Curious Christian

Reflections on culture, nature, and spirituality from a Christian perspective

Fasting as an Incarnational Spiritual Discipline?

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Matt Stone

2008-03-05

I have been questioning my stance on fasting today.

Here’s the story. Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about spiritual disciplines in relation to incarnational approaches to Christianity, particularly in terms of which are most consistent with it, and well, the strange thought that occurred to me today was: maybe I have been too dismissive of fasting in the past.

Let me explain. Part of my indifference towards fasting, if not outright antipathy, has been the traditional conjunction between it and asceticism. With asceticism being the epitome of mind-body dualism, and incarnational Christianity being its holistic antithesis, I couldn’t see how any discipline that encouraged a distain for the body could actually be all that helpful.

Well, what has struck me today was that, in reacting against historical abuses, I may have been throwing the out baby with the bathwater. It struck me that fasting acknowledges the mind body spirit link more than any other discipline, or at least as much as any other discipline. Taken to an extreme it is certainly harmful, and I still reject that, but practiced in moderation, I’m thinking, it actually has the potential to reinforce that training of mind body and spirit is simultaneous.

This led me to thinking about yoga and the way both horrendous self-abuse and superb self-control reside within that tradition. Maybe I have to explore this some more and give thought to how that happens. What are helpful approaches and what are not so helpful?

In reflecting on this, it also struck me, fasting was at home within the Hebrew tradition, which was far more holistic than the NeoPlatonist inspired traditions we more often associate it with. Why did I not acknowledge this before? Blind spot? I suspect I have discovered a new thing for me to work on.

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16 responses to “Fasting as an Incarnational Spiritual Discipline?”

Benjamin Sternke

2008-03-05

Fasting is, I think, a discipline that is one of the easiest to misunderstand and mispractice (i.e. for the wrong reasons). Dallas Willard actually has helped me understand it better than anyone, in that he linked it with “feasting” on the kingdom, i.e. we are training our bodies to receive sustenance directly from the kingdom among us… Richard Foster was also helpful.
I read something this week, though, on the term “ascetic” that was interesting. You wrote that asceticism was the “epitome of mind-body dualism” but Simon Chan argues for a way of understanding asceticism much more in line with your definition of “incarnational Christianity”:
“The term ascetical needs some clarification, since it almost always has a pejorative connotation in popular usage… It is derived from te Greek askein, ‘to train,’ and was originally applied to the training of athletes (askesis). To describe spiritual theology as ascetical implies that systematic and disciplined spiritual exercises constitute the primary means of spiritual development.” (from Spiritual Theology).
Athletes put strain and tension on their bodies, not because they hate them, but because they are training them to perform in certain ways consistently. So too, when we fast, we don’t do it because we hate our bodies, but because we are training ourselves to “perform” in certain ways (fasting can help to develop patience, for example, and can be a key for confronting greed and lust). Incarnational Christianity actually needs to be ascetical (properly understood) if it is truly going to manifest the kingdom.
Sorry for the lengthy first-time comment. I really like your blog. God’s peace!

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Sun Warrior

2008-03-05

We have a severe cultural bias against fasting. We are a pain-allergic culture, and Jesus told us to stop pain and hunger, so it doesn’t make sense to most people.
I’ve done a three-day fast in the Native American tradition, and I’ve practiced Ramadan. Doing them was very revealing.
It is a spiritual cleansing, or more precisely, cleansing away your complications of contemporary life to strengthen the spirit.
It is like coming close to death, another anathema to moderns, as the body weakens and your consciousness becomes more pronounced because of it.
For some reason, this dance with death clarifies many things within you, simply. And the meaning grows by itself afterward, a deep peace from the vacation of being a dependent human on all the things culture demands of us for survival and ‘living.’
It is meant to strengthen both the spirit and the body, like a reset button, putting everything in its proper order to start fresh, having faced ‘death’ willingly, gone to that place, and the sacrifice brings many Gifts.
That’s what Jesus was doing in the desert to get Him ready for His ministry. If the Church wants to get people to have real live spiritual experiences, just think that the myth of the Gospels holds truth, and trust that that truth is within God.
One way to get back to the time of Jesus, without ever leaving the 21st century…

