In this book the author says the act of fasting 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. 176pp
The Ancient Practices Series
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? What does the body have to do with fasting?
A great deal more than we'd think, says acclaimed author and theologian Scot McKnight. The Bible doesn't say the body just contains a spirit, he tells us; the Bible says that each person is a spirit and is body. And thus the whole person - soul and body - should be wholly engaged with God, Take a look at modern worship services, for instance: members of the congregation raise their bodies, close their eyes, dance, sway, act out the words of their praise songs. In the same vein, modern Christians are returning to the ancient practice of fasting.
Misunderstood in recent generations, fasting was a given in biblical times, arising as a result of what McKnight calls grievous sacred moments - the death or imminent death of loved ones, national moral disasters, disappointments at the failure of self or others, religious observances (such as birth, baptism, and conversion), and desperation for God's presence or guidance. These kinds of sacred moments confront us continually, but we don't usually respond to them with fasting, because the practice has come to feel unnatural. Yet in the Bible, pleas and supplications and prayers were often accompanied by the act of fasting, allowing the whole person to express himself to God completely.
Now you too can include your body in your pursuit of God during your most sacred moments. Clarifying the role of fasting as a response to events rather than a seeking of results, McKnight differentiates between fasting and simple abstinence, provides scriptural methods of fasting, and offers practical information on benefits and hazards, when you should fast, and what happens to your body when you do. McKnight's eloquent book makes the connection between ancient practices and modern times clear, and the benefits palpable.
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. 176pp Paper (2009)
About the Author Scot McKnight is an Anabaptist theologian and is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University. The author of more than ten books and numerous articles and chapters in multi-authored works, McKnight specializes in historical Jesus studies as well as the Gospels and the New Testament.
The Ancient Practices Series There is a hunger in every human heart for connection, primitive and raw, to God, To satisfy it, many are beginning to explore traditional spiritual disciplines used for centuries... everything from fixed-hour prayer to fasting to in sincere observance of the Sabbath. Compelling and readable, the Ancient Practices series is for every spiritual sojourner, for every Christian seeker who wants more.
|
Manufacturer:
Thomas Nelson Publishers |
| SKU: |
LP-32741
|
| ISBN: |
978 08146 32741 |
| MPN: |
3274-1 |
