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Summary
- Yes, Christians fast: Jesus told his disciples what to do “when ye fast” (Matthew 6:16), and the first churches fasted before they sent out missionaries and appointed elders (Acts 13:3; 14:23).
- The oldest Christian fast days are Wednesday and Friday, as the Didache records, and Lent, with Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, is still the main season.
- Catholics aged 18 to 59 fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with one full meal and two smaller ones, and everyone 14 and over gives up meat on those days and the Fridays of Lent (canons 1250–1252).
- Orthodox Christians go without meat, fish, dairy, olive oil and wine through Great Lent, three other seasons and most Wednesdays and Fridays.
- Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists kept fasting as a discipline while denying that it earns God’s favor, and many Protestant churches set no required fast days.
- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have diabetes, kidney disease or an eating disorder, ask a doctor before you fast, and ask one too before a child or a frail older person fasts; doctors advise against fasting without water.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Exodus 34:28; Leviticus 16:29; Judges 20:26; 1 Samuel 31:13; 2 Samuel 12:16–18; 1 Kings 19:8; Ezra 8:21; Nehemiah 1:4; Esther 4:16; Isaiah 58:6–7; Daniel 1:12; 10:2–3; Jonah 3:5; Zechariah 7:5; Matthew 4:2; 6:16–18; 9:15; Mark 9:29; Acts 9:9; 13:3; 14:23; 27:33; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 11:27). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Mark 9:29, New International Version, with footnote. BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9%3A29&version=NIV
- Cleveland Clinic. “6 Tips for Fasting Safely.” Health Essentials, 5 March 2024. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/tips-for-fasting-the-healthy-way
- Cleveland Clinic. “Dry Fasting: Why You Should Avoid It.” Health Essentials, 16 July 2024. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dry-fasting
- Johns Hopkins Medicine. “Intermittent Fasting: What Is It, and How Does It Work?” Medically reviewed by Mark Mattson, updated 7 April 2026. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/intermittent-fasting-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work
- Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. “Diabetes and Ramadan: Guidance for Fasting During the Holy Month.” Patient leaflet. https://www.hey.nhs.uk/patient-leaflet/diabetes-ramadan-guidance-fasting-holy-month/
- Code of Canon Law, canons 919 and 1249–1253. Vatican. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann1244-1253_en.html; https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann879-958_en.html
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “What Is Lent?” (fasting norms and Lent FAQs). https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Complementary norm to canons 1252 and 1253, “Observance of Fast and Abstinence.” https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/canon-law/complementary-norms/canons-1252-and-1253-observance-of-fast-and-abstinence
- National Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence,” 18 November 1966. https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/lent/us-bishops-pastoral-statement-on-penance-and-abstinence
- Akrotirianakis, Stavros N. “And When You Fast.” Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. https://www.goarch.org/-/when-you-fast
- Orthodox Church in America. “Fasting & Fast-Free Seasons of the Church,” quoting “The Rules of Fasting” from The Lenten Triodion, trans. Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware (1978). https://www.oca.org/liturgics/outlines/fasting-fast-free-seasons-of-the-church
- The Didache, chapters 7–8, trans. Roberts and Donaldson. Early Christian Writings. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html
- “Didache.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didache
- The Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 5, chapter 3. Early Christian Writings. http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/shepherd.html
- Augsburg Confession (1530), Article XXVI, “Of the Distinction of Meats.” Book of Concord. https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/of-the-distinction-of-meats/
- Luther, Martin. The Small Catechism, part 5, “The Sacrament of the Altar.” Book of Concord. https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/part-5/
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA, 1928), “A Table of Fasts” and “Other Days of Fasting.” Society of Archbishop Justus, http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/1928/Calendar&Tables_1928.pdf; text as transcribed at AnglicanWiki, https://www.anglicanwiki.org/index.php/Days_of_Fasting_and_Abstinence_(1928_BCP)
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 21, section 5. https://thewestminsterstandard.org/the-westminster-confession/
- United Methodist Communications. “What Does the UMC Say About Fasting?” Ask The UMC, 14 May 2026. https://www.umc.org/en/content/ask-the-umc-what-does-the-united-methodist-church-say-about-fasting
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