THE HISTORICAL USE OF FASTING IN CHRISTIANITY

Victoria Schlie
THE 333: History of the Christian Church
November 14, 2017
 THE HISTORICAL USE OF FASTING IN CHRISTIANITY

This paper will review a few predominant Christian thoughts regarding the practice of

fasting, the historical place of fasting within the Christian tradition, and the modern application

of fasting as a personal practice.

Failed Fasting in the Garden

The early church father Tertullian (160-220 A.D.) traces the concept of fasting back to

the Garden of Eden when Adam failed to fulfill the fast from eating the fruit of the tree of Good
1
and Evil which God had commanded . Tertullian chastises, “saved (as he would) else (have
2
been), if he had preferred to fast from one little tree” . If Adam had obeyed God’s rule to fast

from that one tree, he would have experienced the fullness of salvation. The fact that God

instituted a period of refraining from natural desire before man’s rebellion suggests that
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Scripture’s call for Christians to fast is not a punishment for sin, but an original tool of God’s to

bring about maturity. Therefore, our fasting (post-rebellion) is of the same kind as Adam’s was

supposed to be (pre-rebellion); so, by fasting in the flesh, we undergo a real spiritual process of

sanctification. Tertullian advocates that in refraining from food, we relive Adam’s experience
4
while pleasing God with our correct adherence to His command, unlike Adam . He further

expands “that by a renewed interdiction [prohibition] of food and observation of precept the

primordial sin might now be expiated… hunger might rekindle, just as satiety had extinguished,
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salvation” . It seems that Adam chose between satiating either salvation or his fleshly desires,

1
Genesis 3:11. All biblical references in this paper are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless
otherwise noted.
2
Tertullian, Rev. S. Thelwall, trans., ​On Fasting in Opposition to the Psychics,​ ed. Alexander Roberts
(Grand Rapids, MI: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994) 103-104.
3
Ezra 8:23, Esther 4:16, Isaiah 58:3-7, Joel 2:12, Jonah 3:7-9, Matthew 6:16-18, Luke 4:2-4, Acts 2:17
4
Tertullian, ​On Fasting​, 104.
5
Ibid.

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but not both. In choosing to satisfy our flesh, we condemn our salvation, while in choosing to

condemn our flesh (for a time), we “rekindle” the process of sanctification and the experience of

salvation. This is not to say that sanctification is dependent on human asceticism or performance,
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as Paul blatantly opposes , but that submitting to God’s original command grows us spiritually

and is part of sanctification.

Fasting out of Human Presumption

During Tertullian’s time, the movement of Montanism arose, which emphasized the

spontaneity of the Holy Spirit, affirmed new prophetic words, and encouraged strict austere

fasting in order to channel the Holy Spirit. Against the fasting practices of this movement,

Tertullian wrote ​On Fasting in Opposition to the Psychics.​ Although he believed they were not

heretical in their doctrines (later becoming a Montanist himself), he condemned their

enforcement of fasting because it was either out of “human presumption; or else pronounced
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pseudo-prophecy,” both of which he deemed “anathema”. The Montanists used fasting as a

manipulation of the Holy Spirit, believing that they could increase visions and prophetic words

through ascetic practice. This line of reasoning borders orthodoxy and heresy because Scripture

does proclaim that the kind of faith it takes to move mountains and expel demons cannot come
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about “except by prayer and fasting” ; however, the day of Pentecost exemplifies that God gives
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visions and pours out His Spirit based on His own discernment , not because humans have

appealed to Him. Ezekiel 36:22 reveals that God’s interactions with and saving of His people are

“not for your sake, oh house of Israel… but for the sake of My holy name.” Therefore, any

6
Romans 8:3, 9:16, 11:6, Galatians 2:21, 6:3-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:3-9
7
Tertullian, ​On Fasting​, 104.
8
Matthew 17:21 (New King James Version)
9
Acts 2:17

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ascetic practice with the purpose of manipulating the Spirit or seeking a higher spiritual position

is offensive to God. Rather, fasting is meant to reveal to us our own rebelliousness, putting us not

in a position of hyper-spirituality, but giving us “a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
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God, [which] you will not despise.”

Growing the Capacity to be Filled

Another early church father, Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), explained fasting as a

purposeful stretching of our appetites for the true Bread of Life in his work ​On the Usefulness of

Fasting.​ When we satiate the appetite whenever it demands, the appetite in never allowed to

reach a greater intensity. By withholding food from the appetite, the hunger intensifies and

begins to long for more than what is normally used to satisfy it. Augustine proclaims that fasting

grows in us the capacity to hold more justice, hope, love, and so on: “Moreover, when men are

hungry, they stretch out toward something; while they are stretching, they are enlarged; while

they are enlarged, they become capacious, and, when they have become capacious enough, they
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will be filled in due time.” God uses the practice to expand our ability to receive the life-giving

and satisfying food that we simply do not have the capacity to receive in our old, unsubdued

flesh. In the beatitudes in Matthew 5, Jesus commends those “who ​hunger and thirst for

righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (ESV). The implication here is that those who do not

hunger and thirst will not, indeed cannot, be satisfied.

