Lesson ▪ 1998 Tags: Fasting Excerpted from Perspectives on Fasting
Highlights from Church History
- The early
Christians practiced fasting due to the influence of Jewish customs as well as
their understanding of Jesus’ approval of the practice.
- By the
end of the first century, it was fairly common for Christians to fast two days
a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, This custom constituted both an endorsement
and a rejection of Jewish custom, which prescribed fasting twice a week, though
not on the same days (Hinson 344; Achelis 4:281).
- In the
early centuries of church history the practice of fasting was formalized, with
various fast days and periods being established in various areas of the world.
Initially, fasting practices differed significantly from place to place (4:282;
Maclean 5:765-69), but gradually they came to some consensus. One of the controversies
concerning fasting emerged between the Montanists of Phrygia and the remainder
of the Christian world (5:766).
- The fasts
celebrated by most Christian communities in the early centuries of church
history included the weekly fasts; Lent (observed in the weeks preceding
Easter); and the Advent fast (observed in the weeks leading up to Christmas)
(Achelis 4:281-83; M’Clintock 3:490-91).
- In the
Middle Ages, when Christianity was divided into Eastern and Western
camps led
by the Greek and Roman churches, respectively, fasting practices
developed in each group (3:491; Hinson 344). The prescriptions of the
Greek Church were so strict that the calendar came to call for half the
year’s
days to be spent in fasting (Achelis 4:283).
- The mode
of fasting has not been uniform through church history. A normal fast is
currently understood to be complete abstinence from food but not from water.
This conception of fasting was not shared by early and medieval Christians,
however. Achelis notes that “fasting was generally understood abstinence from
all food till evening, or one meal a day; and this was to be as simple as
possible” (4:283). The forty-day fasts of medieval Christianity seem more
reasonable in the light of this loose definition of fasting.
- With the
association of the Catholic faith and the Roman Empire there emerged “a much
greater stress on form, ritual, and liturgy. Fasting thus became increasingly
linked with a legalistic theology and the concept of meritorious works” (Linder
406).
- The
sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers repudiated the use of fasting as a means
of earning God’s favor, but did not condemn its private or public practice
provided that it expressed the genuine sentiments of the heart (407; M’Clintock
492-93). John Calvin stated that “it were far better that fasting should be
entirely disused, than that the practice should be diligently observed, and at
the same time corrupted with false and pernicious opinions” (qtd. in M’Clintock
493). The Westminster Confession approved of the appropriate use of “solemn
fastings” (493).
- The
Anabaptists of the Reformation “relegated fasting once more to the private
sphere, leaving it up to the individual believer to determine its
appropriateness for enhancing self-discipline and prayer” (Linder 407).
- Since the
Reformation, most mainline denominations have generally adhered to a liturgical
approach to fasting, prescribing specific fast days and laying down explicit
restrictions and permissions (Achelis 283-84). However, “fasting is not made
imperative as a term of membership in the Church, but is generally recommended
as a Christian duty . . .” (M’Clintock 491).
- Fasting
has been emphasized to varying degrees in modern Christian circles. John Wesley
not only practiced it himself but imposed it on his followers (Wallis 34). Some
contemporary charismatics regard fasting to be of considerable importance to
spiritual life (Linder 407). Overall, however, fasting seems to be neglected by
most Christians today (Wallis 10-11).
Lessons from Church History
- Throughout Christian history the church has suffered from
both the inappropriate and insufficient practice of fasting. According to
Arthur Wallis, in our rejection of medieval asceticism, “[w]e have not yet
recovered the spiritual balance of New Testament Christianity” (11). In seeking
to achieve this balance, we can learn several useful principles from church history.
- Institutionalized fasting has historically led to the
violation of biblical teaching:
- by exaggerating the significance of fasting
- by measuring spirituality by outward exercises rather than
inward commitment
- by causing unnecessary divisions among believers
- by binding Christians’ consciences in an area of personal
liberty
- by attempting to legislate spirituality
- by creating cultural forms that exceed biblical
prescriptions and conferring upon them the status of divine mandates
- The recent de-emphasis of fasting has likely hindered
Christians from living holy lives and praying effectively.
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