Tithes and Offerings

Tithes and offerings are property given for a religious cause. An offering may be anything brought forward to a god or for a religious purpose, whereas a tithe is an offering of 10 percent of certain goods or income. An offering was cooked in fire in whole or part and supervised by a priest, its goal being the restoration of cleanliness or holiness to the person making the offering. The tithe was required for the support of temples, the priesthood, or the poor and was not burned. In general, tithes and offerings should be viewed as returning a portion of one’s property to God, since the world and all that is in it belong to God. In this entry, we will look at the various ...