Tithing: should I/do I have to?

@BritishFailedAesthetic It's hard to tell in print. Am I to assume that your posts are also sarcasm?

@ninalanyon Errr... the amount of time I spend on them...... would be one messed up joke.

@ninalanyon He wanted to do the job. At that salary. And - when religion is a farce in any event.

@DarlingLinds Of course not. Why should I be? What rational person can be?

@DarlingLinds Just because you are a believer does not make your beliefs true. Schizophrenics have the same problem.

@DarlingLinds Being a "believer" is cult behavior. It does not raise you up nor does your belief lessen others. You appear to have low self-esteem.

@Adeptlinguist If you believe in god then you believe that it is god’s will that I defend rationality.

@DarlingLinds Thank you for your kind words.. 🤗

@FlowersNButterflies youre not a believer. So why even post. Keep your thoughts to yourself.

@DarlingLinds You are not even an authority over anybody. "So why even post. Keep your thoughts to yourself."

Bwahahaha!

@ninalanyon because historically being a woman who'd lost the head of the household was an extremely vulnerable position

A single man without a disability was expected to earn money

@AbbySvenz the church is supposed to disperse money to local agencies that need the money or help. My church runs a food pantry.

@DarlingLinds What about widowers with children? Why not help them too?

@saintsong No bible posts have meaning. It's just cult behavior. Over 4,000 religions in the world. They all believe they are right.

@DarlingLinds Your thread? Not according to the first amendment.

And Idtxunbreakable is the OP, not you.

@RedBaron not judging you. I was talking about her personal convictions she had and you are talking about criminal prosecution.

@Sojournersoul That’s what conviction brings to mind for many people.

Sorry for the miscommunication.

@FlowersNButterflies Are you feeling ok? I'm giving my two cents OP asked and I gave my perspective, generallyhow communication works.

@BritishFailedAesthetic So am I. Sheesh. You think we don't see you, too? Or that we don't participate? You reveal an attitude that needs pushback. You got it. And you don't care about the well being of a person you don't know. I see your issues.

@FlowersNButterflies No idea what you're on about.

Why would you think I flinch at the idea of pushback? Again, I live in society too.

If I ever need counselling, I know who to contact 😆

@OverTheHill the 10% figure is specious. But you're right about the new testament. It's more organic about offerings

@Diotrephes Sorry but the 4th commandment is about keeping the Sabbath. Nothing to do with first born or bringing gifts to worship. Once again we can not prove who wrote Exodus in part or in whole. Some would say that the parts you quote are from later additions to the writings of Moses since they reference much more established worship (temple).

@hippyjoe1955 [quote]Sorry but the 4th commandment is about keeping the Sabbath. Nothing to do with first born or bringing gifts to worship. Once again we can not prove who wrote Exodus in part or in whole. Some would say that the parts you quote are from later additions to the writings of Moses since they reference much more established worship (temple).[/quote]

I have explained this issue multiple times. All you hve to do is take some time to read it for yourself. So, get a pen and some sheets of papers and start reading at Exodus chapter 19 and continue till the end of Exodus chapter 34. Exodus chapter 19 just sets the stage for what follows. And, as you read summarize every few verses in your own words.

You wil see that the commandments in Exodus chapter 20 were verbal and were not written on the stone tablets or called the Ten Commandments. Some Bible versions do headline the verses as the ten Commandments but they are fake.

As you read you will see that Moses did a lot of yakking and going up and down the mountain like a mountain goat. He got all kinds of fashion and decorating tips.

You will get to Exodus 31:18 before he gets the stone tablets written by the finger of God. Of course Moses got ticked off when the people wanted to exercise freedom of religion so he smashed the tablets and had his minions kill about three thousand men (they didn't count the women and children).

In Exodus chapter 33 God and Moses kiss and make up and in Exodus chapter 34 god told moses to chip out some new tablets and lug them up the mountain for a rewrite.

This is where you need to pay attention. Exodus 34:10 establishes the basis for the miracles. The real Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 34:11-26 and verse 28 plainly states that those are the damn Ten Commandments. If you pay attention to the biblical stories you will see that all of them in the Old and New Testament illustrate one or more of the real Ten Commandments. The writers did a very clever job in doing that.

The purpose of the stories is to act as a quiz so tha the listener, or reader, can identify which of the real Ten Commandments the stories are about. That's why the stories themselves sometimes are illogical. They are merely mnemonic devices.

@Diotrephes What you have to realize is that the book of Exodus seems to have had multiple authors all of which were attributed to Moses. The decalogue is the Ten Commandments were given to Moses on the Mount but to assume that the order of the first born came at the same time seems a bit silly as does the idea of bringing gifts to worship. Much of that only makes sense after there was a temple which there was not at the time of the Ten Commandments. So either Moses was speaking of a time 400 years in the future or else someone else added that little bit and then said the Moses said that. Did it come from Moses? Maybe but it seems more logical to say that it was a later addition attributed to Moses much like the sayings of Mohammed did not all come from Mohammed. Things get added as time progresses. People wandering in the wilderness wearing clothes that never wore out are not too likely to be concerned about the fiber content of their clothes but the law stipulates that they were not to mix the fibers. Was that rule written by Moses or was it a later addition?
All that completely aside the fact is that we Christians are not bound by those rules. They were removed from us so we can look on them as curious things that no longer apply to us. We can mix our fibers. We can eat any food we desire. We are not bound to tithe. We do not go to the Temple once a year to celebrate Passover. We don't celebrate the New Moon festivals or even have to keep the Sabbath. Christianity is a very different world view than is Judaism.

@saintsong Oh well

@Adeptlinguist [media=https://youtu.be/goRV4ZidWME]

@saintsong Here's a handy guide to choosing your belief system:

https://similarworlds.com/language/grammar/4953989-If-youre-not-quite-sure-what-belief-system-is-the-right-one

@4meAndyou Also, don't think Non Christians don't notice your charity and that they also know your church, that is more valuable than any tithe!

@BritishFailedAesthetic Thank you for saying so. Much appreciated!

@4meAndyou Pleasure, it's true!

@Diotrephes He gave, Period!

@DarlingLinds [quote]He gave, Period![/quote]
You've never read the fairytale.

@DarlingLinds Oh Christ. Another one with multiple personalities. 🤣

@LordShadowfire If you don't know how tithing works and how a pastor's salary works, why are you posting here?

@LordShadowfire Nothing.

@DarlingLinds It's a valid question.