Fasting between us and the Protestants

Pope Shenouda discusses the issue of fasting between the Orthodox Church and other denominations, clarifying the biblical and spiritual foundation of communal fasting and refuting the objections to it.

1. Private vs. public fasting

• Private fasting is between the person and God in secret (Matthew 6).

• Public fasting is when the whole Church fasts together, like the fasts of Nineveh, Esther, and Nehemiah.
  It is a corporate act of worship, not hypocrisy.

2. Fasting on specific days

The Bible mentions fixed fasts (Zechariah 8:19 — the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months).
Thus, fasting on appointed days is biblically grounded, and the Church organizes it for unity in worship.

3. “Let no one judge you in food or drink” (Colossians 2:16)

This verse refers to Jewish customs (Sabbath, feasts, purity laws), not Christian fasting. Paul was rejecting the Judaization of Christianity, not the practice of fasting.

4. Vegetarian fasting

Vegetarian fasting is not food prohibition but asceticism and humility.

• Adam ate plant-based food.

• Daniel and his friends fasted from meat and wine.

• The Church imitates this spirit of simplicity and self-control.

5. “Forbidding foods” (1 Timothy 4:1–3)

This warning concerns sects that forbid foods and marriage completely, not the Church’s temporary fasts.
Orthodox fasting is a voluntary act of self-discipline, not a ban.

6. Examples of asceticism

John the Baptist, monks, and hermits lived in simplicity and fasting — not as heresy but as a holy life of devotion.

7. The danger of individual fasting only

Protestantism and much of Catholicism lost fasting by turning it into a purely private act.
The Coptic Orthodox Church preserved communal fasting as part of its shared spiritual life.

✝️ Final message

Fasting is:

• A spiritual discipline, not deprivation.

• A collective worship, not showmanship.

• Self-denial, not food prohibition.

• A path of unity and repentance for the whole Church.