Among the early Christian converts there were some who deemed themselves bound to adhere to the Mosaical limitations regarding food, and they accord- ingly abstained from flesh sacrificed to idols, as well as from animals which the law accounted unclean; while others contemned this as a weakness, and ex- ulted in the liberty wherewith Christ had made bis followers free. This question was repeatedly refer- red to the. Apostle Paul, who laid down some admi- rable rides on the subject, the purport of which was, tlu't every one was at liberty to act in this matter ac- cording to the dictates of bis own conscience, but that the strong-minded had better abstain from the exer- cise of the freedom they possessed whenever it might prove an occasion of stumbling to a weak brother
(Rom. xiv, 1-3; 1 Cor. viii). In another place the
same apostle reproves certain sectaries who should
arise, forbidding marriage, and enjoining abstinence
from meats which God had created to be received with
thanksgiving (1 Tim. iv, 3, 4). The council of the
apostles at Jerusalem decided that no other abstinence
regarding food should be imposed upon the converts
I than "from meats offered to idols, from blood, and
from things strangled" (Acts xv, 29). Paul says (1
Cor. ix, 25) that wrestlers, in order to obtain a cor-
I ruptible crown, abstain from all things, or from every
thing which might weaken them. In his First Epistle
I to Timothy (iv, 3), he blames certain heretics who
condemned marriage, and the use of meats which God
hath created. He requires Christians to abstain from
| all appearance of evil (1 Thess. v, 22), and, with much
I stronger reason, from every thing really evil, and con-
I trary to religion and piety. See Flesh ; Alisgema.
The Essenes, a sect among the Jews which is not j mentioned by name in the Scriptures, led a more ab- stinent life than any recorded in the sacred books. Sec Essexes. The)- refused all pleasant food, eating nothing but coarse bread and drinking only water ; and some of them abstained from food altogether un- til after the sun had set (Philo, He Vita Contempla- tira, p. G92, G9G). That abstinence from ordinary food was practised by the Jews medicinally is not shown in Scripture, but is more than probable, not only as a dictate of nature, but as a common practice of their Egyptian neighbors, who, we are informed 1 y Diodorus (i, 82), "being persuaded that the majority of diseases proceed from indigestion and excess of eat- ing, had frequent recourse to abstinence, emetics, slight doses of medicine, and other simple means of relieving the system, which some persons were in the habit of repeating every two or three days. See Porphyry, Lie Abst. iv. — Kitto, s. v. See Uncleanness.
2. Christian. — a. Early. — In the early Church cate- chumens could be admitted to baptism ; they were re- quired, according to Cyril and Jerome, to observe a season of abstinence and prayer for forty days ; accord- ing to others, of twenty days. Extreme caution and care were observed in the ancient Church in receiving candidates into communion, the particulars of which may be found under the head Catechumens. Super- stitious abstinence by the clergy was deemed a crime. If they abstained from flesh, wine, marriage, or any thing lawful and innocent, in accordance with the heret- ical and false notions that the creatures of God were nut good, but polluted and unclean, they were liable to be deposed from office. Sec Abstinents. There was al- ways much disputation between the Church and several heretical sects on the subjects of meats and marriage. The Manichees and Priscillianists professed a higher degree of spirituality and refinement, because they ab- stained from wine and flesh as things unlawful and unclean, and on this account censured the Church as impure in allowing men the moderate and just use of them. The Apostolical Canons enjoin, " That if any bishop, presbyter, or deacon, or any other clerk, ab- stain from marriage, flesh, or wine, not for exercise, but abhorrence — forgetting that God made all things very good, and created man male and female, and speaking evil of the workmanship of God, unless ho correct his error, he shall be deposed, and cast out of the church." At the same time, strict observance of the fasts of the church was enjoined, and deposition was the penalty in case of non-compliance with the directions of the canons on this subject.
Ii. Romish. — In the Romish Church a distinction is made between fasting and abstinence, and different days are appointed to each. On days of fasting, one meal in twenty-tour hours is allowed; but on days of abstinence, provided flesh is not eaten and the meal is moderate, a collation is allowed in the evening. Their days of abstinence are all the Sundays in Lent, St. Mark's day, if it docs not fall in Easter-week, the
ABSTINENTS
39
ABYSSINIAN"
three Rogation-days, all Saturdays throughout the year, with the Fridays which do not fall within the twelve days of Christmas. The observance of St. Mark's day as a day of abstinence is said to be in im- itation of St. Mark's disciples, the iirst Christians of Alexandria, who are said to have been eminent for their prayer, abstinence, and sobriety. The Roman days of fasting are, all Lent except Sundays, the Em- ber-days, the vigils of the more solemn feasts, and all Fridays except such as fall between Easter and the Ascension. Sec Calendar.