New
Law, whereas there is no sin in keeping the judicial precepts during
the time of grace although they are not binding. Indeed they are
bound to be observed by some, if they be ordained by the authority of
those who have power to make laws. Thus it was a judicial precept of
the Old Law that he who stole a sheep should restore four sheep (Ex.
22:1), and if any king were to order this to be done his subjects
would be bound to obey. In like manner during the time of the New Law
the authority of the Church has established the payment of tithe;
thus showing a certain kindliness, lest the people of the New Law
should give less to the ministers of the New Testament than did the
people of the Old Law to the ministers of the Old Testament; for the
people of the New Law are under greater obligations, according to
Matt. 5:20, "Unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes
and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," and,
moreover, the ministers of the New Testament are of greater dignity
than the ministers of the Old Testament, as the Apostle shows (2 Cor.
3:7, 8).

Accordingly it is evident that man's obligation to pay tithes arises
partly from natural law, partly from the institution of the Church;
who, nevertheless, in consideration of the requirements of time and
persons might ordain the payment of some other proportion.

This suffices for the Reply to the First Objection.

Reply Obj. 2: The precept about paying tithes, in so far as it was a
moral precept, was given in the Gospel by our Lord when He said
(Matt. 10:10) [*The words as quoted are from Luke 10:7: Matthew has
'meat' instead of 'hire']: "The workman is worthy of his hire," and
the Apostle says the same (1 Cor. 9:4 seqq.). But the fixing of the
particular proportion is left to the ordinance of the Church.

Reply Obj. 3: Before the time of the Old Law the ministry of the
divine worship was not entrusted to any particular person; although
it is stated that the first-born were priests, and that they received
a double portion. For this very reason no particular portion was
directed to be given to the ministers of the divine worship: but when
they met with one, each man of his own accord gave him what he deemed
right. Thus Abraham by a kind of prophetic instinct gave tithes to
Melchisedech, the priest of the Most High God, according to Gen.
14:20, and again Jacob made a vow to give tithes [*Gen. 28:20],
although he appears to have vow