It is mandated or mentioned in the Old Testament. In those days there was no separation of Church and State, so many people object following that rule because these days we pay Government Taxes. During biblical times when people paid tithing, they were paying taxes as well.

In Genesis 28:22, Jacob established the practice: "and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." Leviticus 27:30-33 made the tithe a law: "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. The entire tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod—will be holy to the LORD. He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed." The tithe is meant to support those who minster before the Lord. But the priests themselves are also to tithe: "and the Levites are to bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the storerooms of the treasury." (Nehemiah 10:38)

Muslims also have a tithing. It is enforced by law in most countries. It is 2.5% rather than 10%. But as a previous post noted the 10% tithe does originate from the pre-Christian Jewish tradition.

Good Q. gets a Good A. Enjoy! John DOCTRINE OF GIVING A. Definition. 1. Giving is an expression of worship to commemorate the grace policy of God. 2. Giving in the Church Age is the legitimate function of the believer's royal priesthood in worship, both inside and outside the local church, e.g., in hospitality. Giving is one of the four categories of Christian service. a. Christian service related to your spiritual gift. b. Christian service related to your royal priesthood, which includes prayer, giving, and the execution of the protocol plan of God through learning, thinking and solving. c. Christian service related to your royal ambassadorship, which includes evangelism, witnessing, administration in the local church, function on the mission field, function in a Christian service organization. d. Christian service related to the laws of divine establishment, which includes military service, law enforcement, government, but never activism. 3. Giving is the presentation of money or other valuable commodities which may be used in sustaining the ministry of doctrinal communication. These gifts do not pertain to things like building funds. 4. Christian giving may be extended to organizations other than the local church, e.g., missionary organizations, Bible schools, radio, tape ministries. Giving is designed to support communication gifts. 5. Giving is the means of inculcating teamwork and coordination into the body of Christ. B. The Motivation in Giving. 1. Motivation is the major issue in giving, not the amount given. 2. 2 Cor 9:7, "Each person, to the degree he has determined by means of his right lobe, so give. Not from distress of mind or compulsion of emotions; for God loves a grace-oriented giver." a. You give based on the metabolized doctrine in your soul, not on the basis of your emotions. b. God provides and enjoys the mental attitude which accompanies giving. God loves grace-oriented giving. Don't give emotionally or impulsively. Determine for yourself what to give. 3. 2 Cor 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;" a. God graciously provides extra finances for grace givers to give. b. The only legitimate system of giving is a grace giver giving to a grace cause. 4. 2 Cor 9:9 [Ps 112:9], "Just as it stands written, `He scatters abroad, He gave it to the poor, His righteousness abides forever.'" a. "He scatters abroad" means that God gives money to certain people both rich and poor. b. God's grace righteousness meets at the point of grace giving. 5. 2 Cor 9:10, "Now He who supplies seed to the sower [capital] and bread for food, He will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." God supplies and gives extra money to grace givers. As a result there is an increase in the harvest of your Christian service. 6. 2 Cor 9:11-12, "you will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God." 7. Giving is a mental attitude based upon the problem solving device called grace-orientation. Grace-orientation is the basis for grace giving. C. The Doctrinal Principles of Giving. 1. Giving is an expression of the royal family honor code. a. Rom 16:26, "For Macedonia and Achaia have decided with pleasure to make a special offering to the poor believers who are in Jerusalem." b. Gal 2:10, "They only asked us to remember the poor; the very thing I was also eager to do." c. Charity is from God; socialism and welfare are from man. 2. Giving is an expression of free will, without gimmicks, without coercion. 2 Cor 8:3, "I testify on the basis of their ability and beyond their ability they gave willingly." Their giving was a sign of their spiritual growth. 3. Giving is an expression of mental attitude in every circumstance of life. 2 Cor 8:2, "That in the midst of severe testing and great pressure, the superabundance of their happiness and their deep poverty overflowed in rich generosity." Even though under adversity, they shared the happiness of God. And having that mental attitude, they gave even while in deep poverty. 4. Giving must express an attitude toward the Lord before it can express an attitude toward others. 2 Cor 8:5, "And not even as we anticipated, but they gave first of themselves to the Lord, then they gave to us by the will of God." They were occupied with Christ and had personal love for God the Father which motivated their giving. 5. Giving depends on the consistent post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. 2 Cor 8:7, "But just as you excel in everything in faith- rest and in doctrine and in knowledge and in all diligence and in love from you to us, you also excel in this grace giving." Giving is associated with impersonal love, not with personal love! That is grace giving. 6. Precedence for giving is derived from the dispensation of the hypostatic union and is predicated on grace. 2 Cor 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich [eternal God], yet for your sake He became poor [true humanity], so that you through His poverty [being judged for our sins] might become rich." 7. Giving is a mental attitude related to an overt act. 2 Cor 8:12, "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable on the basis of what one has, not on the basis of what one does not have." Willingness counts for giving, if you have nothing to give. 8. Giving is related to motivation from metabolized doctrine in the right lobe of the soul. 2 Cor 9:7, "Each one, as he has determined in his right lobe, so give, not from distress of mind or under compulsion or pressure of emotions; for God loves a gracious giver." 