Part III (Secunda Secundae) Part 136 (2/2)

Objection 1: It would seem that men are not bound to pay first-fruits. After giving the law of the first-born the text continues (Ex. 13:9): ”It shall be as a sign in thy hand,” so that, apparently, it is a ceremonial precept. But ceremonial precepts are not to be observed in the New Law. Neither therefore ought first-fruits to be paid.

Obj. 2: Further, first-fruits were offered to the Lord for a special favor conferred on that people, wherefore it is written (Deut. 26:2, 3): ”Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits ... and thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him: I profess this day before the Lord thy G.o.d, that I am come into the land, for which He swore to our fathers, that He would give it us.”

Therefore other nations are not bound to pay first-fruits.

Obj. 3: That which one is bound to do should be something definite.

But neither in the New Law nor in the Old do we find mention of a definite amount of first-fruits. Therefore one is not bound of necessity to pay them.

_On the contrary,_ It is laid down (16, qu. vii, can. Decimas): ”We confirm the right of priests to t.i.thes and first-fruits, and everybody must pay them.”

_I answer that,_ First-fruits are a kind of oblation, because they are offered to G.o.d with a certain profession (Deut. 26); where the same pa.s.sage continues: ”The priest taking the basket containing the first-fruits from the hand of him that bringeth the first-fruits, shall set it before the altar of the Lord thy G.o.d,” and further on (Deut. 26:10) he is commanded to say: ”Therefore now I offer the first-fruits of the land, which the Lord hath given me.” Now the first-fruits were offered for a special reason, namely, in recognition of the divine favor, as though man acknowledged that he had received the fruits of the earth from G.o.d, and that he ought to offer something to G.o.d in return, according to 1 Paral 29:14, ”We have given Thee what we received of Thy hand.” And since what we offer G.o.d ought to be something special, hence it is that man was commanded to offer G.o.d his first-fruits, as being a special part of the fruits of the earth: and since a priest is ”ordained for the people in the things that appertain to G.o.d” (Heb. 5:1), the first-fruits offered by the people were granted to the priest's use.

Wherefore it is written (Num. 18:8): ”The Lord said to Aaron: Behold I have given thee the charge of My first-fruits.” Now it is a point of natural law that man should make an offering in G.o.d's honor out of the things he has received from G.o.d, but that the offering should be made to any particular person, or out of his first-fruits, or in such or such a quant.i.ty, was indeed determined in the Old Law by divine command; but in the New Law it is fixed by the declaration of the Church, in virtue of which men are bound to pay first-fruits according to the custom of their country and the needs of the Church's ministers.

Reply Obj. 1: The ceremonial observances were properly speaking signs of the future, and consequently they ceased when the foreshadowed truth was actually present. But the offering of first-fruits was for a sign of a past favor, whence arises the duty of acknowledgment in accordance with the dictate of natural reason. Hence taken in a general sense this obligation remains.

Reply Obj. 2: First-fruits were offered in the Old Law, not only on account of the favor of the promised land given by G.o.d, but also on account of the favor of the fruits of the earth, which were given by G.o.d. Hence it is written (Deut. 26:10): ”I offer the first-fruits of the land which the Lord hath given me,” which second motive is common among all people. We may also reply that just as G.o.d granted the land of promise to the Jews by a special favor, so by a general favor He bestowed the lords.h.i.+p of the earth on the whole of mankind, according to Ps. 113:24, ”The earth He has given to the children of men.”

Reply Obj. 3: As Jerome says [*Comment. in Ezech. 45:13, 14; cf. Cap.

Decimam, de Decim. Primit. et Oblat.]: ”According to the tradition of the ancients the custom arose for those who had most to give the priests a fortieth part, and those who had least, one sixtieth, in lieu of first-fruits.” Hence it would seem that first-fruits should vary between these limits according to the custom of one's country.

And it was reasonable that the amount of first-fruits should not be fixed by law, since, as stated above, first-fruits are offered by way of oblation, a condition of which is that it should be voluntary.

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QUESTION 87

OF t.i.tHES (In Four Articles)

Next we must consider t.i.thes, under which head there are four points of inquiry:

(1) Whether men are bound by precept to pay t.i.thes?

(2) Of what things ought t.i.thes to be paid?

(3) To whom ought they to be paid?

(4) Who ought to pay t.i.thes?

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FIRST ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 87, Art. 1]

Whether Men Are Bound to Pay t.i.thes Under a Necessity of Precept?

Objection 1: It would seem that men are not bound by precept to pay t.i.thes. The commandment to pay t.i.thes is contained in the Old Law (Lev. 27:30), ”All t.i.thes of the land, whether of corn or of the fruits of trees, are the Lord's,” and further on (Lev. 27:32): ”Of all the t.i.thes of oxen and sheep and goats, that pa.s.s under the shepherd's rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sanctified to the Lord.” This cannot be reckoned among the moral precepts, because natural reason does not dictate that one ought to give a tenth part, rather than a ninth or eleventh. Therefore it is either a judicial or a ceremonial precept. Now, as stated above (I-II, Q. 103, A. 3; Q.

104, A. 3), during the time of grace men are hound neither to the ceremonial nor to the judicial precepts of the Old Law. Therefore men are not bound now to pay t.i.thes.

Obj. 2: Further, during the time of grace men are bound only to those things which were commanded by Christ through the Apostles, according to Matt. 28:20, ”Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you”; and Paul says (Acts 20:27): ”I have not spared to declare unto you all the counsel of G.o.d.” Now neither in the teaching of Christ nor in that of the apostles is there any mention of the paying of t.i.thes: for the saying of our Lord about t.i.thes (Matt. 23:23), ”These things you ought to have done” seems to refer to the past time of legal observance: thus Hilary says (Super Matth.

can. xxiv): ”The t.i.thing of herbs, which was useful in foreshadowing the future, was not to be omitted.” Therefore during the time of grace men are not bound to pay t.i.thes.

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