“And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say , a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.” Mark 7:9-13
There was a rule in the Jewish observance of the Law at the time of Jesus that went something like this: If you legally declare that your fortune or a part of your fortune or property is to be donated to the temple treasury it is declared to be “Corban” (“a gift” or “sacred“) . It is considered sacred and becomes sort of like an annuity, except that the one donating the funds or property has full use of it until the time he decides to actually hand it off to the authorities, usually when the gifter dies. Jesus pointed out that if a man simply said that he would dedicate his possessions to God (as in giving an offering at the Jerusalem Temple), he was thereby free from any financial obligation to his parents. In the Jewish mind this rule trumped the commandment to honor his parents—namely, support them financially—because his wealth was reserved as “Corban” (Sacred). This rule contradicts a commandment of God to honor your father and mother.
The fundamental principle, or anti-principle, at work here is the idea that the authorities can make up rules that supersede written scriptural doctrine as an expediency, a way to get around the doctrine. Religions transform basic fundamental doctrines over time. It sort of follows the maxim that bureaucracies always get larger, not smaller, and doctrines are always added to or changed over time. The explanation usually given for changes is that times change and policies need to be adjusted. That was the problem with the Jewish religion at the time of Christ. Many of the laws the Jews established went beyond the mark and were actually in opposition to the commandments of God. But the Jews were happy to make exceptions to God’s Law thinking they could improve on the fundamental doctrines that might not meet the needs of the church, as they perceive. They thought they were doing the right thing and that it was actually God that was inspiring them to add to the Laws, make them better.
Ask any good Calvinist, like the Presbyterians or Baptists, if they believe the basic premise of Calvinism that there is absolutely nothing you can personally do to obtain salvation. According to Calvin, some men and women are saved arbitrarily and many more are damned simply to prove that God is merciful in saving a few who do not merit salvation, while most are damned to prove God’s perfect justice. The typical Presbyterian or Baptist will tell you they believe no such thing. That’s because their churches no longer teach that doctrine. It has become unpopular. And then there is the concept of indulgences that was adopted by the Catholic Church starting in the 12th century to raise enormous amounts of money for the clergy. It was the practice of raising money through the sale of pardons for sins that was the at the core of the protestant break from Catholicism. Take any religion with a history and you will find changes in the doctrine over time.
An example of changing policy that reverses or repudiates a founding principle of faith in the LDS church can be demonstrated in the collection and administration of tithes. This is also an example of a modern application of the practice of Corban. The original purpose of tithing and the amount that the members were required to pay is a significant departure from what the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith. But that doctrine was changed to make administering the affairs of the church easier. The Lord declares in D&C 119 that the members give up all their surplus property and then after that their tithe is 1/10th of their interest, not their salary. Interest is what is left over after you pay the rent, buy food and clothing and pay the utilities and taxes. The Lord establishes the purpose of the tithing monies, “For the building of mine house, and for the laying the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my church.” He concludes the revelation by stating, and these are the words of the Lord, “and this shall be a standing law unto them forever…”
Tithing practices and policies changed over the years fundamentally because of mismanagement by the General Authorities. By 1898 the church was heavily into debt because of bad investments, legal issues with federal government over polygamy, and fall out from the Economic crash of 1893. Up until this point there was no standard policy for the collection and use of tithes. Brigham Young had defined tithing as 10 percent of one’s property upon conversion and then 10 percent of one’s annual income. He also instituted an “immigration tithe” requiring 10 percent of one’s net gross upon arrival in the State of Deseret. However, Young admitted that neither he nor anyone else had paid a full tithe as he interpreted the Doctrine and Covenants. (1) Lorenzo Snow established a higher mark for the payment of tithing in 1898 and by 1906, under President Joseph F. Smith, the church was largely out of debt. By 1950 the church was again in trouble, largely because of mismanagement of an extensive building program; which was a “hail Mary” policy to increase baptisms, sort of a “if you build it, they will come” policy. The Church found itself in debt for $32 million, a huge sum in that day. In response, the church again began to emphasize the payment of tithing, encouraging members to faithfully pay an honest tithe against annual income (minus taxes), and in some cases to pay ten percent of their gross annual pay. By the 1970’s, the church began investing excess tithing funds collected, over and above what was needed to pay expenses, into land and securities.
