The Trail of the Tithe (Fr. Thomas Zell) One of my earliest
childhood memories is of piling into the back of our family car
on Sunday morning and heading off to our little Baptist church
in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Along with ensuring that my brother
and I were properly cleaned and dressed for the occasion, my
father would always drop several coins into our hands, so that
we in turn could drop them into the offering plate at church.
Tithing was something Dad faithfully practiced all his life, and
he wanted to make sure his sons followed suit. Having lived with
this tradition for so long, and loving it so much, it is hard
for me now to stop and look at it objectively. But since the
concept has become somewhat an object of debate today, I would
like to examine both the myth and the realities behind this
practice, and to follow the trail of the tithe. Tithing in the
Old Testament In English, Greek, and Hebrew, the word “tithe”
comes from a derivative of the number “ten,” and means the
setting aside of a tenth of o