"A Humble Servant's Catholic Blog"

In THIS article, I discussed fasting and abstinence in Christian tradition and explained how this practice is NOT at odds with 1Tim 4:3. Here, I simply provide some of the Scriptural passages that pertain to fasting, and let the Bible speak for itself. Then all the Israelites, the whole army, went back to Bethel and wept, sitting there before the Lord; they fasted that day until evening. (Judges 20:26) So they gathered at Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the Lord. They fasted that day, and said, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. (1Sam 7:6) Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.(1Sam 31:13) They mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.(2 Sam 1:12) David therefore pleaded with God for the child; David fasted, and went i...

It’s the beginning of the Lenten Season and you have no doubt heard Catholics talk about fasting, abstaining from meat, and doings acts of charity during Lent. You might even hear other Christians speak of doing these things. What are they talking about, and why do they do this when the Bible clearly says, “.. in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ”? (1Tim 4:1-3) To understand why a Bible-believing Christian would read this verse, and then see no problem at all with fasting and abstinence, it might help to understand what these things mean to a Catholic (or to a non-Catholic who also practices these). Lent is the [approximately] 40 day period before Easter. Easter is the most important holy day of the Christ...

Continuing where we left off in Part 4 we move now to some Church disciplines and touch on the topic of Authority and Sacramental Confession. As before, to keep the length within reason, I’ll let Mr. Ariss’ examinations speak for themselves and add my own comments in blue where I feel more clarification is needed. Everything in black ink, from here on, is quoted directly from Wayne Ariss (with his generous permission…see link in the very first part of this series) with the bolded text being the direct quote from Boettner’s list : “ 21. Fasting on Fridays and during Lent....998 . Fasting on Fridays is mentioned as far back as the Didache (140 AD) [39], thus rendering Boettner more than 800 years off the mark. As for the Lenten fast, Athanasius, writing in his Festal Letters of 331 AD, stated that the faithful should fast for 40 days during Lent [40]. This makes Boettner 667 years off the mark. Canon 69 of the Apostolic Canons, which pre-date 341 AD, admonishes bishops, clergy, a...