by neverendingjourney 48 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
At the risk of being shouted down, I thought I'd point out that "tithing" means giving 10 percent of your income to a church. It comes from the Old English word teogotha meaning tenth. I've seen nothing that establishes tithing in the Watchtower.
While I'm all in favor of pointing out the Watchtower's lies, hypocrisies and faults, the language we use matters. If you claim they've established tithing and they've done nothing of the sort, you instantly lose credibility.
^^^ Thank you for asking what I was wondering too ^^^
very true!
i would suggest we should come up with a new name for this new arrangement. I will start a post!
I think most people here understand & know it's not an actual tithe. It's just it's so against everything the Watchtower use to stand for,and all the downing they did of churches, that it's easy to call this new arrangement a tithe.
Language is a funny thing. My understanding is that strictly, it means a "tenth."
But there is also allowance in common vernacular AND within the official dictionary definition for it to simply mean a small part. See: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tithe
1.Sometimes, tithes. the tenth part of agricultural produce orpersonal income set apart as an offering to God or for works ofmercy, or the same amount regarded as an obligation or tax forthe support of the church, priesthood, or the like. 2. any tax, levy, or the like, especially of one-tenth.
So one can practice "tithing" as a reference to a systematic portion given to "God" without it necessarily being exactly 1/10th of a given whole. To me, to "tithe" refers more to the arrangement of it all since the amount is all relative anyway.
They're trying to justify their own disobedience to Jehovah by making up lies against JW's.
It's not going to work, as they will soon find out.
NEJ, you are of course techinically correct that "tithing" implies giving a tenth of ones income on a regular basis.
In my experience here in the US, people often use the term to describe any amount of money which is demanded/expected on a regular basis by a church or other religious group, regardless of the exact amount or portion of an individuals income.
People are often less than precise with their language. Depending on the context, I tend to insist on precision in speaking and writing. But I also know that the WTBTS has a long history of playing word games in dishonest and weasely ways.
For example, there was a recent change regarding the "belief" of what happens when an anointed one dies and goes to heaven. While the GB did not explicitly refer to this "New Light" as the Rapture, it is for all intents-and-purposes what JWs now believe.
And so, while the New Donation Arrangement is not technically "tithing," the only thing missing is that they haven't demanded a precise percentage of the sheep's income.
There's a rumor in the wind that the WT leaders will soon direct the elders to inspect the publishers tax returns. This may or may not happen. But let's just imagine for a moment that the GB orders all JWs to contribute 9% of their income each month. That's not 10% so it's technically not tithing.
But what would you call that?
Also interesting: Wikipedia's "tithe" section, under subsection "Christianity" it mentions:
Many Christians support their churches and pastors with monetary contributions of one sort or another. Frequently these monetary contributions are called tithes whether or not they actually represent ten percent of anything.
I guess my question is, what specifically did the WT condemn about "tithing"? I am not read up on that. Did they specifically condemn the 10% part? Or the arrangement of consistent expected amounts? I dunno.
I've don't have any experience with using the words "tithe" or "tithing" where it meant anything other than compulsory donations of 10 percent of your income. Within Mormonism tithing means 10 percent of your income. Every time I had this discussion (mostly door-to-door) with people of assorted Pentecostal churches they always understood it to mean 10 percent. That doesn't mean the term doesn't have flexibility, but I've never it encountered it.
But what would you call it?
That's a fair question and one that I haven't given great thought to, to be honest. It seems like this is more akin to passing around a collection plate. They're becoming more aggressive in putting the issue out in front of the members. They're taking steps to have members establish a set amount of money on a periodic basis.
Many Christians support their churches and pastors with monetary contributions of one sort or another. Frequently these monetary contributions are called tithes whether or not they actually represent ten percent of anything.
The problem with this definition is that it's so broad that any monetary contribution is a tithe. If that's the case, the Witnesses are now and have always been tithing.
