Triangulating God: the church, tithe and worship

ISBN-13: 9781489546630 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 44 str.

MR Ipemndoh Dan Iyan

Opis

Would the Judaeo-Christian God exist if we do not have the "Holy Bible" for reference? Where it is accepted that this God - known also as Yahweh and Jehovah and Yehovah - exists, how can faith in this Omnipotence be truly demonstrated? How grounded, if at all sound, is the presumption of this God as masculine? What is the relevance of the Church in worshipping Yahweh after the departure from earth and ascension to Heaven of Jehovah's "only Begotten Son," Jesus the Christ, having been crucified and raised from the dead? Are the laws laid down by Yehovah regarding the "tithe" adhered to in the world of today? These are the questions examined by this essay with a refreshing and thought-pushing intent. This work explores the beginnings of God in human existence. It reviews our understanding of the church, tithe and worship, and the other traditions we attribute to God in our umbilical connection to the Bible. Identifying the association of historical facts with events narrated in the Bible, this essay questions the presumption of the Holy Bible as "inspiration" by, or from, or of, God. The essay concludes the following. I) God exists in a personal exploration, and worship in continuous private exchange. II) All the discernible attributes of God illuminate God as female. III) The 'Church' is a misunderstood concept and its form as physical structure is irrelevant in demonstrating faith in, and closeness to, God. IV) There are eleven mentions of the 'tithe' in the Bible. Two of these did not originate from God. None of them is requirement from God for the believer to gift a tenth of 'harvest' or proceeds to the Church. The last mention of the 'tithe', the erroneously vaunted Malachi, used to coerce worshippers into parting with a tenth of the 'harvest' or proceeds of their toil week on week, is actually about the almost unknown and uncelebrated three-yearly 'tithe' but misunderstood as the yearly 'tithe'. Malachi 3:8-10, as relied upon by the evangelicals - most 'Christians' are evangelical in their religious fundamentalism - is misrepresentation of God's Will. It is God's commandments for the tithe to be enjoyed by (i) the individual and family with the Levite as it concerns the yearly tithe, and (ii) by the community and the Levite in respect of the three-yearly tithe. The tithe, yearly or three-yearly is clearly not commandment for the tither to give tithes to the Church, the physical structure. God's Will is for one type of tithe to be enjoyed by the tithing individual and family with the Levite, and for the other type of tithe to be dispensed by the tither to the community and the Levite.