of no small moment . Were tithes placed upon the Jewish footing in
Untitled Article
528 On Tithes .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1833, page 528, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2620/page/16/
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