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The great leaders of the Reformation and Protestantism
sought by example and instruction to correct the abuses of fasting
during the Middle Ages and to restore its original biblical intention.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) - rejected the
strict requirements of the church, which caused people to believe
fasting would justify them. He taught “that genuine Christian
fasting is a fruit of repentance, that it helps keep the flesh in
check and is a fine outward training in preparing to better receive
God’s grace.” He fasted intermittently while translating
the Bible. At one point in his life, friends thought his health
was endangered due to much fasting.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) –
the Italian Reformer grew so weak from fasting that he had to be
assisted to remain in the pulpit. His powerful sermons were so effective
that his audience wept while beating their breasts and crying for
God’s mercy. His sermons caused such fear that the streets
of Florence were silent.
John Calvin (1509-1564) – exposed
the abominable fasting habits of the Catholic Church in his time.
He taught that fasting is of no value to God unless the heart is
right and unless fasting is accompanied by genuine repentance, humiliation,
and sorrow in the presence of an awesome God. Calving believed that
Jesus did not abolish fasting altogether but assigned it to periods
of distress.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714) – This
pastor, scholar, and writer expressed regret that fasting was generally
neglected among Christians of his day. He assumed that it was a
duty required of believers. He listed four reasons why fasting is
important: it secures God’s power to assist us; it sharpens
prayer; it demonstrates humiliation before God; it controls the
body.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) - was the
leader of the Great Awakening in New England. Throngs attended his
meetings in which his sermons were accompanied by fainting and outcries.
Many communities were spiritually changed. He fasted three days
prior to the revival in which he preached his powerful sermon, “Sinners
in the Hands of an Angry God.” He interceded repeatedly for
New England. When he arose from praying and entered the pulpit,
his countenance reflected God’s presence.
John Wesley (1703 – 1791) –
preached and practiced fasting, fasting each Wednesday and Friday.
He later encouraged all Methodists to observe the same days, because
he believed that the early church kept these days. He said that
if he failed to fast and pray, he quickly lost his spiritual fervor.
Men of the nineteenth-century who were given to fasting were Charles
G. Finney (1792-1875), Andrew Murray (1825-1917),
and Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892). When
Finney felt devoid of the power of God, he would fast and pray for
a day. Spurgeon once announced, “Our seasons of fasting and
prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has Heaven’s
gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central
Glory.”
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