52 in 52 Review: Fasting by Scot McKnight

This book is part of “The Ancient Practices Series” of books that discusses ancient practices and their practical application today.  It is meant to clarify the ancient practice of fasting and to help the modern church see the value in it, as well as to explain what it meant in Biblical times and context.  The foreword of the book says that it, “is a book for the courageous Christian who seeks to more fully occupy all the member parts of his or her own life, and to do so for the expressed purposes of better knowing and serving God.” (Phyllis Tickle, General Editor, Ancient Practices Series)

I absolutely hate to give bad reviews, but I have to be honest.  I was sorely disappointed in this book.  I went into this expecting a tough, but thorough read on the ancient practice of fasting and wanted to walk away with somewhat of a checklist of things I need to know BASED ON BIBLICAL FACTS AND TRUTHS.  What I got, instead, was what I felt a VERY wordy and speculative account from a theologian that has been so deeply engrossed in his studies of the history of Christianity that he fails to relate at ALL to a normal reader.

As I read this, I honestly felt like an idiot.  I felt like I should have taken 1 or 2 semesters of religious studies classes at a college level in order to understand or relate to what he was saying.  He mentioned all of these things about the Catholic faith, as well, and I have absolutely zero prior knowledge of that.  He would say things along the lines of, “As we all know from the life of Saint so and so,” – What!? I have absolutely NO idea about the life of that Saint!  I come from a Protestant background and we don’t observe or acknowledge Saints in our normal day to day worship of God and Jesus, you know?

I was also disappointed with the lack of information drawn directly from the Bible or from history surrounding Biblical times.  There was so much in this book about more modern Christian history that I felt it really detracted from the whole “Ancient Practices” theme.

Basically, I was left confused.  I felt stupid.  I am completely turned off by this book.  I won’t be reading any others in this series (though there are different authors I believe for others in the series).

If you actually do have a strong background knowledge in the history of Christianity and want an engaging, scholarly book to read on the subject of fasting (that doesn’t actually guide you one way or another – it just leads you to the question, “Shouldn’t you be doing this?”), then you’ll probably enjoy this read.  If you are looking for a book to really dig into the depths of Biblical fasting and help give you a guide on how to implement it into your day to day life, I suggest finding a different book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”