All of these changes over the years were presented as revelation coming from God, and would later be instantiated as a commandment. In actuality they were actually nothing more then policy changes disguised as commandments received by revelation. The authorities feel free to make these changes because they believe they speak for the Lord. After all, they sit in “Moses’ seat” and are the anointed and chosen of God. Their logic follows this idea: the Lord has gone from the scene and has left his “anointed” in charge and He (the Lord) directs them through inspiration. The Book of Mormon has warned us about the practices of organized religions in our day , “…and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;” (2 Nephi 28:5) General Authorities have made it known that the Lord has given them power and authority to change doctrine established by scripture. They declare that their word trumps the scriptures because they are “modern prophets” and “modern revelation” trumps “ancient revelation”. In essence they stand between God and the membership of the church. In their minds they have been given the power by God to act in his name. And so, with little evidence of an actual revelation, the church has changed the intent and purpose of tithing for expediency’s sake. The law of tithing as practiced by the LDS church today has little resemblance to the principle declared by the Lord to be a standing law, FOREVER! Corbin principle in action, indeed.
One of the results that came about by changing the tithing law was that the LDS church has been able to accumulate a fabulous wealth amounting to over 100 billion dollars in securities and bond assets by 2017. In the year 2020 alone their investment arm, Ensign Peak Advisors, made $6 Billion for the church, which didn’t include the $1.6 billion dollars the church adds from tithing receipts each year. This was all hidden from the membership of the church. In fact, it was hidden from most of the general authorities of the church. Why? Could it be that the authorities who were directing this action knew that this would be perceived as going beyond the mark?
Great wealth and money mean nothing to Christ. When required to pay taxes to the Romans He directed his Apostles to go fishing. And when they caught a fish, he instructed them to pull a silver coin from its mouth.
There is something perhaps sinister about a church that is able to accumulate hundreds of billions of dollars in assets. The only way to accumulate that kind of hoard is to do it on the backs of its members. Moroni warned us about corruption in the churches in our generation. “And it came to pass that when three hundred years had passed away, both the people of Nephi and the Lamanites had become exceedingly wicked one like another. And it came to pass that the robbers of Gaddianton did spread over all the face of the land; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus. And gold and silver did they lay up in store in abundance….“
The second part of the Corbin principle is played out in denying the use of “sacred” funds to help the poor. Not only does the LDS church misuse and corrupt the law of tithing in a way that mirrors the Sadducees’ and temple priest’s management of offerings, they also utterly refuse to use the money to assist the poor and destitute of its own members, because they declare it is sacred! I get there is a need to build chapels and temples and to pay the debts of the Presidency, and maybe a reasonable amount to be saved for a rainy date, but the money practices of the LDS Church have gone past what anyone would consider reasonable.
“Wait a minute, Brother,” I hear from an active church going Member of the church, “The church does spend a significant amount of money to relieve the poor.” Yes, they do, but lets take a look at how much they actually donate to the poor. The Church stated in its 2018 annual report that LDS charities has provided more than $2.2 billion or an average of $64.7 million a year, in 197 countries since the creation of LDS Charities in 1985. That’s very commendable, but it is only 4% of the $1.6 billion annually that the church considers excess to be added to its securities investments, and is less than 1% of total tithing receipts in one single year. This turns out to be a miserly sum, in terms of percentages, spent on relief of poor. The vast majority of tithing funds go to building lavishly expensive temples, supporting a large bureaucracy, purchasing large tracts of real estate, buying up and supporting businesses, and buying stocks and bonds.
Just as an aged parent may seek support from their wealthy son at the time of Jesus, and then be told that there was no money to give them because it was Corban (Sacred) , the Church has declared, maybe not in words, but in action, that there is no money to give to starving millions of its members living in abject poverty because tithing money is sacred. The authorities of the church consider the hundreds of billions of dollars as sacred and is not to be spent for the relief of the poor. They have claimed that there are other avenues to provide for the poor. The record however tells a different story.
The church claims that fast offerings provided by generous donations of members, above and in addition to the tithing funds paid, are to be used for the care of the poor. But those funds are for use only within the congregations where the donations originated and are only a very small percentage of tithing receipts. Fast offering funds are urgently needed in poor congregations where fast offerings are very small, particularly in Central and South American, and African congregations. And so, fast offerings become a further tax on the poor, and are in reality a tiny fraction of the amount collected for tithing, and never make it to the truly destitute of its members.
