Tithing is a topic on which Christians in general seem badly informed, so this excellent book is a welcome attempt to set the matter in biblical and historical context. Indeed, ‘Beyond Tithing' is by far the most thorough study on tithing that I have seen, and is probably the most thorough in print.
Deconstructing false arguments
In particular, the book goes a long way in countering the erroneous view that tithing should be considered as part of the new Covenant and hence effectively obligatory for believers. The author is a strong advocate that teaching Christians about tithing is useful but teaching Christians to tithe shows a poor grasp of scripture and can lead to many unnecessary complications and problems.
In this book, Murray tackles every aspect of tithing in Old Testament times and shows that it was a far more complicated issue than is usually recognised. Moreover, across both Testaments, the author has a very clear minded approach to what the Scriptures say and what they don’t say. His exegetical skills enable him to deconstruct the false arguments that many people have made in an attempt to force tithing upon communities of Christian believers.
Murray does in fairness also evaluate the pros of tithing but he believes this is usually promoted through dubious means and for wrong motives, especially if the aim is simply to support church staff, premises and programmes.
Is tithing Christian?
As well as providing us with a clear exposition of all the appropriate biblical texts, the author supplies the results of his considerable research into tithing throughout Christian history. This makes fascinating reading, and makes the book an even more indispensable resource, especially as Murray continues to write in a way that is easily accessible to the general reader.
The better question is ‘Is tithing Christian?’, which necessitates a different response.
Overall the question is not ‘Is tithing biblical?’, where the answer is obviously ‘Yes’ in the sense that there is repeated mention of the practice in the Bible. Rather, the better question is ‘Is tithing Christian?’, which necessitates a different response.
As Murray correctly points out, tithing as found in the Word of God belongs to a different covenant to ours and was created for a different economic and social framework, as part of a complex system involving other aspects such as Jubilee and Sabbaths. For the Christian believer, tithing simply isn’t radical enough in the light of God’s gracious gift of eternal life to us.
Beyond the simplistic
As the title of the book suggests, the aim is to take us beyond the simplistic approach to giving that tithing seems to offer, but which in effect denies the full grace and power of Christian giving. There is a section on alternatives to tithing, which is a key part of the study – although perhaps this section is a little thin and doesn’t quite provide enough on how Christians are to use their money in response to God’s gracious gift to them. For this, we must look elsewhere.
For the Christian believer, tithing simply isn’t radical enough in the light of God’s gracious gift of eternal life to us.
Overall, however, this is a decidedly thorough and potentially transformative study, which I highly commend. If its main thesis is taken on board it can only benefit individual believers as well as Christian communities as they wrestle with the larger problem of money and giving.
‘Beyond Tithing’ (245pp) is published by Paternoster and used copies are available from ABE Books, or Amazon.
