Tithe
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
"For first, as I have already observed, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we are yearly over-run, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose with a design to deliver the kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country, than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an episcopal curate." --"A Modest Proposal", Jonathan Swift |
Related e |
Featured: |
A tithe (from Old English teogoþa "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a (usually) voluntary contribution or as a tax or levy, usually to support a religious organization. Today, tithes (or tithing) are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required to be paid in kind, such as agricultural products (that grown of the land, or fruit of the tree). Several European countries operate a formal process linked to the tax system allowing some churches to assess tithes.
"Tithing" also has unrelated economic and juridical senses, dating back to the Early Middle Ages. See "Tithing (country subdivision)".
See also
- Council on the Disposition of the Tithes
- Church of the Tithes in Kiev
- Peter's Pence
- Status of religious freedom by country
- Zakat the Islamic concept of tithing and alms
- Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale novel by Holly Black