Is Lent a Christian Holiday? What About Ash Wednesday?

By COGwriter

Over the past few years, I have noticed that some Protestants sometimes are embracing the Roman Catholic season of Lent.

What is Lent? What does it mean? What about Ash Wednesday? What Winter-Spring holy days did Christ observe? Is there a Lent Holiday in the Bible?

Does the Bible support the observance of Lent? Did the apostles observe it?

How did it enter the world's Christianity?

This article will attempt to answer those questions from historical sources and the Bible. (Here is a link to a related sermon: Lent, Ash Wednesday, Carnaval, and Christianity?)

What is Lent?

Lent is a forty-day period of time that proceeds the Roman Catholic holiday commonly called Easter. During this time, observers tend to give up something they like (such as a food, like meat or certain meals or a form of secular entertainment, like television) essentially as a form of "fasting" for the purposes of getting closer to God or for penance.

Specifically many:

...observe Lent by fasting, performing penance, giving alms, abstaining from amusements . ..(Ramm B. Lent. World Book Encyclopedia, 50th ed., Volume 12. Chicago, p. 175).

Lent was not an original Christian practice.

An Arabic document, dated from the period of the fifth-tenth century, states that Jesus and His disciples kept the fast on the same days as the Jews. It indicates that Judeo-Christians were still keeping the The Day of Atonement while the Greco-Romans came up with a 50 day Lenten-like fasting period that Jesus did not keep (Tomson P. Lambers-Petry L. The Image of the Judaeo-Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature, Volume 158 of Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. Mohr Siebeck , 2003, pp. 70-72; Stern SM. Quotations from Apocryphal Gospels in ‘Abd Al-Jabbar. Journal of Theological Studies, NS. Volume XVIII, (1) April 1967: 34-57).

What does Lent mean?

Here is how The Catholic Encyclopedia defines Lent:

The Teutonic word Lent, which we employ to denote the forty days' fast preceding Easter, originally meant no more than the spring season (Thurston H. Transcribed by Anthony A. Killeen. A.M.D.G. Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IX. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York).

In other words, Lent means the Spring season (it may be of interest to note that Easter is a Teutonic word as well).

But since Lent means Spring and Lent now begins and is primarily in the Winter, where did it really come from?

When is Lent Observed?

The World Book Encyclopedia states:

Lent is a religious season observed in the spring...It begins on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Easter, excluding Sundays, and ends on Easter Sunday (Ramm B. Lent. World Book Encyclopedia, 50th ed., Volume 12. Chicago, p. 175).

What is Ash Wednesday?

The Catholic Encyclopedia reports:

Ash Wednesday
The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast.

The name dies cinerum (day of ashes) which it bears in the Roman Missal is found in the earliest existing copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary and probably dates from at least the eighth century. On this day all the faithful according to ancient custom are exhorted to approach the altar before the beginning of Mass, and there the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed, marks the forehead (Ash Wednesday. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia states:

Ash Wednesday, in the Western Church, the first day of Lent, being the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind them of death, of the sorrow they should feel for their sins, and of the necessity of changing their lives. The practice, which dates from the early Middle Ages, is common among Roman Catholics, Anglicans and Episcopalians, and many Lutherans; it was also adopted by some Methodists and Presbyterians in the 1990s (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press).

Notice that Ash Wednesday was not an original observance of even the Church of Rome, it is another one of the many changes that church adopted that the true Church of God did not (for more details, please see Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God?).

Time reported the following:

February 18, 2015

What’s the purpose of Ash Wednesday?

It marks first day of the 40 days of Lent, a roughly six-week period (not including Sundays) dedicated to reflection, prayer and fasting in preparation for Easter. ...

Where do the ashes some people put on their face come from?

They’re obtained from the burning of the palms of the previous Palm Sunday, which occurs on the Sunday before Easter, and applied during services. ...

What do the ashes mean?

The ashes, applied in the shape of a cross, are a symbol of penance, mourning and mortality... There aren’t any particular rules about how long the ashes should be worn, but most people wear them throughout the day as a public expression of their faith and penance.  http://time.com/3713126/ash-wednesday/

So, the ashes are a public symbol?  This does not sound like repentance nor humility.  Now, it should be noted that cross was not a symbol early Christians used (see What is the Origin of the Cross as a 'Christian' Symbol?).

