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jenny_islanderIn this section, Foster summarizes fasting as it is described in the Bible and by early Christian writers.
The basics of fasting are not laid out in the Bible. Everybody knew how to fast. They also knew why: as Foster says, "abstaining from food for spiritual purposes," in other words, disengaging from part of the real world in order to pay closer attention to another part. This could be done at any time for personal reasons; it was "a private matter betweem the individual and God." However, there were and are public (i.e. communal) fasts. Some were (and are) scheduled in order to provide regular attention to a perennial spiritual issue affecting the community; others were announced during "times of group or national emergency."
Public fasts to address an urgent problem did not fall out of practice as early as you might think, by the way. Foster quotes John Wesley about a public fast in England in 1756 in order to pray against a threatened invasion. "The fast day was a glorious day...Every church in the city [London] was more than full, and a solemn seriousness sat on every face. Surely God heareth prayer, and there will yet be a lengthening of our tranquillity." He later added to this diary entry: "Humility was turned into national rejoicing, for the threatened invasion...was averted."
Scheduled fasts multiplied as the centuries went on, and all sorts of reasons were produced for why people should observe them. Lest we fall into musings over the bright and superior past, Foster points out that there is actually no commandment in support of (for example) weekly fasting. Some people find that it is very good for them. That is not a reason for everyone to have to do it. We are not supposed to get so distracted by propriety and outward forms that we forget what is more important. On the other hand, fasting in order to look past physical matters toward the entire real world is still a good idea--as long as it is physically safe.
In rough outline, what does that look like?
The answer is complicated. Here are a few examples, all of which have very old precedents.
A basic fast is to eat nothing, and drink only water, until sunset. A partial fast might be to eat a plain nourishing diet, and skip using nice extras that you don't actually need in other parts of your daily life, then total up the money you save and give that to people who are (as we say now) experiencing food insecurity. A more extreme fast might be to eat nothing and drink only water for days on end; Foster asserts that with proper preparation, this could be undertaken for weeks by someone who is in good health to begin with. The most extreme fast is to eat and drink absolutely nothing. This must not be done for longer than three days.
Beware, Foster says, of dwelling on the mental clarity and feeling of physical lightness that may accompany a fast. These are nice benefits, but they are not the point. Likewise, weight loss is not the point. And fasting in order to attract public attention to a cause or spotlight wrongdoing is not fasting: it's a hunger strike.
Beware also of using self-inflicted discomfort as an attempt to earn merit or as a distraction from things you don't want to think about. And beware of combing through the Bible in search of novelty. Foster cites a fad that was just getting started at the time of writing Celebration of Discipline. It's called "watchings," and it consists of going without sleep in order to pray. This is based on a single translation of Paul's second letter to the Church of Corinth, in which he describes himself enduring sleepless nights, among many other hardships, in the service of the Kingdom. (Citations: 2 Corinthians 6:5, 11:27) In the King James Version, this is termed "watchings." And on this, certain enthusiasts have built a system of self-induced sleeplessness. This kind of behavior, says Foster, is part of what the letter to the Colossians (2:23) calls "The appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed religious piety, false humility, and harsh control of the body, but they are of no value against the gratification/satisfaction/filling-up of human nature/mere humanity/human fashion/perennial human passion and frailty." (Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament, with amplification by me.) In other words, mere material systems--ever-increasing fasts and watchings and whatnot--are not the cure for our refusal to look past everything described by the Greek word sarx, often translated "the flesh." What is? Go ask God. And God will tell you if it's a good idea for you, specifically, at a given time, to fast or "watch" or anything else.
Next post: But is fasting really not a commandment?
The basics of fasting are not laid out in the Bible. Everybody knew how to fast. They also knew why: as Foster says, "abstaining from food for spiritual purposes," in other words, disengaging from part of the real world in order to pay closer attention to another part. This could be done at any time for personal reasons; it was "a private matter betweem the individual and God." However, there were and are public (i.e. communal) fasts. Some were (and are) scheduled in order to provide regular attention to a perennial spiritual issue affecting the community; others were announced during "times of group or national emergency."
Public fasts to address an urgent problem did not fall out of practice as early as you might think, by the way. Foster quotes John Wesley about a public fast in England in 1756 in order to pray against a threatened invasion. "The fast day was a glorious day...Every church in the city [London] was more than full, and a solemn seriousness sat on every face. Surely God heareth prayer, and there will yet be a lengthening of our tranquillity." He later added to this diary entry: "Humility was turned into national rejoicing, for the threatened invasion...was averted."
Scheduled fasts multiplied as the centuries went on, and all sorts of reasons were produced for why people should observe them. Lest we fall into musings over the bright and superior past, Foster points out that there is actually no commandment in support of (for example) weekly fasting. Some people find that it is very good for them. That is not a reason for everyone to have to do it. We are not supposed to get so distracted by propriety and outward forms that we forget what is more important. On the other hand, fasting in order to look past physical matters toward the entire real world is still a good idea--as long as it is physically safe.
In rough outline, what does that look like?
The answer is complicated. Here are a few examples, all of which have very old precedents.
A basic fast is to eat nothing, and drink only water, until sunset. A partial fast might be to eat a plain nourishing diet, and skip using nice extras that you don't actually need in other parts of your daily life, then total up the money you save and give that to people who are (as we say now) experiencing food insecurity. A more extreme fast might be to eat nothing and drink only water for days on end; Foster asserts that with proper preparation, this could be undertaken for weeks by someone who is in good health to begin with. The most extreme fast is to eat and drink absolutely nothing. This must not be done for longer than three days.
Beware, Foster says, of dwelling on the mental clarity and feeling of physical lightness that may accompany a fast. These are nice benefits, but they are not the point. Likewise, weight loss is not the point. And fasting in order to attract public attention to a cause or spotlight wrongdoing is not fasting: it's a hunger strike.
Beware also of using self-inflicted discomfort as an attempt to earn merit or as a distraction from things you don't want to think about. And beware of combing through the Bible in search of novelty. Foster cites a fad that was just getting started at the time of writing Celebration of Discipline. It's called "watchings," and it consists of going without sleep in order to pray. This is based on a single translation of Paul's second letter to the Church of Corinth, in which he describes himself enduring sleepless nights, among many other hardships, in the service of the Kingdom. (Citations: 2 Corinthians 6:5, 11:27) In the King James Version, this is termed "watchings." And on this, certain enthusiasts have built a system of self-induced sleeplessness. This kind of behavior, says Foster, is part of what the letter to the Colossians (2:23) calls "The appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed religious piety, false humility, and harsh control of the body, but they are of no value against the gratification/satisfaction/filling-up of human nature/mere humanity/human fashion/perennial human passion and frailty." (Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament, with amplification by me.) In other words, mere material systems--ever-increasing fasts and watchings and whatnot--are not the cure for our refusal to look past everything described by the Greek word sarx, often translated "the flesh." What is? Go ask God. And God will tell you if it's a good idea for you, specifically, at a given time, to fast or "watch" or anything else.
Next post: But is fasting really not a commandment?
