Should christians abstain from lent?
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There’s a renewed interest in Lent, even by low-church evangelical Protestants. For the latest TGC podcast Collin Hansen and Mark Mellinger talk with Ligon Duncan about the origins,
theology, and practice of Lent. Advertise on TGC Ken Stewart, a history professor Covenant College, weighs in with his own analysis, offering some “Nagging Questions concerning Lent.” >
The primary objection to our current rush to re-instate Lent is > this: too many evangelical Christians are considering this (and some > related questions) with what might be called a
“liturgical > inferiority complex.” While we do not shout this from the roof > tops, we quietly admit to ourselves that our evangelical Protestant > tradition as it now exists is
somewhat homespun, even threadbare and > that it stands in need of being augmented by resources taken from > the past. While the Christian past has plenty of riches which may be >
drawn upon, the point is this: these are not best “tried on for > size” from the standpoint of felt inferiority. What is needed > (and, I contend is currently in short supply) is
healthy critical > judgment towards a whole host of things (of which Lent is but one) > that might be thought to be “just the thing” to rectify our > evangelical Protestant
deficiencies. Agree or disagree, these Reformed arguments and questions are worth listening to and considering.