The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1879-09-17

God One-seVenth. But when we reacn
the last division, our substance, it is dis
puted among us whether the token OF
conservation has not been done away. All
agree that God still challenges special
propriety in the one-seventh Of our time
| It is now questioned, though whether he
still challenges a special propriety" in
the one-tenth of our substance.
BELIEF OF THE EARLY CHURCH.
We say it is questioned now. AS far
as we can learn it was never questioned
in the Primitive Church Passing by, for
the present, the evidence of the New Tes-
lament, we find that the testimony on this
subject begins as early as Ireneus, the
disciple of that Polycarp who was the
friend of John. Irenaus, says Neander,
was man of peculiarly practical turn
of mind, Jealous for the essentials of Chris
tianity, but moderate and liberal in all
controversies about unessential things In
his work against the heretics, in which he
discusses with ability the nature Of Chris
tian liberty, and points out the true con-
nection between the Old Testament and the
New, Ireneus asserts the obligation of
Christians to render the 1.-THE to God This
view of duty was embodied in the Apos-
tolic canons, a compilation Of laws in
force among the Christian churches, which,
according to Neander, began to be made
about the close of the second century, 1t
was held and urged by all the most emil
nent of the Christian fathers who followed
Iren@us-by Origen, by Cyprian, by Gre
CORY Nazianzen, by Hilary, by ChrysOs-
tom, by Ambrose, by Jerome, by Angus
tine. These men, distinguished by piety
and learning, insisted in their writings
and in their sermons on the duty of
Christians to pay tithes; they rebuked
the covetousness that withheld from the
Master that portion to which He chal-
lenged special right; and they asserted
that the temporal prosperity of Christians
was staked on the faithfulness with which
they gave to God the part which was his
due. He has given to you nine parts,
said Ambrose, "but He has reserved the
tenth for Himself; and if you give not
the tenth part to Him, He will take away
from you the nine parts "Our fore
fathers, said Augustine, "abounded in
all plenty, because they gave tithes to
God and tribute to Caesar; but since de-
votion to God is decreased, the taxes of
the state are raised upon us. We would
not let God share in our tithes, and now
all is taken from us. The exchequer de-
yours what we would not give to Christ. "
The assertion has been made more than
once hn cur day that the revival of the
ithe was the fruit Of a corrupt age Of the
Church. The reverse of this is the fact.
In the-early centuries, the purer age OF
he Church ,5the unvarying testimony of
The great, the wise, and the good, was n
support of the divine claim to the 1.-THE
It was not till about A. D. 1000, when
he Popes, in the exercise Of their corrupt
power, began to ALLEVIATE the tithes and to
grant exemptions from them, that this
claim was denied. OF course Rome had
The right to exempt any community from
the payment of tithes, or if she could per-
vert the tithes to any use that might con-
tribute to her own ends, then tithes could
not be due to God and so, the school
men invented the distinction, maintained
till the Reformation, that the 1.-THE was
not jure divinO, but jatre ecclesiastical.
Since the Reformation, it is the misfor-
tune of the Protestant Churches that ev-
cry one of the tokens of conservation
which we have mentioned has been a mat
ter of dispute among ourselves There
are those who deny that we Presbyterians
have been baptized at all. 1t is denied
that our children, whatever be the mode
of baptism, have claim to be baptized.
By large part Of the Protestant Church
es in Europe, it is denied that God now
challenges a special property in the sew
enth part of our time And since these
three tokens Of conservation are all mat
tiers of dispute, it is no strange thing that
the fourth, that which makes directly
against the covetousness of men, should
also be denied. If there are good men
who contend that our children should not
be baptized and that the Sabbath should
not be held to bind, it is not wonderful
that there are good men also who argue
that we are not called to pay tithes. But
from the beginning it was not so.
1t need not be said, however, that in
matters of Christian duty, we must recur
for our standard not to the opinions Of
men, but to the Word of God We pro
pose, then, in our next to examine the
teaching of this Word more closely as re-
CARDS the law of the 1.-THE.
M. H. Houston.