Is the practice of faith centered solely on the spirit? Can the body actually play a role in our pursuit of God? In Fasting, Dr. Scot McKnight reconnects the spiritual and the physical through the discipline of fasting. The act of fasting, he argues, should not be focused on results or used as a manipulative tool. It's a practice to be used in response to sacred moments, just as it has in the lives of God's people throughout history. McKnight gives us Scriptural accounts of fasting, along with practical wisdom on benefits and pitfalls, when we should fast, and what happens to our bodies as a result.
Building a body and mind that hungers for God.
Is the practice of faith centered solely on the spirit? Is the body an enemy, or can it actually play a role in our pursuit of God? In this installation of the Ancient Practices Series, Dr. Scot McKnight reconnects the spiritual and the physical through the discipline of fasting.
The act of fasting, he says, should not be focused on results or used as a manipulative tool. It is a practice to be used in response to sacred moments, just as it has in the lives of God’s people throughout history. McKnight gives us scriptural accounts of fasting, along with practical wisdom on benefits and pitfalls, when we should fast, and what happens to our bodies as a result.
For those who have wondered how to grasp the value of this most misunderstood ancient
practice, this book is a comprehensive guide.
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by Chris Smith (Indianapolis, IN), February 09, 2009
Just in time for the season of Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday (this year February 25), Thomas Nelson has just released the newest book in its “Ancient Practices” series: Fasting by Scot McKnight. This volume offers both a deeply rooted theological case for fasting and a firm caution against the dangers that fasting poses to one’s health, if done excessively or without an understanding of how the human body works.
...I’ve tried fasting on my own a few times, particularly on retreats, but to paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, fasting is a practice that I’ve found difficult and therefore one that I’ve pretty much left untried. I recognize the biblical and historical significance of fasting, but have never really been part of a church community that valued fasting as a significant practice.
It seems to me that at least part of our hesitancy toward fasting here at Englewood Christian Church is the ways that we’ve seen fasting being done in theologically appalling ways. At the book’s outset, McKnight names one such erroneous and detrimental way that fasting is practiced, to which he will frequently return over the course of the book: viz., fasting in order to produce results. Such a practice of fasting, which McKnight calls an instrumental view of fasting, is not a healthy spiritual discipline, but rather a “manipulative device.” McKnight argues instead that fasting is a responsive practice, saying that fasting is a body’s natural response to grief. He does not deny that sometimes results do come from fasting, but he is adamant that for the people of God, the why of fasting should be a response to grief and not a means to an end – however good that end might seem. McKnight is also careful to point out that avoiding chocolate, coffee, television or some other enjoyable habit for Lent can be helpful as a sort of abstinence, but should not be called fasting.
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