By Clement Harrold

October 9, 2025

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that lay Catholics have a duty to support the Church financially. This duty is one of the five precepts of the Church, the most fundamental obligations of every Catholic:

The fifth precept (“You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church”) means that the faithful are obliged to assist with the material needs of the Church, each according to his own ability. (CCC 2043)

The Code of Canon Law expounds on this precept, reminding the faithful that their charitable giving is needed not only for the maintenance of the Church and her ministers, but also “for the works of the apostolate and of charity.” Indeed, Catholics “are obliged to promote social justice and, mindful of the precept of the Lord, to assist the poor from their own resources” (see Can. 222 §1-2).

For Catholics, charitable giving is not an option; it’s a moral imperative. But how far should this charity extend, exactly? In this blog post, we’ll explore what the Bible has to say about charitable giving, and what demands this places on us today.

Almsgiving in the Old Testament

One of the more striking claims made in the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Bible is that almsgiving is a way of making amends for sin:

For charity delivers from death and keeps you from entering the darkness; and for all who practice it charity is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High. (Tobit 4:10-11)

 

For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. (Tobit 12:9)

 

Water extinguishes a blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin. (Sirach 3:30)

In the Old Testament, the primary expression of this almsgiving comes in the form of tithing. “Tithe” comes from the Old English word for “tenth,” and it involves giving away 10% of one’s income. The Catholic Encyclopedia points out that this practice was commonplace in the ancient world, and the Israelites were no exception.

Already in the book of Genesis, we find examples of tithing in the patriarchs: Abram gives a tenth of his possessions to the mysterious priest-king Melchizedek (see Gen 14:20), and Jacob vows to offer a tithe to the Lord in return for His blessings (see Gen 28:20-22).

Fast forward to the Mosaic Law, and we discover that tithing has become a formalized practice in the life of God’s people. In fact, the people of Israel were expected to offer no less than two—and sometimes three—tithes every year:

1. The Levitical Tithe. This tithe of both harvest and livestock was owed every year to God, who then bestowed these goods on the Levites on account of their not owning any land (see Lev 27:30-33). However, the Levites were in turn expected to direct the best 10% of these proceeds—“a tithe of the tithe”—to the priests of Israel (see Num 18:21-30; cf. Neh 10:35-38).
2. The Festal Tithe. This second annual tithe was set aside for the celebration of Israel’s various liturgical feasts, including travel expenses to the sanctuary (see Deut 13:22-26). The Festal Tithe (not its official name) extended to grain, wine, oil, and livestock, and its express purpose was to ensure that households had sufficient funds to worship God appropriately, and to “rejoice” in that worship.
3. The Poor Tithe. This third tithe was required once every three years, in what was known as “the year of tithing” (see Deut 26:12-15; cf. 14:27-29). This tithe was directed towards “the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.” In both Deuteronomy 14 and 26, emphasis is placed on the blessings which God will bestow on those who adhere to this tithe.

From this we see that the ancient Israelites paid two tithes every year, and an additional tithe every third year. The only time the tithes may not have applied was during sabbatical or jubilee years, when the Israelites were expected to rest from their labors (see Lev 25). (It is sometimes argued that the Poor Tithe replaced the Festal Tithe every third year, but this contradicts the testimony of figures such as Josephus, as well as Church Fathers such as St. John Chrysostom; see Josephus, Antiquities, Bk IV, ch 38, nos. 8 and 22; Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew, 64.)

The Old Testament practice of offering up to three tithes is further corroborated in the book of Tobit, which describes how Tobit faithfully observed the Mosaic Law even when everyone around him was sacrificing to idols:

All the tribes that joined in apostasy used to sacrifice to the calf Ba’al, and so did the house of Naph’tali my forefather. But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as it is ordained for all Israel by an everlasting decree. Taking the first fruits and the tithes of my produce and the first shearings, I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar. Of all my produce I would give a tenth to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem; a second tenth I would sell, and I would go and spend the proceeds each year at Jerusalem; the third tenth I would give to those to whom it was my duty, as Deb’orah my father’s mother had commanded me, for I was left an orphan by my father. (Tobit 1:5-8)

We should notice that it is the “first fruits” of his produce which forms the basis for Tobit’s tithe. This is in keeping with the consistent exhortation of the Scriptures: “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce” (Prov 3:9; cf. 2 Chron 31:4-5; Ezek 44:30).

In summary, then, while the ancient Israelites may not have faced the same tax burdens which we experience today, they were called to radical generosity. Through their different tithes, the Israelites were expected to give honor to God, to provide for His priests, and to support the poor. All of this was in addition to the various other charitable works mandated in the Mosaic Law, including requiring farmers to leave untouched the borders of their fields and the grapes which fell on the ground, so that the poor would always have a ready supply of food (see Lev 19:9-10; cf. 25:1-7; Deut 15:1-11; 24:19-22).

Almsgiving in the New Testament

Although the New Testament doesn’t prescribe tithing for Christians in the way that the Mosaic Law prescribed it for the Jews, this doesn’t mean that the New Testament has a lower standard when it comes to almsgiving. On the contrary, the moral expectation which the New Testament places on us in relation to almsgiving is in many respects greater than than found in the Old Testament.

We find an example of this in St. Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians, when he is seeking to raise funds for the poor Christians living in Jerusalem:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a man has, not according to what he has not. I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” (2 Cor 8:9-15)

Three things stand out from this passage. First, St. Paul clarifies the importance of being generous “according to what a man has, not according to what he has not.” In other words, our charitable giving should take our individual circumstances into account, and we shouldn’t stretch our finances to the point of being reckless (see 2 Cor 8:3).

