The Bible, Government, and the Law

There was a whole lot of Bible-quoting going on in the news last week, and most of it poorly done. That’s what happens when you marshal selected verses out of context to provide support to whatever policy you want to justify. The verse in question was Paul’s statement in Romans that human government has a...

Taxes and Tithes: A Fresh Look

“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.” This is one of those statements that is familiar even to people who don’t know the Bible. It’s commonly used to support the proper and separate roles of government and religion and that it is our Christian duty to...

The Full Tithe and Caring for the Poor

Listen to any sermon series on stewardship and invariably Malachi 3:8-10 will be invoked. It makes for a powerful message: it has an accusation—if you don’t give at least 10% to the church, you are robbing God (vs. 8-9); it has clear instructions—“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse” (vs. 10a); and it...