The Know

In 1831, the Lord commanded the members of the Church to live the law of consecration. This law was revealed in detail in Doctrine and Covenants 42, which commanded the Saints to consecrate all that the Lord has and will bless them with in order to build up His kingdom and establish a Zion community. Between 1831 and 1838, the voluntary offerings that some Saints made when living the law of consecration referred to their offerings as tithing. This is also found in some revelations instructing the saints to live this law and the law of sacrifice.

In 1831, for instance, the Lord stated that “it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned at his coming” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:23; see also 85:3). Similarly, in 1833, the Lord commanded the Saints in Kirtland to build a temple, declaring it was to be built through tithing: “Let it be built speedily, by the tithing of my people. Behold, this is the tithing and the sacrifice which I, the Lord, require at their hands, that there may be a house built unto me for the salvation of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:11–12).

While the word tithing stems from a root meaning tenth in English, Steven C. Harper has noted, “Saints at the time understood tithing to refer to any amount of freely consecrated goods or money.”1 Thus, early mentions of “tithing” took on general meanings, similar to “donation” or “contribution.” As the Saints tried to live the law of consecration, focusing on tithing became an important part of the Saints’ worship. As Saints sought to live their covenants, however, many sought clarification on what was expected.

In 1837, for instance, Newel K. Whitney, the bishop in Kirtland, wrote a letter to the Saints that was published in the Messenger and Advocate, the Church’s newspaper at the time. In this letter, Newel emphasized that tithing was still an important principle that the Saints needed to live, drawing upon Malachi 3:10 to emphasize the blessings with which the Lord would bless the Church: “It is the fixed purpose of our God, and has been so from the beginning, as appears by the testimony of the ancient prophets, that the great work of the last days was to be accomplished by the tithing of his saints. The Saints were required to bring their tithes into the store house, and after that, not before, they were to look for a blessing that there should not be room enough to receive it.”2

At the same time, Harper notes, “The bishopric in Missouri proposed a similar but more specific policy: each household should offer a tithe of 2 percent of its annual worth after paying the household’s debts.”3 This would help ensure that the Church could continue its mission of purchasing land in Zion for the Saints, and eventually so the Church could build a temple in Missouri. In a letter to Joseph Smith dated on February 15, 1838, the apostle Thomas B. Marsh further emphasized the Saints’ desires when he wrote, “The people seem to wish to have the whole law of God lived up to; and we think that the church will rejoice to come up to the law of consecration, as soon as their leaders shall say the word, or show them how to do it.”4

This principle would be clarified further in a revelation given to Joseph Smith on July 8, 1838, in Far West, Missouri. In this revelation, canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 119, the Lord declared, “This shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people. … Those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 119:3–4). A subsequent revelation, Doctrine and Covenants 120, “assigned the First Presidency, the bishopric in Zion, and the high council in Zion to decide how to use the tithes, making their decisions, the Lord said, ‘by mine own voice unto them.’ … Today the council is composed of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric.”5

Perhaps due to a misunderstanding of what the law of consecration entailed and what the United Firm was in the early history of the Church, as Harper notes, “Section 119 is widely misunderstood as replacing the law of consecration with the principle of tithing. That is not what it says or how it was understood by Joseph and the early Saints.”6 Rather, as the history leading up to the law of tithing shows, the Saints were more than willing to live the law of consecration, and they continued to do so well after the law of tithing had been revealed.7

Furthermore, “There is nothing in the revelation to indicate that tithing is a lesser or lower law to be replaced someday. The revelation says it is ‘a standing law unto them forever’ and applicable to all Saints everywhere (vv. 4, 7). The Doctrine and Covenants does not say that consecration is a higher law and that tithing is a lower or temporary law.”8 Similarly, Casey Paul Griffiths observed, “Doctrine and Covenants 119 was received within the framework of the law of consecration. It did not rescind or replace the law of consecration. Instead, it was intended to act as a financial law of sacrifice and a subset of the law of consecration.”9

This is also apparent in the reasons given for obeying the law of tithing in Doctrine and Covenants 119:2, which “are the same reasons noted previously for obeying the law of consecration: to relieve poverty, purchase land for the Saints, build a temple, and build up Zion so that those who make and keep covenants can gather to a temple and be saved (see D&C 42:30–36).”10

Just as tithing has been revealed for the Church to follow in this dispensation, it has also been a law that has been practiced in ancient times as well. As Stephen D. Ricks has observed, “Such payment of one-tenth of one’s increase for the support of the community or the maintenance of its religious institutions is a well-attested practice, both among Christians as well as Ancient Israel.”11 Indeed, this principle was practiced at least as far back as Abraham’s time, and so it would only be fitting for it to be restored in the latter-day dispensation as well.12

The Why

When teaching the Saints about tithing, Brigham Young once taught, “The law of tithing is an eternal law. The Lord Almighty never had his kingdom on the earth without the law of tithing being in the midst of his people, and he never will. It is an eternal law that God has instituted for the benefit of the human family, for their salvation and exaltation.”13 The choice to pay tithing, however, is an individual choice that the Lord has offered His children. As Steven C. Harper has noted, “As they were taught the will of the Lord, the Saints became accountable stewards who could choose whether or not to pay their tithes of their own free will.”14

Funds consecrated by the Saints through tithing are to be used at the discretion of the First Presidency, Presiding Bishopric, and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, following the revealed pattern established in Doctrine and Covenants 120:1. As such, and especially because tithing funds are consecrated to the Lord for the building up of the Lord’s kingdom, all tithing funds are to be given to the Church. While many Latter-day Saints are willing and able to donate to other excellent charities and organizations, these should not be confused with the law of tithing revealed to the Church. Nor should any other act of service done for the Church be confused as tithing. As Stephen D. Ricks has observed, “While the payment of tithes remains a significant part of building the Lord’s kingdom, it does not exhaust the ways in which the Saint may expend his means, energy, time, and talents in serving the Lord’s cause.”15

Tithing is an act of sacrifice strongly connected with the law of consecration. As Hugh Nibley wrote, “To pay a real tithe, given out of one’s own necessities, [is] something of a test and a sacrifice, as tithing is meant to be.”16 That is, “The law of consecration demands everything you have, but at the same time it fills your every physical need; and it is from that sustaining income, from that substance, that you pay your tithes. This makes it a genuine sacrifice and not a mere token offering skimmed off from a net increase that you will never miss.”17

As Harper has observed, “Latter-day Saints learned that if they obeyed even just the instruction to offer a tenth of their annual increase, the Church could pay its debts and begin to carry out the Lord’s instructions to build temples, relieve poverty, and build Zion.”18 Furthermore, they would be able to stand at the last day and be welcomed into the presence of God. “The money offered is calculable. The blessings are not.”19