Bible Questions and Answers

A visitor writes,

"Hello Please explain "Religious Merchandise" as in 2 Peter 2:1-3

2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

‘Damnable heresies’ brought in by the early Church as it fell into apostacy can be listed briefly as follows:

1. That God is a ‘Trinity’ consisting of 3 persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. That Jesus is God.
3. That ‘satan’ the ‘devil’ is a fallen angel.
4. That men possess immortal souls – i.e. at death we don’t actually die.
5. That immortal souls go to heaven, or purgatory, or to eternal fiery torment at death.
6. That dead ‘saints’ are alive in heaven and can make intercession for the living.
7. That men can fight one another in ‘just’ wars.
8. That Tithing of income be used to support the ‘church’.

Most churches fleece their congregations by insisting that they pay a tithe – a tenth of their income - for the upkeep of their ‘pastors’. Tithing of agricultural increase was a requirement under the Old Covenant to support the Levites who received no inheritance in terms of agricultural land.

There is no such commandment to tithe under the New Covenant.

May I suggest that you read ‘Do Christians still need to pay tithes?’ here:

Must Christians Pay Tithes?

If you then have further questions, please ask. I hope this helps.

God bless,
Glenn