Second, St. Paul makes a radical claim about the interconnectedness of the Christian community. The materially rich Corinthian Christians should seek “equality” with the spiritually rich Jerusalem Christians, sharing their abundance of wealth in order to gain an abundance of graces.

Finally, third, St. Paul situates his fundraising within the dramatic perspective of the Incarnation: “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.” Here is something the Old Testament Jews did not have: the knowledge of a God who has taken on the poverty of our humanity so that we might share in the riches of His divinity. St. Paul reminds us that one of the direct consequences of this uniquely Christian truth is that the status of the poor and the downtrodden has been forever exalted.

When we turn to the Gospels, we again find an approach to almsgiving even bolder than that found in the Old Testament. Multiple times in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus warns His followers against piling up worldly treasures:

Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Luke 12:33-34)

A little later on, Jesus extols the merits of extending hospitality towards “the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.” Showing generosity towards these people will result in blessings, we are told, precisely “because they cannot repay you” (see Luke 14:12-14). In Luke 21, Jesus offers a further lesson with the example of the poor widow at the temple treasury. Whereas the rich “contributed out of their abundance,” Jesus praises the widow because “she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had” (v. 4).

While this doesn’t mean that all Christians should immediately empty their bank accounts, it does challenge us to be far more radical in the way we practice our almsgiving. We can frame the issue this way: Are we merely donating a small amount of our leftover income because it makes us feel better about ourselves? Or are we donating from the substance of our income, and making real material sacrifices in order to support the Church and the poor?

In his discussion of tithing, St. Thomas notes that while Christians are not required to observe the threefold tithe found in the Mosaic Law, we are still required to give generously. In fact, when it comes to supporting the poor, Christians should be prepared to give significantly more than 10% of their income: “But the third kind of tithe . . . is increased in the New Law, for our Lord commanded us to give to the poor not merely the tenth part, but all our surplus” (Summa Theologiae, II-II.87.1.ad4).

Here Aquinas stands in line with a long Christian tradition that underscores the essential importance of sharing our resources with those less fortunate than ourselves. In an extremely early document known as the Didache, Christians are instructed to offer the first-fruits of their produce and money either to the Church’s priests or to the poor (see Didache, ch 13).

In the second century, St. Irenaeus of Lyons speaks of the higher standard the New Covenant places on Christians: “And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes” (Against Heresies, 4.18.2). Irenaeus’s startling proposition is echoed by another Church Father, St. John Chrysostom, who takes a no-nonsense approach to Christian almsgiving:

Woe to him, it is said, who does not alms; and if this was the case under the Old Covenant, much more is it under the New. If, where the getting of wealth was allowed, and the enjoyment of it, and the care of it, there was such provision made for the succoring the poor, how much more in that Dispensation, where we are commanded to surrender all we have? For what did not they of old do? They gave tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans, widows, and strangers; whereas some one was saying to me in astonishment at another, Why, such an one gives tithes. What a load of disgrace does this expression imply, since what was not a matter of wonder with the Jews has come to be so in the case of the Christians? If there was danger then in omitting tithes, think how great it must be now. (Homilies on Ephesians, 4)

“It Is More Blessed to Give Than to Receive”

While the Bible doesn’t set a precise percentage on the amount which Christians should give to charity, the consistent testimony of the Scriptures is that we ought to be radical in our generosity.

Given the realities of our modern high-tax economies, a good baseline for Christian almsgiving is to follow the ancient practice of tithing: i.e. donating 10% of our net or (ideally!) gross income to the Church and to the poor. Although this practice isn’t strictly required by the Church today, it enjoys a long pedigree and it has been the norm for most of Christian history. (Physical examples of this formerly widespread practice are found in the Medieval “tithe barns” which can still be seen all over Europe.)

For some of us, the idea of giving away 10% of our income might feel rather daunting. And yet, if we take the New Testament seriously, then this number may well be a floor rather than a ceiling! In other words, many of us probably ought to be giving away more (and perhaps significantly more) than 10% of our income, for the simple reason that our excess wealth rightfully belongs to our brothers and sisters who are in need.

No doubt this requires a real sacrifice on our part, but Christianity never promised to be easy: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). If our cross-bearing doesn’t have any impact on our bank balance, then we’re doing something wrong. At the same time, although Christianity never promised to be easy, it does promise to be richly rewarding in the ways that matter most. St. Paul assures us:

The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work. (2 Cor 9:6-8)

We can compare this with a scene from the book of Malachi, in which the Israelites are warned that those who fail to tithe are guilty of robbing God (see Mal 3:6-12). Yet this warning is followed by the one of the few instances in the Bible where we are actively encouraged to test God:

Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. (v. 10)

All Christian almsgiving is an act of faith. It’s a powerful statement about the nature of reality and about the existence of a God who sees and blesses all our good works. And when we dare to be unsparing in our almsgiving, God will not let us down.

In the 1946 movie It’s a Wonderful Life, there’s a scene which shows a framed photo of George Bailey’s father on the wall, together with his life motto: “All you can take with you is that which you’ve given away.” This conviction—that heaven is real, and that no good deed toward our neighbour will go unrewarded—only makes sense through the eyes of faith.

As Christians, we should trust that God is never outdone in generosity. This means that most of us should be doing a lot more than putting a few dollars in the collection basket each week, or donating a tiny percentage of our monthly income only after we’ve bought everything else we want. For we are called to be radically Christlike in the way we think about our money, always keeping before us the promise of the Savior: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

Further Reading

St. Gregory of Nazianzus, “Oration 14: On the Love of the Poor”

St. John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty (St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2020)

About Clement Harrold

Clement Harrold earned his master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame in 2024, and his bachelor’s from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2021. His writings have appeared in First Things, Church Life Journal, Crisis Magazine, and the Washington Examiner.