9. God in His matchless grace provides both the spiritual motivation and monetary capital for grace giving. 2 Cor 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that in always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have abundance for every good deed." 10. God in His matchless grace provides both the monetary capital for grace giving and makes it part of your Christian service. 2 Cor 9:10, "Now He who supplies seed for the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." 11. Generosity of mental attitude results in generosity of giving. 2 Cor 9:11, "You will be made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion; and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." Giving is never a strain. 12. Giving is a result of Christian service. 2 Cor 9:12, "For this service which you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgivings to God." D. The principle of giving is related to two spiritual gifts: pastor- teacher and evangelism. 1. The pastor must make an issue out of two things as a recipient of support from believers: the gospel, and what is the Christian way of life after salvation. If your are making an issue out of the gospel and Bible doctrine, then you cannot make an issue out of money. 2. The pastor must never make an issue out of money. 3. 2 Cor 11:7-9, "..., because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need in everything, and I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so." a. Paul was supported by other churches such as the Ephesians and Philippians while he was in Corinth. In this way he could make an issue out of the Gospel and doctrine. b. The function of the board of deacons is to make issues clear that pertain to the economic survival of a local church. c. The Corinthians were very wealthy; and yet Paul could not make an issue out of money with them. 4. The pastor-teacher exchanges spiritual blessing to the congregation for material blessing from the congregation, fulfilling the principle of mutual blessing by association, Phil 1:3, 5, "I am giving thanks to God for every memory of you, ...because of your contribution from the first day until now for the purpose of spreading the gospel." 5. Giving reflects the mental attitude of the congregation toward their pastor-teacher. Phil 4:10, "I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you have been concerned, but you lacked opportunity to give." 6. Giving establishes a partnership between the pastor and the congregation. The congregation provides the financial contribution as they are spiritually blessed by the pastor's teaching. Phil 14:14, "However, when you shared [by giving] and became partners with me in my adversity, you functioned honorably." 7. Giving is the application of Bible doctrine on the part of the congregation. Phil 4:15-16, "And you yourselves also recognize, that in the beginning of my ministry with reference to the gospel, when I had departed from Macedonia, not one church contributed to me in the application of doctrine of giving and receiving except you Philippians only; because even in Thessalonica you had sent an offering more than once for my needs." 8. Giving is a grace production in Christian service. Phil 4:17, "Not because I seek the gift, but I seek after the grace production of divine good which accumulates to your account." 9. Giving to one's right pastor is maximum blessing to the pastor and pleasing to God. Phil 4:18, "Moreover, I have received in total all of your gifts, and I have an abundance; I have been filled with blessing, having received from Epaphroditus the things [money] from you, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God." 10. The responsibility for support of the pastor is the responsibility of the local church. The number one priority is support of the pastor, not the building. E. The Grace Concept of Giving. 1. In the Old Testament, Prov 11:24-25, "There is the one who gives generously, yet he becomes more prosperous. There is also the one who [is stingy] holds back what is fitting, and he becomes impoverished. The generous person will be prosperous. He who gives water will also himself be caused to have water." Those who hang on to their money impoverish themselves. Giving never impoverishes. In supergrace, no matter what you give you never lose. 2. In the New Testament, 1 Cor 16:2. "On the first day of the week let each one of you put aside and save on the basis of his prosperity, that no collections be taken when I come." You determine how much you can give from your prosperity. You don't give if you are broke or if giving would place a hardship on your family. F. The True Meaning of Tithing. 1. Tithing is not spiritual giving in the Old Testament. Tithing promotes arrogance. It was never spiritual giving in Israel. 2. Tithing was a 10% income tax under the laws of establishment delineated in the Mosaic Law for the citizens of Israel only. Believers and unbelievers alike were be charged the same amount of tax. As a tax it was not spiritual giving. 3. There was also a 10% tithe for all Jewish citizens, both believers and unbelievers, for the maintenance of the Levites for their presentation of doctrine, Num 18:21, 24. This is not pertinent today. 4. There was also a 10% tithe for all Jewish citizens, both believers and unbelievers, to support the cost of the Lord's sacrifices, Deut 14:22-24. This is also not pertinent today. 5. Every third year Israel required the payment of a charity tithe of 10% for those who legitimately needed help, Deut 14:28-29. This was a 10% income tax paid by all the people. This was charity and not socialism. This is the only tax pertinent today. We should pay income tax for the support of the military, and should pay a 10% charity tax every third year. 6. Spiritual giving in the Old Testament is presented under the word "offerings." Offerings were given by believers only. 7. In the time of apostasy in Israel, both believers and unbelievers failed to pay their taxes; and believers were not fulfilling their spiritual obligations in giving as well. Mal 3:8-10 talks about income tax. "Will a person defraud God, yet you have been robbing Me. Yet you say, `How have we robbed You?' `In tithes [income taxes], and offerings [spiritual giving]. To the entire nation you are cursed with a curse, for you are defrauding Me. Bring your entire tithe [taxes] to the treasury, so that there may be food in My house,' says the Lord of the Armies. `See if I will not open for you the windows of heaven [prosperity] and pour out blessings for you until there is not room enough.'" 

