Where is "fasting" in the bible?

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ladylove said:
That’s not fair. If that were true, his friend would have known about fasting. It’s all through the bible.
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Exactly!

Look at the Beatitudes. Chapter 5 of Matthew’s Gospel contains the “Blessed are those” comments and the “you have heard it said… but I say” comments. The last thing Jesus says in chapter 5 is So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Then in chapter 6, Jesus instructs us on how to be perfect. What does He cover?
  1. Almsgiving (“When you give alms…”)
  2. Pray (“When you pray…”)
  3. Fast (“When you fast…”)
Notice that none of those are “If you…”, but “When you…”.

It’s pretty simple to me, especially if one believes in Sola Scriptura.
 
ladylove said:
That’s not fair. If that were true, his friend would have known about fasting. It’s all through the bible.
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I agree that it is. Protestants believe in sola scriptura; fasting is throughout the Bible; his Protestant friend would have known about fasting; ergo, what is the purpose of the question?
 
sedonaman said:
I agree that it is. Protestants believe in sola scriptura; fasting is throughout the Bible; his Protestant friend would have known about fasting; ergo, what is the purpose of the question?
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Often its the “authority to make others fast” that they question. They look to St. Paul’s 1st letter in Corinthians to backup their complaints.
 
NotWorthy said:
Often its the “authority to make others fast” that they question. …
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Well, they might start by expressing that in the OP question. How are we to read “authority to make others fast” into it? Or are we “just supposed to know”?
 
sedonaman said:
Well, they might start by expressing that in the OP question. How are we to read “authority to make others fast” into it? Or are we “just supposed to know”?
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Back from a vacation - yeah!

Yes, my protestant friend is an ex-Catholic that thinks he can convince me that the Catholic Church is a false church because of all of its rules. He is coming at this from a purely emotional point of view - there is no substance to it.

I think that providing him the “When you fast…” verse in conjunction with the comment that I really need a given day to fast. I don’t wake up thinking that today would be a wonderful day to fast. Without the some kind of rule, I would fail to fast.

The Catholic Church has very mild rules (just an opinion here) on fasting.

But, yes, the whole question of authority is a problem for my protestant friend. Anyway - that whole thing is another thread. However, his position is basically, “If the Catholic Church is for it, then he’s against it - unless his bible specifically speaks to it.” As long as he will keep talking with me, I think that he’ll eventually understand the reality of the Catholic Church.
 
in_servitude said:
The Catholic Church has very mild rules (just an opinion here) on fasting.

But, yes, the whole question of authority is a problem for my protestant friend. Anyway - that whole thing is another thread. However, his position is basically, “If the Catholic Church is for it, then he’s against it - unless his bible specifically speaks to it.” As long as he will keep talking with me, I think that he’ll eventually understand the reality of the Catholic Church.
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Mild rules indeed! I think the early Church fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays (the fasts would last from sun up to sun down, which I think is also how the Jews did their twice-weekly fasts). That is relatively light compared to today!

And your friend sounds like the typical ex-Catholic. He’s got to justify that he was correct in leaving the Church, so he’ll do anything to prove himself right. Ever notice how ex-smokers are often the worst anti-smokers and ex-drinkers are the worst anti-drinkers?

Its often the same with ex-Catholics.

One day when you and your friend are bantering back and forth, ask him what did Jesus mean when he gave Peter (by himself) and then the Apostles (as a whole) the authority to Bind and Loose in Matthew chapters 16 & 18. That ought to be interesting… and to be honest with you; That is the crux of the issue!

You can tell your friend that the Catholic Church is simply exerting Her right to Bind and Loose when She tells Catholics to fast.
 
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