A controversial book IziShumi Lulahlekiso (Tithing is a Lie), which challenges the income-generating church practice, is set to cause a stir in religious circles.
Author Phumzile Mfenyana from Ezibeleni, in Queenstown, said people should not dismiss him as an atheist or anti-Christian just because he questioned the practice of tithing.
“I am a pastor in my church and the rest of the congregation do pay their tithes but I personally feel that it an abused practice where only selected people gain from it,” said Mfenyana.
He said he found the inspiration for the book after leaving the Anglican church, where his family were devout members, and joining charismatic churches.
Mfenyana, who is a pastor at Elishama Church in Ezibeleni, said he started to feel uneasy “when ‘God’ started reprimanding us” through the pastor and some elders for not tithing faithfully.
He said the book had received mixed reviews.
“Some pastors claim that I cannot write such a book as I have not studied theology. Personally I think that theology is neither holiness nor Christianity.”
Mfenyana said he was not fighting with churches or religious leaders but merely wanted to educate other people, who “find themselves misled”.
“Tithes were never money, but were only livestock and crops. Therefore only farmers tithed and tithes belong to the old Mosaic law and today’s Christians are no longer under the law, but are under grace and that is why Jesus and Paul never advocated tithing, and all of this is in the scriptures.”
The Reverend Sandile Mhlontlo of the Mlungisi Anglican Church in Queenstown said he was shocked to hear about the book and worried about the title.
“Speaking against tithes affects a lot of Christians, so naturally it has been received with resistance.”
The Reverend Mpumelelo Qwabaza, provincial chairman of the SA Council of Churches, said although he had not read the book, it would raise much debate. “Tithing is biblical, to speak against it would be going against the Bible as a whole.”
The book is published by Skawara publishing in Comfimvaba. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
‘Tithing is a lie’ book raises the hackles
Author Phumzile Mfenyana from Ezibeleni, in Queenstown, said people should not dismiss him as an atheist or anti-Christian just because he questioned the practice of tithing.
“I am a pastor in my church and the rest of the congregation do pay their tithes but I personally feel that it an abused practice where only selected people gain from it,” said Mfenyana.
He said he found the inspiration for the book after leaving the Anglican church, where his family were devout members, and joining charismatic churches.
Mfenyana, who is a pastor at Elishama Church in Ezibeleni, said he started to feel uneasy “when ‘God’ started reprimanding us” through the pastor and some elders for not tithing faithfully.
He said the book had received mixed reviews.
“Some pastors claim that I cannot write such a book as I have not studied theology. Personally I think that theology is neither holiness nor Christianity.”
Mfenyana said he was not fighting with churches or religious leaders but merely wanted to educate other people, who “find themselves misled”.
“Tithes were never money, but were only livestock and crops. Therefore only farmers tithed and tithes belong to the old Mosaic law and today’s Christians are no longer under the law, but are under grace and that is why Jesus and Paul never advocated tithing, and all of this is in the scriptures.”
The Reverend Sandile Mhlontlo of the Mlungisi Anglican Church in Queenstown said he was shocked to hear about the book and worried about the title.
“Speaking against tithes affects a lot of Christians, so naturally it has been received with resistance.”
The Reverend Mpumelelo Qwabaza, provincial chairman of the SA Council of Churches, said although he had not read the book, it would raise much debate. “Tithing is biblical, to speak against it would be going against the Bible as a whole.”
The book is published by Skawara publishing in Comfimvaba. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
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