I'll answer right up front first....No, tithing is not Scriptural for the Christian today. Today you might hear something like this...."Tithing was a form of worship to God, and since we still worship God, we must still tithe." I will answer this one in one sentence: Since burnt offerings were a form of worshiping God, and since we still worship God, must we still offer burnt offerings to God? ... Ridiculous. On any given Sunday morning there will be numerous men-of-the-cloth who will be bellowing out over the air waves that people are being "cursed with a curse" because they have failed to pay God ten percent of their paychecks. And should such a gullible listener decide to repent and give God ten percent of his salary, just how would he do that? Abraham never tithed on his own personal property or livestock. Jacob wouldn’t tithe until God blessed him first. Only Levite priests could collect tithes, and there are no Levite priests today. Only food products from the land were tithable. Money was never a tithable commodity. Christian converts were never asked to tithe anything to the Church. Tithing in the Church first appears centuries after completion of the Bible. Jesus Christ’s followers did not pay tithe to Him from farm products or herds; neither did His followers pay Him ten percent of their salaries from other sources of income. "Christian tithing" is an oxymoron—it is a contradiction of words. Nay, it is more: it is, in fact, a Christian hoax! "Christian tithing" is about as Scriptural as "Christian burnt offerings," "Christian stonings," or "Christian synagogues." The leaders of Christendom have bamboozled millions (billions) of unsuspecting laity into believing that "Christian tithing" is a Scriptural command from God Himself, and can easily be found and supported in the pages of Divine Scripture. Oh really? Of the 613 laws contained in the first five books of the Bible written by Moses, why is it that aside from the ten commandments, "tithing" is virtually the only other law that the modern Church tries to retain? They retain it in name only, however, since there is nothing similar between Moses’ law of tithing" and "Christian tithing" except the aspect of ten percent. Christian tithing is an extra-biblical concept and doctrine—aside from the ten percent it has nothing in common with the tithing law of Moses, and was never practiced by the New Testament Church.

