Why does the LDS Church ask for 10% tithe considering what is written in the Book of Mormon?

Question

Hey Gramps!

Could you explain why the LDS Church asks for 10% of members income considering what is written in the Book of Mormon chapter 8:32-33.

 32 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be churches built up that shall say: Come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins.

 33 O ye wicked and perverse and stiffnecked people, why have ye built up churches unto yourselves to get gain? Why have ye transfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring damnation upon your souls? Behold, look ye unto the revelations of God; for behold, the time cometh at that day when all these things must be fulfilled.

I’m confused.  Many thanks.

Shell

Answer

Dear Shell,

The scriptural importance and benefits of a person’s paying tithes and offerings, are well-established (see. e.g, Malachi 3; Luke 21:1-4; D&C 64:23; D&C 85:3).  That, in this dispensation, it is the Church’s prerogative to receive and administer those tithes, seems equally clear (see D&C 119; D&C 120; D&C 97).

Mormon 8:32-33 does not strike me as being directly applicable to the LDS Church (or any church, for that matter), unless one can first establish at least one of the following:

1.  That the church purports to offer forgiveness of sins in exchange for nothing more or less than monetary payment;

2.  That the church has been built up for the specific purpose of getting gain; or

3.  That the church has “transfigured the holy word of God”.

I do not believe that any of those three conditions applies to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Gramps