Despite the fact that early Christians did not observe it, notice the following from the 1988 circular letter on Lent and Easter “Paschales Solemnitatis,” issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship of the Church of Rome:

“21. On the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent, the faithful receive the ashes, thus entering into the time established for the purification of their souls. This sign of penance, a traditionally biblical one, has been preserved among the Church’s customs until the present day. It signifies the human condition of the sinner, who seeks to express his guilt before the Lord in an exterior manner, and by so doing express his interior conversion, led on by the confident hope that the Lord will be merciful. This same sign marks the beginning of the way of conversion, which is developed through the celebration of the sacraments of penance during the days before Easter.” (As cited in McNamara E, Priest.  Ashes Earlier. Zenit, March 4, 2014. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashes-earlier)

No one in the Old or New Testaments was ever recorded as putting ashes on their foreheads in a shape of a cross.  Yet, also notice the following claims from the Shorter Book of Blessings by the Church of Rome:

1059. The season of Lent begins with the ancient practice of marking the baptized with ashes as a public and communal sign of penance. The blessing and distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday normally takes place during the celebration of Mass. (As cited in McNamara E, Priest.  Ashes Earlier. Zenit, March 4, 2014. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashes-earlier)

The Bible does not show that the baptized received ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross (see also What is the Origin of the Cross as a 'Christian' Symbol? and/or watch a related YouTube video would be Origin of the Cross). Furthermore, this is not part of the early traditions of Christians.  It seems to have been a practice of pagans, however.

One who believes in Ash Wednesday once sent me the following:

Ash Wednesday is approaching and with it the rite of the imposition of ashes on the foreheads...

My question is, why does the gospel for Ash Wednesday include the reading of Jesus's words forbidding the imposition of ashes?

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Isn't this strange, that we should do something that Jesus has forbidden and at the same time read out ceremonially his words forbidding it?

I have asked Anglican and Catholic priests about this but they have offered no answers. Can you suggest any?

In my response, I mentioned that The Catholic Encyclopedia indicated more like a sixth -eighth century introduction of it. Now here is another Catholic-approved translation of that verse he asked about:

16 'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. (Matthew 6:16, NJB)

Thus, Jesus seems to denounce practices that resemble Ash Wednesday. 

Maybe I should mention that I also responded to the emailer with the following:

While you are correct that people in the Old Testament used ashes as part of their sorrowing, there was no ceremony in the New Testament that encouraged this.  And as you pointed out, Ash Wednesday seems to be in opposition to the principle that Jesus espoused in Matthew 6:16...

As far as why Rome violates various passages of scripture, Rome and others have often changed doctrines from the Bible and the practices of the apostles.  An article that documents this, that probably contains a lot you would be surprised about, would be: Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God?

The improperly named publication Christianity Today has concurred that Ash Wednesday came into being around the sixth or seventh century by Rome:

The Beginning of Lent...
Until the 600s, Lent began on Quadragesima (Fortieth) Sunday, but Gregory the Great (c.540-604) moved it to a Wednesday, now called Ash Wednesday, to secure the exact number of 40 days in Lent—not counting Sundays, which were feast days. Gregory, who is regarded as the father of the medieval papacy, is also credited with the ceremony that gives the day its name. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2004/lent.html)

So, "Ash Wednesday" apparently did not originate on a Wednesday. Of course, the entire lenten period is not from the Bible, hence it should be of no surprise that it has had various changes in its observation.

Perhaps I should also mention that the Eastern Orthodox Church does not celebrate Ash Wednesday.

The Bible

Neither the Bible, which was not written in a Teutonic language, nor its translations (which sometimes are) uses the terms Lent or Ash Wednesday. Nor does it seem to positively describe any of the processes associated with Ash Wednesday.

As most who look into this realize, "there is no Biblical reference to Ash Wednesday or Lent" (Ash Wednesday 2014: History, Dates, Traditions Of Lent's First Day Of Fasting. Huffington Post, March 5, 2014. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/04/ash-wednesday-2014_n_4897723.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&icid=maing-grid7%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D450758).

The Old Testament uses the term Spring four or so times, but in the context of wars, not fasting. It does, however, endorse certain religious observances for that time of the year. It also mentions that the year begins on the first day of a certain lunar month (called Abib or Nisan) which is normally the first day of Spring (though it does not actually use that term). Note that God defines when the year begins:

This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you (Exodus 12:2 NKJV, throughout unless otherwise noted).

The God-ordained religious festivals mentioned as occurring in what is the Spring season of the year include Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost (see also the free online book:Should You Keep God's Holy Days or Demonic Holidays?).

