The law of Tithing




The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints based in Brazil is the continuation of the church started by the Prophet Joseph Smith. To the best of my (John P. Pratt) knowledge, unless stated otherwise, the Church follows the revelations given to him, and that as far as I know that includes the Law of Tithing.

That law is found in D&C 119:1-5. When the saints prayed to understand how to implement the law of tithing, this was the response:

Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion,

For the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church.

And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.

And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.

Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.

This is actually very different from how the corporate church in Utah handles tithing. I've baptized many people into that church and none of them were taught to give all of their all of their surplus property to a bishop when they joined that church. Moreover, they were not taught to pay one tenth of the increase of their investments, but rather ten percent of their entire income before taxes, food, housing, and the necessities of life.

Another difference is that his revelation states that tithing is to be paid annually, not monthly. That could be a huge difference for those who do not have a steady monthly income. A farmer might loses his entire crop and have no net increase over the year and others could lose more on investments than gained. Thus, what is now called "tithing settlement" at the end of the year in the corporate LDS church was mostly likely the time to pay one's entire annual tithing in the early Church. Of course, if one's income is indeed on a regular basis, one may well find it efficient to pay monthly.

The main difference, however, is in understanding the word "interest" in verse four. There is no doubt about the meaning of that word at the time the revelation was given. It was essentially synonymous with "surplus" in the earlier verses. The "interest" in one's investments is the surplus or increase in the net worth of the investment. One definition of tithing in the early Church was simply to calculate the increase in one's net worth over the year and to pay ten percent of that increase to the local bishop. Tithing was never calculated on the money required for one to sustain life, such as food, shelter, and taxes.

I am a recent member of this "reborn" Church in Brazil, and have so far received no other instruction than to follow the law of tithing as described in this section. I heard Mauricio say when I was in Brazil that tithing is to be used to help the poor and not to build Church buildings. Meetings are held in homes so that tithes can be given to the poor and spread the gospel.

There is also a movement underway to begin implementing the Order of Enoch as described in the Sealed Book. When public information becomes available on that, it will be posted on these pages also.