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Peggy

2008-03-05

Matt,
I believe we have bigger problems with it because our way of living does not leave room for the rest required when one fasts. Too many just don’t eat and continue to go about their busy lives. But this is not what fasting is about.
You may have heard me say before that I believe God’s greatest attribute is restraint. Because I believe this is so, it seems to me that disciplines that foster the ability to be restrained are worthy.
Now, restraint is the opposite of indulgence and provides a necessary balance. Certainly our societies have become over-indulgent in more areas than just eating. But this one is something that the body needs for periodic cleansing and resting of the digestive system. And as the poisons and toxins are released from the body, there is said to be a keen increase in perception.
One of my hopes for CovenantClusters will be that we will be able to reintroduce the discipline of fasting as a community that both values and supports the time of reflection that is to accompany fasting.

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Jeff A

2008-03-05

Matt. Why do you suggest fasting is incarnational? To me it is merely biblical. Cheers Jeff

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Matt Stone

2008-03-05

Jeff, where I am coming from is that some extraordinary acts of self-hate have been justified as “biblical” over the centuries, so I have always been suspicious about how much that is taught in contemporary churches about fasting is really read out of the bible and how much is just read into it.
Bear in mind that much of my initial instruction was from Catholic brothers, some of whom were later arrested for nefarious deeds. Sure fasting comes up in the Bible, but then you have Jesus himself being critical of the practice in some sections, and more, contrasting John’s fasting approach with his own feasting approach in others.
And as I’ve already said, much of the teaching I have seen on it has been deeply dualistic, hardly convincing me it was anything more that superficially Bible based. So, hardly a rousing endorsement. Yes, I can now see I myself have had blind spots, but this is the story. My experience in Protestant quarters hasn’t been much better, as those most inclined to it in my experience have been Charismatics, and many of them seemed to be using it in an almost magical / occult way to manipulate God. Again, that hardly encouraged me to embrace it when most of the more balanced Christians I know never emphasized it or talked about it much.
So, when coming to the Bible, I suppose my caution won out. There are many practices in the Bible that we don’t necessarily emphasize today (drawing lots to choose leaders for example) so with all the problems and no clear framework I supposed I just neglected it.
Finally realizing how it might fit within a more holistic Hebraic framework, such that the more dualistic Hellenistic frameworks might finally be cast aside, makes a big difference for me. It opens up the possibilities of practicing it Biblically as opposed to merely pseudo-Biblically. Never say I am under the illusion I am perfectly obedient and know everything.

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Jeff A

2008-03-05

I am probably mis-understanding what you mean by incarnational in this context. I failed to see the implicit connection in what I have understood as incarnational (e.g. missional/incarnational impulse ala Hirsch)

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Matt Stone

2008-03-06

Possibly. My understanding of what “incarnational” means has been influenced from a variety of sources:
(1) Evangelical writings on incarnational mission and critical contextualization.
(2) Eastern Orthodoxy, particularly in terms of the way they have, through the ages, continually grounded their understanding of Christian art and iconography in the doctrine of the incarnation.
(3) Richard Foster (I am sure some will detect certain ironies in the above conversation given this revelation)
(4) Various writers on holistic spirituality
(5) Various social justice + evangelism type authors such as Ron Sider and J H Yoder.
(5) And not least, my own personal experiences in (a) bicultural Christianity, given my background, and (b) incarnational mission in Mind Body Spirit Festivals and beyond.
There is obviously greatest overlap between Frost, Hirsch, Philip Johnson and myself and others on point (1) but we each have our own spin on things. In the above conversation it is my understanding that anti-body approaches are inherantly in conflict with the doctrine of the incarnation, and that Jesus is Lord of ALL, that is the real driver.
Possibly the confusion is the Hirsch-Frost conjunction of missional and incarnational. I see them as interrelated but distinct concepts. I think Hirsch or Hamo recently referred them as “going out” and “going deep” as a way of getting beyond the jargon. Here I am more focussing on going deep. I believe spirituality should be deeply embeded and embodied in everyday life. Only in so far as fasting is practiced as a life redeeming practice, rather than a life denying one, can I reconcile it with the incarnation, which lies at the heart of the gospel.