Here is the mention of the first two from the Bible:

'These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:4-6).

The above were clearly observed by Jesus, the Apostles, and the early Church (for additional documentation, please see the articles Passover and the Early Church, Melito's Homily on the Passover, and Should Christians Keep the Days of Unleavened Bread?).

Here is a couple of verses about the days of unleavened bread and eating:

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel...For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cutoff from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread (Exodus 12:15,19-20).

Since no leaven is allowed to be eaten during the days of unleavened bread, this could be considered as a form of fasting. It however, differs from the Lenten forms of fasting in that it begins the day after Passover and lasts for seven days. Most (and in some years, all) of the Lenten fasting occurs prior to the Passover (and most of it occurs in the Winter, not the Spring season, in spite of the fact that Lent means Spring).

The next observance mentioned in the Old Testament comes during the days of unleavened bread:

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it (Leviticus 23:10-11).

Jesus Himself (who was also our Passover 1 Corinthians 5:7), fulfilled this sometime after He was resurrected (cf. John 20:17,27 KJV). This day was used both in the Old Testament and New Testament times to count when the next holy day would occur. Here is the Old Testament comment:

'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath (Leviticus 23:15-16).

The Greek term, used in the New Testament, is Pentecost, which means 50th, from the practice of it being the fiftieth day from the wave sheaf offering. The above are all the religious periods that the Old Testament mentioned that occur in the Spring (none, other than the weekly Sabbath, occur in the Winter season).

The term Spring is not mentioned in the New Testament. When referring to the early Spring season, the New Testament mentions biblical holy days, like Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread (for early Spring) and Pentecost (for late Spring)--it also mentions that Jesus and/or His disciples observed all of those. While the New Testament does mention a period called "the Fast" (Acts 27:9), scholars of most religious communities admit that this is referring to what is called in Hebrew Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement in English, which is a holy day that occurs in the Fall.

Thus, there is no specific Winter-Spring fast that the Bible (Old or New Testaments) teaches should be followed. It may be that Lent, which is not proscribed in the Bible, developed as a substitute for the Days of Unleavened Bread, which are in the Bible, essentially to compromise with those who had not been raised as Christian.

Yet There Are 40 Day Fasts in The Bible

The Bible, does, however, discuss several forty-day fasts. Including those by Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

Here are several of them, starting with Moses:

When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water (Deuteronomy 9:9).

So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:8-9).

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry (Matthew 4:1-2).

One thing that all the above fasts had in common is that the participants did not eat at all for forty-days and at least one of them did not drink anything then either. The 40 day fasts in the Bible did not resemble Lent, they were not any type of annual practice, and the apostles never observed one as far as can be determined. The most likely time for Jesus to have fasted above would have been in the late Summer as if Jesus' ministry last 3 1/2 years, and He did this right before, this would point to late Summer as He was killed in the Spring.

The Roman Catholics and others who observe Lent claim that the forty-days period most likely comes from their example. Notice:

In determining this period of forty days the example of Moses, Elias, and Christ must have exercised a predominant influence (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

However, the claim by some that this was observed by the Apostles is admitted to be unfounded:

Some of the Fathers as early as the fifth century supported the view that this forty days' fast was of Apostolic institution...But the best modern scholars are almost unanimous in rejecting this view...Formerly some difference of opinion existed as to the proper reading, but modern criticism (e.g., in the edition of Schwartz commissioned by the Berlin Academy) pronounces strongly in favor of the text translated above. We may then fairly conclude that Irenaeus about the year 190 knew nothing of any Easter fast of forty days...And there is the same silence observable in all the pre-Nicene Fathers, though many had occasion to mention such an Apostolic institution if it had existed. We may note for example that there is no mention of Lent in St. Dionysius of Alexandria (ed. Feltoe, 94 sqq.) or in the "Didascalia", which Funk attributes to about the year 250 (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

In the late second century, Roman Catholic Bishop and Eastern Orthodox saint Irenaeus condemned the followers of the heretic Valentinus for participating in meat eating heathen festivals:

3. Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the "most perfect" among them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that "they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." For instance, they make no scruple about eating meats offered in sacrifice to idols, imagining that they can in this way contract no defilement. Then, again, at every heathen festival celebrated in honour of the idols, these men are the first to assemble; and to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another. Others of them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. Some of them, moreover, are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they have taught the above doctrine, as has frequently been confessed by those women who have been led astray by certain of them, on their returning to the Church of God, and acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors. (Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Book 1, Chapter 6, Verse 3).

