Tithing and Temples Part 1

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And now your host for today's Viewpoint on Mormonism. On March 26, 2018 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, it was an article written by Peggy Fletcher Stack titled, Does Tithing Requirement for Entry into LDS Temples Amount to Mormons Buying Their Way into Heaven? And when I read this article I thought a lot of the points that Peggy Fletcher Stack was making in this piece sounded very similar to the points that I was trying to make in my article, Tithing by Coercion, that's posted on mrm.org.

A lot of the things that she brings out are the same things that I thought about many, many years ago and I'm sure a lot of people have probably thought about because it is absolutely essential if a Mormon should hope to gain celestial exaltation in the celestial kingdom. They have to keep celestial law. Tithing is a part of that celestial law.

So everything is all tied together. But Peggy Fletcher Stack says some things, Eric, in the opening three short paragraphs that I think concur with the point that I was trying to make in my article, Tithing by Coercion. And you can find that article on our website mrm.org slash tithing. We've had that article on our website for a very long time and you've had some feedback on it from some Latter-day Saints who said that they didn't feel like they were coerced. Yeah, let me talk about that for a second because I did receive, I don't know exactly how many but it was enough for me to remember this, I had emails from Latter-day Saints who were saying they didn't like the title for one, Tithing by Coercion.

They felt that that's not my personal circumstance. I'm not giving because I feel like I'm being coerced into giving. And let me just say that I don't want to give the impression that I'm trying to downplay a faithful member of the LDS Church's desire to further the cause of their church.

I'm not trying to say that at all. As a Christian I give to my church and Eric you give to your church and the reason why you and I give though we would say is because we want to further the cause of what our churches are standing for and the projects that they are involved in. And I'm sure there's many Latter-day Saints who feel the same towards giving towards the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So please don't misunderstand what we are trying to say here. I'm sure there are many Latter-day Saints who give from their heart to see the cause of their church furthered.

I get that. I'm not taking away from that. But the fact is when you start saying as a church that you need to do this in order to gain salvation, the celestial exaltation that you seek as a Mormon, that's where we would draw the line and say look you've just crossed the boundary now. That is not a New Testament teaching or understanding. If you're not a Latter-day Saint you may wonder well how are they coerced because as you mentioned salvation is dependent on that. You cannot get into the temple without a temple recommend card.

That card you have to do certain things for. The bishop will interview you. But one of the main things I think is tithing that probably separates many Mormons from being able to go to the temple. We know that fewer than half of all Latter-day Saints are going to the temple.

They don't have that recommend. I remember going to a fast and testimony meeting a few years ago and a woman got up and explained how she was having to pay tithing settlement because she felt she was unable to pay the tithing in the years preceding that. And her bishop said if you want to get your card back you're going to have to pay this certain amount.

She for the next 15 minutes told stories of how she tried to hawk her wedding ring. She got a night job that took her away from her kids but it was all worthwhile she said so she could get back to the temple. So if you're not a Latter-day Saint you must understand how important the temple is to a faithful Latter-day Saint who hopes to make it to the celestial kingdom and be with his family forever and it can't be done without tithing. And I think that's a main part of what the title of your article is, Tithing by Coercion. As Christians, as you say, we are giving money to our churches but we're not doing it because it's part of the requirement to become a Christian. And certainly there is no New Testament percentage that is expected of the believer.

What Paul simply writes about giving as far as New Testament Christians are concerned is that we are to be cheerful in our giving. We don't give begrudgingly which makes me ask the question, I wonder how many Mormons give the 10% begrudgingly? They really don't want to, they would much rather have it for other needs that they may have at that particular time but they must do it if they hope to keep their standing in the church intact. And when you mention the temple recommend, you've talked about it as a card, it is, it's kind of an identification card. And when you go to a Mormon temple you go to the recommend desk and you show them this card and they run it through some kind of computer system to make sure it's valid and if it is you are allowed to go through the temple and do whatever ordinances that you feel are necessary whether it's the endowment ceremony or even to be married in a temple you have to have this temple recommend. Some Mormons, unfortunately, I think misunderstand their own church's teachings and think that, well, I've qualified for the temple recommend that must mean I'm celestial worthy. No, that's not the way it works in Mormonism, that's part of the whole. Yes, you must be temple worthy but you still have to be doing other things as well if you hope to get in the celestial kingdom. And of course we would have a difficulty with this idea because there are so many things that an individual has to do in order to qualify for the celestial kingdom that we don't know of any Mormon who's really doing this.

