What did the early Christian twice weekly fasts consist of?
Upvote:4
The Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity on this topic points us to The Shepherd of Hermas. This work is dated to about the same time as the Didache (last first or early second century) and bears some similarities with it, and describes more specifically how a Christian is to fast:
First of all, be on your guard against every evil word, and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you guard against these things, your fasting will be perfect. And you will do also as follows. Having fulfilled what is written, in the day on which you fast you will taste nothing but bread and water; and having reckoned up the price of the dishes of that day which you intended to have eaten, you will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some person in want. (Similtude 5, ch. 3)
We quickly notice the limitation to only bread and water, but the fast is not merely self-denial with respect to food, but an emphasis on purifying oneself spiritually and showing generosity to the needy.
More post
- 📝 Are sins discrete events only, or can they also be of a continuous, on-going nature?
- 📝 Has Mark 10:39 been fulfilled? Death of John
- 📝 During Lutheran Confession, can the confessor refuse to absolve the sins of the penitent?
- 📝 Is physical presence in the church necessary to fulfill the Sunday mass obligation?
- 📝 What do Calvinists teach about the Election of mankind? Is it before or after the Creation?
- 📝 Are Christians called to forgive Unbelievers?
- 📝 What do the woman and the man child from Rev.12 symbolize, for diferent traditions?
- 📝 Is Knuth's 3:16 project unique?
- 📝 What basis could there be for an 18th century Christian to say that "Gnostics were the Antinomians of their day"?
- 📝 Is there any theological tradition holding that soon after being born, baby Jesus was full of wisdom because this baby is God?
- 📝 How is doing 'what is right in the eyes of everyone' different from being 'politically correct'?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the eternal existence of the lost in hell?
- 📝 According to authoritative Catholic exegetes, does 2 Cor. 6:14 forbid Christians from working with non-Christians in the workplace?
- 📝 Who gets to decide who is a prophet and who is not?
- 📝 When and where did the Catholic tradition of first communion at 7 years old start?
- 📝 Is it right to say "Truly for Christ" or "Truly in Christ"?
- 📝 Did Abraham have faith in the future coming of Christ?
- 📝 Are today's Catholics encouraged to study the Bible at home?
- 📝 Is there any evidence that Romans viewed Christian teachings on sexual restraint as a liberating influence?
- 📝 What is the scriptural evidence that faith comes from God?
- 📝 How do people become the sheep that Jesus speaks of in John 10?
- 📝 How could the person in Luke 9:49 cast out demons without Jesus' mandate?
- 📝 Is it justifiable to kill an innocent person with the following conditions?
- 📝 How much time passes between Adam and Jesus?
- 📝 Distributing the bread before consecrating the wine
- 📝 Did Jesus have a different Will in Lk 22:42 ? What was it like?
- 📝 What are the "evangelical counsels"?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for man being created perfect, or for man not being created perfect?
- 📝 Is there any historical evidence that would indicate where exactly the ark of the covenant is now located?
- 📝 Do Mormons/LDS believe that the Bible in any way predicts the coming of Joseph Smith?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What did the early Christian twice weekly fasts consist of?
- 📝 When did the Early Church begin and end their twice weekly fasts?
- 📝 Why did this Early Version of the Watchtower Magazine include Crosses, and what do these other Symbols on the Magazine Represent?
- 📝 What did the Early Church Fathers think about pets (animals) going to Heaven upon death?
- 📝 What did the early church fathers (pre-5th c.) teach with regards to the doctrine of baptism as a necessity for salvation?
- 📝 What did the fathers of the early church think of Tertullian?
- 📝 Did any groups or noted theologians in early Christian history teach that the Holy Spirit is matriarchal?
- 📝 What was Martin Luther's perspective on the early Christian church?
- 📝 What view of eschatology did the early church believe?
- 📝 What did the early church fathers have to say about “eternal security” or “assurance of salvation”
- 📝 What did the early church believe about the "rapture"?
- 📝 Death of animals before the fall - what did the early church fathers believe?
- 📝 When the early church was formalising the canon, what did they understand by the word 'Inspired'?
- 📝 What was the socioeconomic makeup of early Christian Gnostic sects?
- 📝 What influence did Greek philosophy have on the formation of orthodox Christian doctrine?
- 📝 What did the early Church Fathers (pre-Nicea A.D. 325) have to say about faith, baptism and if it is the act of baptism that saves?
- 📝 Why did the early Christian church stop building and worshiping in temples?
- 📝 What did the Early Church Fathers believe about the fate of the unreached?
- 📝 What did the early church fathers (pre-5th c.) teach with regards to baptismal regeneration?
- 📝 What did Christian authors of the 7th - 15th centuries say about the Muslim claim of Gospels being direct revelations from God?
- 📝 What did the Early Church (ante-Nicene period) believe about Gehenna and the Second Death?
- 📝 What did the original Christian writings look like during the 1st century CE?
- 📝 What did the Early Christians Believe About the Trinity Before the Gospel of John?
- 📝 According to Catholic Church, did the Eucharistic celebration of Early Church consist of an entire meal?
- 📝 What are origins and when did the tradition of the Yule Candles come into existence as a Christian tradition?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus fulfilled the law but did not abolish it?
- 📝 What were the Nephilim, and what role did they play in the Bible beyond just being mentioned?
- 📝 Did early church fathers understand the doctrine of trinity?
- 📝 What is the meaning and origin of bridal veils in Christian weddings?
- 📝 Did the early Church Fathers have a complete agreement on how to interpret 1 Peter 3:18-20?