Watch the movie called Luther. It's a great movie, but you'll see the corruption of the church when it comes to money. Churches live off money, making them just as corruptable as anything. If you do not give your church money, let's see what that church will give you, eh? I'm a Christian but I can't stand the corruption and two-facedness which today's churches seem to portray. If you want to tithe to God, go give your money to a homeless guy standing on the street corner begging. Give your money to the poor. Not to the rich church.

1)The Levitical tithe required those who raised crops (not everyone and not all professions - just those who raised crops) to give 10% of that to the Levites. This tithe only occurred 6 years out of the 7 year cycle. It also required those that raised 10 or more animals to give each tenth animal that passed under the rod to the Levites. If a person raised less than 10 animals, they were not required to tithe. 2) From what was given to them, the Levites in turn had to give a tenth of the very best to the priests. 3) The festival tithe required that those who raised crops or animals to set aside 10% for the annual festivals. It was for the people to have a party and consume the food joyfully and alcoholic beverages (strong drink) if they wanted. 4) The Poor tithe occurred only in the 3rd and 6th years of the seven year cycle. This was set aside for the poor. All tithes were always food and NEVER money and yes, they did have money and silver back then. Everybody did not raise crops for a living.

"It's time to pay the Cult leaders!!"

Tithing was part of a body of laws given by God through Moses to the ancient nation of Israel. Twelve tribes of Israel were required by law to support a 13th tribe, the priestly Levites, who had no land inheritance. This enabled the Levites to concentrate on the spiritual needs of the nation. (Numbers 18:21-24) Being an agricultural people, the Israelites were not required to pay the tithe in cash. Rather, it was to come from the land’s produce and from the increase in livestock. If produce was to be tithed and an Israelite wanted to give money instead, then he had to pay 20 percent more than the value of the produce.—Leviticus 27:30-33. God’s command on tithing was a serious matter. If an Israelite mistakenly used for himself some of what he was going to tithe, then he had to make amends. How? By giving an extra 20 percent and offering up an animal sacrifice for his guilt. (Leviticus 5:14-16) Though not every Israelite could share in the priesthood, everyone could share in the support of the priestly service through the tithe. A question came up after the death of Jesus, of whether it was necessary to keep the whole of the Law. Was it required that Christ’s followers keep the Law of Moses, which included tithing? Experiences were related showing a change in God’s dealings with non-Jews, and this was verified from God’s own prophetic Word. (Acts 15:6-21) What was the decision? The meeting came to a unanimous conclusion. Christians were not to be burdened with the Law of Moses. There were, though, a few “necessary things” that must be obeyed. Was tithing one? The inspired decision read: “The holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to you, except these necessary things, to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication.” (Acts 15:25, 28, 29) Interestingly, God’s law on tithing was not listed among the “necessary things” for Christians. Later, the apostle Paul explained that God’s Law covenant with Israel had been abolished by Jesus’ death. “[God] blotted out the handwritten document,” he said, “and He has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the torture stake.” (Colossians 2:14) This does not mean that Christians have no law. Rather, there has been a change of law that now involves “the law of the Christ.”—Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 7:12. The apostle Paul lived in harmony with this change of law. Though working hard in the formation of one congregation after another, he never appealed for payment in the form of tithes. Rather, he was willing to cover his own expenses by working as a tentmaker on a part-time basis. (Acts 18:3, 4) Jesus Christ's example was, “Practice giving and people will give to you. They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. For with the measure that you are measuring out, they will measure out to you in return.” (Luke 6:38) Christians are encouraged to give generously, which may even be more than a tenth if they can afford it.—Luke 18:22; Acts 20:35. Christian giving is voluntary. It takes into account that each individual has different circumstances in life. “If the readiness is there first,” the Bible says, “it is especially acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what a person does not have.”—2 Corinthians 8:12. The Bible says, “Let each one do just as he has resolved in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) Tithing was a provision of the Mosaic Law covenant to support Israel’s temple and priesthood. For Christians today, it is neither commanded nor necessary.