Everybody knows in the Mormon Church it seems like, it seems like everyone that I talk to who is a member of the Mormon Church knows exactly what's required of them but yet when you ask them are you doing this on a consistent basis as you are told let's say in Doctrine and Covenants section 2515 that you are keeping these commandments continually I don't know of any Mormon who is doing that and if that's the case who's going to be in the celestial kingdom? I think many Latter-day Saints think that's their golden ticket that they have earned the right to be able to have that card to be able to get into the temple but look at the story that Jesus told of the Pharisee and the publican who was the bad guy in the story and who was the good guy? The Pharisee was full of pride and he was acting like a religious pompous jerk.

Yeah, basically. He just, he was not what God intended and here's the publican and he's beating his chest and Jesus points to the publican as being the right kind of attitude but when you are a Latter-day Saint and you've qualified yourself, so to speak, to go to the temple you're basically saying, I have it all put together and I'm sure not all Latter-day Saints feel that but I could see the false sense of security by having that little card and it's a ticket to nowhere really. Well let's look at the first three paragraphs of Piggy Fletcher-Stacks' article because in it I think she says pretty much what I was trying to get across in my article, Tithing by Coercion.

And again this is the Salt Lake Tribune and this is published on March 26, 2018. She writes, money may be the root of all evil, and by the way that's not true, Bill. Money may be the root of all evil, I think she's just misquoted from 1 Timothy where Paul said it was the love of money may be the root of all evil, but for Mormons it also provides a pathway to the highest heaven. That's because to gain access to the sacred spaces and saving rituals of a Mormon temple LDS believers must donate 10% of their income to the church. No payment, no entrance.

And that's exactly what I was trying to get across in my piece. There's a process that must be followed if a Mormon hopes to gain celestial exaltation. One of which is you have to pay a full tithe and we should say that the Mormon Church has kind of a liberal way of determining what the 10% is for a tithe. It can either be the gross income that an individual makes prior to taxes being taken out or you can choose to go the much more lucrative way you would think, and that is go buy your net income.

And some choose to use the net income, some choose the gross income, so it's up to you. What does LDS.org say about that? Yeah, this is from the New Era magazine from February of 2008 and it's on LDS.org and it says the First Presidency has answered this question in this way. The simplest statement we know of is the statement that the Lord Himself, namely that the members of the church should pay one-tenth of all their interests annually, which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this.

And that's the First Presidency letter from March 19, 1970, and the article concludes this way. In other words, the way you define your income and consequently your tithing is a matter between you and the Lord. Prayerfully seek the Lord's guidance on issues like taxes, gifts, scholarships, and other matters to determine what qualifies as a full tithe.

So I think you have a wide leeway to be able to determine yourself, and if you want to be a net tither, then you have every right according to this First Presidency statement. And I wonder for those in the LDS church who choose to go by the gross amount, if there may not be an element of pride in, hey, I'm a gross tithe payer, you're a net tithe payer. There are so many things within Mormonism that are laid in front of a member as stumbling blocks that they could easily trip over.

And why am I saying that? Well, because in Alma 5, verse 27, it makes it very clear that if you are not sufficiently humble, if you are not stripped of pride, you're not prepared to die. Yet in Mormonism, they lay out all these little landmines, I would call them, that would tend to trip up someone who might have a pride problem.

And this would only exacerbate that pride problem by thumping their own chest saying, look what I do. Kind of like the Pharisee in Jesus's story. And as you mentioned quite appropriately, it was the Pharisee that was seen as being the bad guy in the account. It was the one who knew he wasn't worthy. That's the one that Jesus commended.

But I think what Peggy Fletcher Stack says here is quite appropriate and quite accurate. LDS believers must donate 10% of their income to the church, whether it's gross or net, that's irrelevant. They must donate 10% of their income to the church.

And then she says, no payment? No entrance. It's as simple as that. Mormons must pay that tithe if they hope to get into the temple. If they don't get into the temple, then they can also kiss their exaltation goodbye because they're all tied together. And that's the whole point of what this article is about, when in the headline it says, does tithing requirement for entry into LDS temples amount to Mormons buying their way into heaven? Certainly some might say, no it doesn't. I don't do it for that reason.

But at the same time, yeah it kind of does. Because it's a matter of fact that if you don't pay the tithes, you don't get into that celestial kingdom that you seek. It's almost like an exclusive club that has membership dues. If you don't pay the membership dues, you're not going to be allowed entrance. In this church you're certainly allowed to go to the Sunday meetings, but if you want the full privilege of what Mormonism is about, you're going to have to pay the piper, and that's the tithe. Tomorrow we're going to continue looking at this article written by Peggy Fletcher Stack that was posted on March 26, 2018. And are Mormons buying their way into heaven? Thank you for listening. If you would like more information regarding Mormonism Research Ministry, we encourage you to visit our website at www.mrm.org where you can request our free newsletter, Mormonism Researched. We hope you will join us again as we look at another viewpoint on Mormonism.