The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2507 page)

see
TRI
ARA
A
;
THREE JEWELS
.

 
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see
AV, NINTH OF
.

 
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Judaism
(Heb.,
ma‘aser
). Money or goods levied for the maintaining of sacral institutions. Several types of tithe are mentioned in the Hebrew scriptures. According to Numbers 18. 24, the ‘first tithe’ was given to the
Levites
after the ‘heave-offering’ (
terumah
) had been separated from it for the
priest
. The ‘second tithe’ (Leviticus 27. 30–1; Deuteronomy 14. 22–6) was a tenth part of the ‘first tithe’. The laws of tithes are compiled in the tractate
Ma‘aserot
in the
Mishnah
.
Christianity
In Europe a system of tithes came into legal force in the early Middle Ages (e.g. in England in 900), as a tax for the support of the Church and relief of the poor. The levy consisted of a tenth part, originally of the produce of lands (‘praedial’ tithes) and later of the profits of labour also (‘personal’ tithes). The system did not survive the secularization of continental European states after the
Reformation
.
For regulated giving in other religions, see
ZAK
T
;
DASWANDH
.

 
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Ti-ts’ang
.

Chin. for
K
itigarbha
, a
bodhisattva
who helps children and has power over the six realms of rebirth.

 
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Titus, Letter to
.

One of the
Pastoral Epistles
of the New Testament, professedly by Paul to his assistant Titus in Crete.

 
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