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Steve Hayes

2008-03-06

“With asceticism being the epitome of mind-body dualism, and incarnational Christianity being its holistic antithesis, I couldn’t see how any discipline that encouraged a distain for the body could actually be all that helpful.”
I’m gobsmacked!
It’s exactly the reverse.

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Steve Hayes

2008-03-06

Perhaps I should add that asceticism is holistic and incarnational, and is the antithesis of mind/body dualism because it is based on the assumption that we are not spirits imprisoned in matter (as the gnostics believe) and that body and spirit form a whole (which is what “holistic” means), and that being “spiritual” while ignoring our bodies is a cop-out.

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Matt Stone

2008-03-06

Understand that I am using the word “asceticism” in terms of the popular imagination – including such choice practices as self flagellation, self mutilation and more – and not using it so much in terms of the original Greek.
I am actually thinking about the usefulness of English word in light of this conversation. Instead of speaking broadly of asceticism it may be clearer to distinguish between spiritual training which extends to spiritual self abuse and spiritual training which does not. I’ll have to reflect some more on this. If “askesis” is restricted to the more holistic notion, what would you suggest as an alternative word for that which is not?

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Sue

2008-03-07

Matt, there is a long tradition of fasting within the Western Tradition.
Isnt Moses supposed to have spent 40 days fasting in the desert.
Plus in recent times there has been a lot of research and experimentation done re fasting as a useful discipline in maintaining health and as a tool for cultivating ones spiritual sensitivity. It is impossible to be spiritually sensitive on a diet of hamburgers, coffee, and processed food.
Some of the influential early pioneers were Morris Krok, Arnold Ehret, Norman Walker and Paul Bragg. Krok even wrote a book on Breatharianism.
A source of some really far out writings on health and well-being, including fasting, is the Health Research Press at:
http://www.healthresearchbooks.com
A lot of their books were/are written by non-mainstream Christians.
One of my favourites is Fasting For Regeneration (The Short Cut) by Julia Seton. She was an influential New Thought practitioner and advocate.

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Steve Hayes

2008-03-07

Matt,
Perhaps I don’t get out enough and so I’m not in touch with the popular imagination, though I do watch TV news occasionally. I know there are some words and phrases that the secular world has borrowed from Christian theology and even slang: “charismatic” is one, and “walk the talk” is another, but I’ve not heard secular people talk much about asceticism.
When his disciples had difficulty in expelling an unclean spirit, Jesus said that some kinds only come out by prayer and fasting, and prayer and fasting are at the heart of asceticism. “Watch and pray” is another ascetic injunction, and “nipsis” (watchfulness) is an important part of ascetic discipline. I really find it hard to see that these have anything to do with body/mind dualism.

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Steve Hayes

2008-03-07

PS: I’ve just remembered one Orthodox ascetic practice that is despised in the West, so much so that it has been borrowed by the secular world as a by-word for impracticality, namely “navel gazing” (omphaloscopy).
I’m not aware of self-mutilation as an ascetic practice, at least not among Christians, though I did blog yesterday about women marching for mutilation, but they were protesting their right to female circumcision as a cultural rather than an ascetic practice.

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Matt Stone

2008-03-09

He he, omphaloscopy. I’ll have to tuck that away for future reference.
In terms of self mutilation one person I am thinking of is St. Simeon Stylites, the pole sitter, who I have heard used to keep his sores open so that maggots could feed from his flesh. And was it Origen who was reputed to have cut off his own testicles? And of course there are some interesting practices in the modern day Opus Dei.
But anyway, I am conceding Steve. I have realized my perceptions of asceticism were inadequate and there is substantially more substance to the tradition that I had previously realized or been prepared to admit.

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Steve Hayes

2008-03-09

Well you provoked me to blog about it in preparation for lent 🙂
Origen was a heretic. A gifted heretic, it is true, but still a heretic.
St Simeon Stylites… at one time I thought of trying to play him in Second Life but just trying to move a character was too much of a schlep

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Nathan Hale

2008-03-10

I have to agree that in today’s fast paced society it takes a quite a commitment for just a daily 20 minute meditation! I struggle finding time for the rest and prayer that biblical fasting requires.

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