Psalm 51:17
10

Augustine, “On the Usefulness of Fasting”, in ​Saint Augustine Treatises on Various Subjects (The
11

Fathers of the Church, Vol. 16),​ ed. Roy J. Deferrari, (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2002), 404.

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 The Line of Gnosticism

The 4​th​ Century saw a rising adherence to strict asceticism because of the platonic belief

of Gnosticism that had crept into Christianity, and fasting was a prime practice for ascetics.

Augustine both affirms the fact that the flesh struggles against the spirit (Gal. 5:17)—a verse

commonly quoted by ascetics—and the anti-platonic idea that the flesh is a good, created entity
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to be cared for in his analogy of the flesh as an untamed, yet tamable, beast. If one is riding a

wild beast on a long journey, withdrawing nourishment from the beast will subdue it. The only

way to tame this kind a beast is to stop feeding it; therefore, we deny our flesh nourishment not

because we hate our flesh (as Gnostics do), but because we care about it and wish for it to be

submitted to that which we know is good for it. Augustine then points out that the ascetics prize

the verse Galatians 5:17 to justify their complete denial of the body (revealed in extensive

fasting), but that they do not equally esteem Ephesians 5:29: “​​ For no one ever hated his own

flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” He speaks against this

Gnostic preference in declaring, “You, therefore, who posit one creator for the flesh and another

for the spirit are ready to posit one creator for the Church and another for Christ, an idea which
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he who is wise scorns.” He then challenges their idea of fasting as a self-inflicted righteous

punishment by comparing the subduing of the flesh in fasting to subduing a son to obedience:

“You subdue your son so that he may obey you. Do you hate him? Do you consider him your
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enemy?” Fathers are driven to subdue their sons by love. We fast because we desire good for

our flesh, which we know requires obedience, not because our natural body is our enemy.

12
​ asting, 407.
Augustine, ​On the Usefulness of F
13
Ibid., 409.
14
Ibid., 410.

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 The Institution of Lent

The most prominent Christian institution of fasting is the season of Lent in the Roman

Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, although many protestant traditions also celebrate it.

Many Catholics believe that 40-day fasting was an apostle founded norm from the early church

to prepare for Easter. Although fasting was a common practice directly before Easter, the

duration varied, and many fasts only lasted one or two days; “Only following the Council of
15
Nicaea in 325 a.d. did the length of Lent become fixed at forty days, and then only nominally.”

This lengthening of the fasting and preparatory period before Easter was most likely a reaction to
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the influx of former pagans wishing to be admitted into the Church and baptized during Easter.

This lengthening allowed more time for instruction and guidance before they were baptized.

Because the Catholic tradition baptizes new Christians predominantly during Easter, the fasting

period associated with it became its own separate season (Lent); However, while there is strong

evidence that fasting has always been a pre-baptism tradition, baptism (and its respective fasting)
17
has not always been limited to Easter time. The early church always tied the practice of fasting

in order to prepare one’s spirit for dying to sin and flesh with the baptismal entrance into the

body of Christ. After the Council of Nicaea, Lent served as an imitation of, and therefore

commemoration and living into, of Jesus’ 40-day trial after His own baptism. However, the

celebration of this trial and Easter were not originally related, so the current Lent directly before
18
Easter seems to be a simple combination of the two celebrations.

15
Nicolas V. Russo, “The early history of Lent”, (University publication, The Center for Christian Ethics
at Baylor University, 2013), 18-19.
16
Ibid., 19
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid., 21

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 Modern Application

For this Christian Practice assignment, I will be reviewing my practice of fasting every

Monday this semester. These fasting periods will be from when I wake up on Monday until I

wake up on Tuesday, in which I will abstain from all foods (occasional drinks other than water

are allowed). I will focus on different aspects of spiritual maturity throughout the process,

dedicating some fasting days to leaning into the pain and hunger that Christ experienced in His

fasting (as Lent focuses on). Other days, I will dwell not on the hunger itself, but on simply

obeying God’s original command to Adam while focusing on God’s goodness and the day He

has gifted me with. Still, other days, I will focus on taming the unruly flesh within me, forcing its

submission to God through my fasting. I seek also to review the experience of adherence to a set

routine of fasting. I hope that this routine will produce more spiritual maturity in me than

isolated bursts of fasting usually done in response to a crisis. I believe the overall experience of

having to obey and submit to God through fasting repeatedly and routinely will shape my

disposition toward fasting I general.

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 Bibliography

Augustine, “On the Usefulness of Fasting.” In ​Saint Augustine Treatises on Various Subjects (The

Fathers of the Church, Vol. 16)​, edited by Roy J. Deferrari, 397-422. Washington, D.C.: The

Catholic University of America Press, 2002.

Russo, Nicolas V., “The early history of Lent.” University publication, The Center for Christian Ethics at

Baylor University, 2013.

Tertullian, Rev. S. Thelwall, trans., ​On Fasting in Opposition to the Psychics​. Edited by Alexander

Roberts. Grand Rapids, MI: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994.