A while ago I signed up for an account at Booksneeze, a site that offer free books from Thomas Nelson Publishing to those who agree to blog about the book upon completing it. This is that promised post. For my first book I chose Scot Mcknight, Fasting, from the Ancient Practice Series. While fasting is a common practice of Go
d’s people easily found biblically and historically, instruction on its use in the Christian life seems to be rare in the Lutheran circles I have traveled in. While I am certain that there are Lutherans fasting, the practice of passing along this discipline through teaching or practice to others appears to not be common.
As far as I remember, this is my first book by Scot McKnight, although I was familiar with him colloquially. His style of writing is easy to digest and enjoyable, although for my tastes, the conclusion to many of his chapters seemed a little too folksy or informal.
Lutheran pastors are quite rightfully cautious when reading things published in non-Lutheran Christian publishing houses since the theology is often quite removed the biblical understandings we have received. This book though is quite a comfortable read theologically because it is rooted in historic understandings of the faith and of fasting. Thankfully for the church as a whole, lots of emergent leaders are spending lots of time reading patristic sources and leaving those reads with orthodox thoughts about the faith.
Scot’s book was extremely insightful to me and by far the best book on fasting I have encountered. The main premise of this book is that while the parts of the church practicing fasting speak of it as a means to and end, the bible speaks of it as a response to a “sacred grievous moment.” Fasting is not something to be done in order to move God into action.  It is meant to be natural response to a moment when God people realize that something is not as it should be in themselves, their faith community, or the world at large. However, Scott admits that it is not a natural move for most modern Christians. I believe he rightly blames the dualism so widely believed in the church which leads us to believe that the body and soul act independently of one another. He is right that the Bible does not operate with that assumption. It assumes that the body and soul are very much connected. This is true now and for also eternity. As he suggests, if we can restore this connection to our worldview, when our soul is stirred we will quite naturally include our bodies in such a disturbance. Fasting will accompany our repentance and our prayers.   He uses what he call the a->b>c movements of fasting to help explains that fasting should be a response rather than a chosen act to manipulate God. The slide below summarizes one such movement:
He also does a nice job of speaking of what kind of moments might naturally lead to fasting. Not only does he list things like recognition of sin, calamity, or death, but also notes how the church often fasted in response to movements in the church year calendar.
If you are like me, always wanting to ponder and then practice fasting, I suggest this book. While there are some things, including an undue emphasis on mystical manifestations of God’s presence that may come with fasting that will cause Lutheran theologians to pause and wish that Scot more fully understood the locatedness of God in the sacraments, I found that the wisdom in this book far outweighed any error in it.
I hope that in having read it, I will be much more ready in the next sacred grievous moment to let my body in on the response to the moment.
Does he address the Roman practice of fasting before receiving the sacrament? Also… just a random thought, do you suppose that fasting is not taught or practiced widely within Lutheranism because it does’t fit neatly into the L&G distinction?
Russell, he does speak of fasting before the Supper and likes the idea. I think there is some hesitancy because of the “penancy” feel to it. but if you understand it just as the companion to the thoughts/soul searching already present, I see no problem.
Where can one purchase said book? For the last 5 years I have fasted during Lent, and my understanding of fasting is somewhat parallel to what you wrote. However I think his book would be a good resource for me. Thank you for sharing it.
Why would you NOT want to fast before receiving the Eucharist? As our Lord says, when the bridegroom is present, no one will fast. But when the very body and blood of our Lord is then made manifest before our very eyes for our healing, should that not be the very first thing to touch our lips on that morning. And our fasting should always be coupled with prayer, otherwise you have merely changed your diet.
Phil, I’ve noticed that fasting is becoming a phenomenon among Protestants who, despite their tendency to see anything after the Apostles up to the time of the Reformation as a time period where the church ceased to exist or was in perpetual error, want to embrace this teaching of the church. Too many still are apprehensive because they view it as “trying to win points with God.” My question to you is simply this: why? Why is fasting now such a major topic among non-Orthodox confessions?
Amanda, here is the link at amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Fasting-Ancient-Practices-Scot-McKnight/dp/0849901081
Chris-
Did you fast as a Lutheran? Or was it new to you in the orthodox church?
Are you familiar with the emerging church movement? IMO, They are a group of leaders who reacted to the largely corporate emphases of the church growth movement. They also love multi-sensory experiences, since most of them are young, and grew up learning that way. These two ideas have led many of them back into the church fathers where they have found much that was much less produced and used all the senses. Hence, they are trying to restore some of these practices.
Phil,
In answer to your question, I did. But not before the Eucharist since that was NEVER part of my cathechism instruction. However, I did keep the fast for the Triduum and ate nothing on Great Friday, though that was difficult because my mother did not approve and I was often at home during Easter.
Hey, Phil,
Would you mind terribly if I asked you to borrow that book? You’d get it back,of course. It’s not something I want to buy or even need for my library but I’m very interested in how the author treats this subject. Email me, please. Thanks.
Chris
email me an address at pastor@ihoppe.com and I will send it to you.