Tithing DOES apply and IS scriptural for today's Christians. It says it both in the Old Testament and is backed up by the new also. Firstly it is instructed that we give something each week. Reference 1: 1 Corinthians 16 verse 1-2 "On that day of every week each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.." Again, the apostle was speaking to the new age church so this applies to us. The apostle either did or didn't speak by the power of the Holy Spirit. Am I not right in saying that he did. So, the apostle must have been inspired by God to say this just as he said everything else under the anointing of God. The scripture here is clearly saying that we should set aside something before everything else as in today's modern age with much spending we should allow ourselves to give something each week according to the word of God. The next several scriptures relate specifically to the 10% figure: Reference 2: Leviticus 27 verse 30+: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the LORD.” The Biblical first fruits are what tithes are, the 1st portions that we take out of our income & offer in gratitude to God. All commands that are written in the Bible both in Old and new testament must be obeyed by the Christians, so this includes all the Biblical in the Old as well as the New testament (and the Old testament commands are not just the "10 commandments" but on a variety of issues such as sexual immorality, marriage, respect for parents & elders etc). (Jesus also said “If you love me, you will do as I command”). Jesus himself also said the "Heaven & Earth shall pass away but my word shall not pass away”, therefore time cannot erase the letters written in the laws both in the Old and New Testament and just because we are no longer under the law/condemnation is no excuse not to obey it. THEREFORE this would certainly include the command of giving 10 percent. Reference 3: 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2-3: “…..Each one of you should set aside a sum of money in proportion with his income” The Apostle Paul made it crystal clear that the tithe to the church should be in proportion with each individual’s income because there were people then just like today each earning very different amounts. The 10% would not be proportional to give £5 a week whilst earning £400 a week. He clearly wanted each earner, to give the right proportional amount. It would not be proportional to the salary of the week/month by giving less than ten percent. Of course it would not be wrong to give more than 10% which again is why he iterated the word “proportion” rather than “amount” or “offering”. Reference 4: Malachi 3: verse 6: “I the Lord God do not change …. “Will a man Rob God, Yes you Rob Me; in tithes and offerings, you are under a curse…Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Test me in this and see that I pour out so much blessings…”. This scripture is crystal clear when using the two important words “whole tithe”. God does not waste his words nor does God say anything in the Bible just to fill up the pages. He is saying that by not giving the full tithe which is clearly 10 percent you are robbing him and again he cannot bless you unless you give the full amount. Note: Here God does not give any special treatment to anyone whether they are priests, Jews, Kings, or Gentiles so he certainly would not overlook the case with us gentiles/or Jews. It also is crystal clear that you should give to your church first before giving to other organizations/or set aside an amount for your church as a priority. Reference 5: 1 Timothy 5 verse 17-19 "The elders who direct the affairs of the church are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching & teaching, you shall not muzzle the Ox while he is threshing. The laborer is worth his wages". This passage explains the fact that those working in ministry are deserving of being supported financially and it is the ministers (whether part time or full time) entitlement to the money of the congregation whether given weekly or equivalent. The words "muzzling the ox" is an analogy to explain the reality of not giving to your church regularly, in other words “fiddling around with the money that they deserve” just as Jesus used parables as an analogy to explain other things. This reference also points out that it would be wrong to give to other churches before giving to yours first (not that this is done by many people) and also giving to organizations outside of church (which is fine) before laying aside some for your church is also wrong as this would be robbing your church & ministers according to Timothy (and Timothy was talking to the new church of the New Testament). I will conclude by saying that the Bible says that those who teach what is right will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven and those who does not teach and do what is right will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.