In a recent deposition, whistle blower David Nielsen stated that tithing funds were used to seed the Ensign Peak Advisors LDS fund and that each year since the church has added more then $1 billion to the fund sourced directly from tithing. Do you really believe that the Lord sanctions the accumulation of wealth of such a staggering amount, while millions of children who are members of the church are suffering from malnutrition in Central and South America, Africa and Asia? There are countless thousands if not millions of members that are donating money to the church at the same time wondering where their next meal is coming from.
Here is the church’s response to the allegations of tax fraud:
“We take seriously the responsibility to care for the tithes and donations received from members. The vast majority of these funds are used immediately to meet the needs of the growing church including more meetinghouses, temples, education, humanitarian work and missionary efforts throughout the world. Over many years, a portion is methodically safeguarded through wise financial management and the building of a prudent reserve for the future. This is a sound doctrinal and financial principle taught by the Savior in the Parable of the Talents and lived by the church and its members. All church funds exist for no other reason than to support the church’s divinely appointed mission.
“Claims being currently circulated are based on a narrow perspective and limited information. The church complies with all applicable law governing our donations, investments, taxes and reserves. We continue to welcome the opportunity to work with officials to address questions they may have.” (underlined text by church attorneys, bold text is by me)
This is a very legalistic response. How much is a prudent reserve? I suppose the Sadducees, who controlled the temple treasury, would have a very similar legalistic response to Jesus’ accusations. It may be legal, but that doesn’t make it right.
The Corban principle is at work exactly as described by Jesus. First, a direct commandment from the Lord is superseded by rules dictated by men in authority, specifically regarding the collecting of offerings to make it easier to accumulate wealth. Second, the money is not available for the relief of family members or poor members of the church (Members of the church are family, don’t they call each other “Brother” and “Sister”?) because it is considered “sacred”.
Speaking directly of the Gentiles and the Gentile Churches of today, Moroni declared that he sees us, he has been shown our time. He knows what we are doing and it is evil. “And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts, and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, … and your churches, yea, even every one have become polluted…For behold, ye do love money, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and needy, the sick and the afflicted.” (Mormon 8: 35-39) Do you think he was only talking about the Catholic Church, Protestant mega-churches, or televangelist ministries? No, Moroni says, “even every one have become polluted.”
On a personal level, the practice of the Corban principle in our lives is nothing more than exhibiting covetousness, greed, and idolatry. When you pass by a beggar without a thought to give him any money, you may be practicing the principle of Corban, especially if you consider that you may have been counseled not to give them any money–“Give it to the church instead. The Bishops will take care of the poor.” Except they don’t.
I will make a prophesy here, which isn’t too hard to make in this case. If the church persists in collecting burdensome tithes from the poor, and using some of that money to add to the fabulous hoard of silver and gold without dispensing a sizeable portion to the poor, it will canker and fester the soul of the church. Eventually all of that wealth will be taken away and vanish like a phantom in the night, and nothing will be left to show for all that greed and covetousness.
Great wealth is not so much a great blessing as it is a test. The test is in how the great wealth is spent. There is a better way to take advantage of the prosperity we currently are living in by accumulating money for some nebulous future day (Some say for the millennium when Christ comes, or it will be needed to build Zion). By taking away the ability of the members of the church to contribute generously to the poor by exacting burdensome tithing, the church becomes an anti-Zion society. My logic is this: In order for a people to enter into Zion they must be equal as a people– no poor among them. Zion will not come and then people change, rather, people will change and then Zion will come. One of the greatest attributes that will unite everyone as a Zion people is charity and the church has a great opportunity here to practice charity on a grand scale; to show the world what good the LDS Church can do in the world. Instead of turning in on themselves and hoarding its wealth, it can become a church of wonderous significance in the world. Just think of the impact that could be made by using its great wealth to raise up the poor, and itself in the process. And by helping to lift the status of the poor, the church really does become an agent of Zion.
I agree that the dispensing of funds to the poor, to their relief, must be done in wisdom to prevent people from becoming dependent and abrogating their own responsibilities and growth. But it can be done properly if the energies used to accumulate the wealth is turned to spending it in a way that lifts people’s souls without impairing their free will and spiritual growth. Just as He discouraged the 5,000, who were looking to him as a meal ticket, from following and depending on Him to provide their daily sustenance, the Lord does not want people to be dependent on the church.
The best advice I have to the church is sell all that you have and give to the poor, and then come and join Christ.
—————————————————————————————————————————-Notes: 1. Bell, E. Jay (1994). “The Windows of Heaven Revisited: The 1899 Tithing Reformation”. Journal of Mormon History. Mormon History Association, University of Illinois Press. p.53–54.