The Early History of Lent借阅的早期历史

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1、18©2013TheCenterforChristianEthicsatBaylorUniversityTheEarlyHistoryofLentByNicholasV.RussoTheseasonoflentappearsafterthecouncilofNicea.Withsomanybiblicalprecedents,diditreallytakethechurchmorethan300yearstoseizeupontheideaoffastingforfortydays?Theearlyhis

2、toryoflentisinterestingandcomplex;itissomethingofa“chooseyourownadventure.”ntilrelativelyrecently,theoriginsofLent—knownasTessarakostiinGreekandQuadragesimainLatin,for“theForty”—werebelievedtoUbeself-evident.Manyofthetheologyhandbooksofthenineteenthandear

3、ly-twentiethcenturyconfidentlyclaimedthatLentwasestablishedbytheapostlesthemselvesorintheimmediatepost-apostolicperiodatthelatest.Theyassumedthisseasonoffastingwascloselyconnectedwithprep-arationforEasterbaptisms—apracticelikewiseconsideredtobeofapostol-i

4、cfoundation(cf.Romans6)andobservedeverywherethroughouttheChurchsinceitsearliestdays.1Closerexaminationoftheancientsources,however,revealsamoregradualhistoricaldevelopment.WhilefastingbeforeEasterseemstohavebeenancientandwidespread,thelengthofthatfastvarie

5、dsignificantlyfromplacetoplaceandacrossgenerations.Inthelatterhalfofthesecondcentury,forinstance,IrenaeusofLyons(inGaul)andTertullian(inNorthAfrica)tellusthatthepreparatoryfastlastedoneortwodays,orfortyhours—commemoratingwhatwasbelievedtobetheexactduratio

6、nofChrist’stimeinthetomb.Bythemid-thirdcentury,DionysiusofAlexandriaspeaksofafastofuptosixdayspracticedbythedevoutinhissee;andtheByzantinehistorianSocratesrelatesthattheChristiansofRomeatsomepointkeptafastofthreeweeks.2OnlyfollowingtheCouncilofNiceain325a

7、.d.didthelengthofLentbecomefixedatfortydays,andthenonlynomi-TheEarlyHistoryofLent19nally.Accordingly,itwasassumedthattheforty-dayLentthatweencoun-teralmosteverywherebythemid-fourthcenturymusthavebeentheresultofagraduallengtheningofthepre-Easterfastbyaddin

8、gdaysandweekstotheoriginalone-ortwo-dayobservance.3Thislengthening,inturn,wasthoughtnecessarytomakeupforthewaningzealofthepost-apostolicchurchandtoprovidealongerperiodofinstructionfortheincreasingnum-bersofformerpag