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I just wanted to correct my colleague Mike a bit.
Actually, I don't think Paul said that about fasts, because what Paul was
saying is that the Law of Moses no longer applies, and fasting was not
part of the Law of Moses. Colossians 2:16 says,
16 Therefore do not
let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Eating and drinking
pertains to the kosher laws; it has nothing to do with fasting. Even
if you want to apply this to the Church's holy days, it still is true
that Paul here is referring to the Mosaic Law, which Christ fulfilled,
not laying down a principal that feast days per se are wrong.
(To demonstrate
that he's referring to the Mosaic Law, note the reference to circumcision in verse 11 of Colossians 2, and the Law of Moses in verse 14, and the reference that
the Law was a shadow of things to come in verse 17.
Also see Acts 15, Galatians,
and Romans for some background. These things have to be taken in the whole
context of the New Testament.)
It is true that God himself doesn't oblige us, as such, to fast, but
note that Jesus says,
When you fast . . .
in Matthew 6:16, assuming that
people are going to fast. The people in Acts fasted (Acts 14:23), and Jesus
said that some demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting (Mark 9:27-29 KJV).
19 Jesus said,
How can the guests
of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they
have him with them, 20 but the time will come when the bridegroom will
be taken from them, and on that day they will fast. (Mark 2:19-20)
So Jesus definitely envisioned his followers fasting; the only question
is whether they did so unified as a community, or only individually.
The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a first-century document
(around the year 80 A.D.) that, while not inspired or binding, is a testimony
to the life of the early Christians.
The Didache (8:1) testifies that the
first century Christians fasted every Wednesday and Friday, paying respects
to the day Jesus was betrayed and the day he was crucified.
Thus we have evidence of a communal observance of fasting.
Eric
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