Perhaps I should add that before Irenaeus wrote the above, Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna publicly condemned and stood up against Valentinus.

The Orthodox Catholic apologist Arnobius (died 330) warned against the type of fasts that pagans had and even seemed to warn about a Mardi Gras banquet followed by a fast:

What say you, O wise sons of Erectheus? what, you citizens of Minerva? The mind is eager to know with what words you will defend what it is so dangerous to maintain, or what arts you have by which to give safety to personages and causes wounded so mortally. This is no false mistrust, nor are you assailed with lying accusations: the infamy of your Eleusinia is declared both by their base beginnings and by the records of ancient literature, by the very signs, in fine, which you use when questioned in receiving the sacred things,—" I have fasted, and drunk the draught; I have taken out of the mystic cist, and put into the wicker-basket; I have received again, and transferred to the little chest" (Arnobius. Against the Heathen, Book V, Chapter 26).

The feast of Jupiter is tomorrow. Jupiter, I suppose, dines, and must be satiated with great banquets, and long filled with eager cravings for food by fasting, and hungry after the usual interval (Against the Heathen, Book VII, Chapter 32).

Hislop believed that Arnobius was teaching against what became known as Lent (Two Babylons, p. 106). Perhaps it should be noted that in the late 2nd century, Tertullian also warned against "Christians" participating in events that also honored Minerva (please see the article Is January 1st a Date for Christians Celebrate?).

The Roman Catholic Saint Abbot John Cassian (also known as Cassianus, monk of Marseilles) in the fifth century admitted:

Howbeit you should know that as long as the primitive church retained its perfection unbroken, this observance of Lent did not exist (Cassian John. Conference 21, THE FIRST CONFERENCE OF ABBOT THEONAS. ON THE RELAXATION DURING THE FIFTY DAYS. Chapter 30 in The Conferences of the Desert Fathers, Aeterna Press, 2015).

Notice that he admits that "the primitive church" did not keep Lent!

However, since the Bible says that one should examine themselves prior to taking the Passover symbols (1 Corinthians 11:27-29), some in the second century apparently on their own decided that a type of fast may be appropriate.

While sometimes people would fast for a day, others chose differing amounts of time, but generally they were stricter than Lenten fasts and lasted less than a week:

For the controversy is not only concerning the day, but also concerning the very manner of the fast. For some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more; some, moreover, count their day as consisting of forty hours day and night. And this variety in its observance has not originated in our time; but long before in that of our ancestors. It is likely that they did not hold to strict accuracy, and thus formed a custom for their posterity according to their own simplicity and peculiar mode (Irenaeus as cited by Eusebius. Church History, V, Verses 12-13).

Moreover, with the Easter festival there seems also to have established itself a preliminary fast, not as yet anywhere exceeding a week in duration, but very severe in character, which commemorated the Passion, or more generally, "the days on which the bridegroom was taken away". (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

The Days of Unleavened Bread were kept for a week in the Bible (and 8 days if you count that some was eaten on Passover).

When did the Church of Rome adopt forty-day fasts? That is a difficult question to know for certain, but it appears to have not been that consistent until the fourth or fifth centuries, and it was not uniform even there until later. Notice:

Be this as it may, we find in the early years of the fourth century the first mention of the term tessarakoste. It occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), where there is only question of the proper time for celebrating a synod, and it is conceivable that it may refer not to a period but to a definite festival, e.g., the Feast of the Ascension, or the Purification, which Ætheria calls quadragesimæ de Epiphania...In the time of Gregory the Great (590-604) there were apparently at Rome six weeks of six days each, making thirty-six fast days in all, which St. Gregory, who is followed therein by many medieval writers, describes as the spiritual tithing of the year, thirty-six days being approximately the tenth part of three hundred and sixty-five. At a later date the wish to realize the exact number of forty days led to the practice of beginning Lent upon our present Ash Wednesday... (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

The length of time for observing Lent varied through the ages. For many years, it was considered a 36-day period of fast. By the reign of Charlemagne, about A.D. 800, four days were added making it 40 (Ramm B. Lent. World Book Encyclopedia, 50th ed., Volume 12. Chicago, p. 175).

The term tessarakoste means fortieth and it is not clear that this had anything to do with what is now known as Lent in the early fourth century--though some type of forty-day fasts were being observed then. Into the fifth century, Rome apparently had a different length for fasting, and it took a while for forty-days to become somewhat standard:

Still, this principle was differently understood in different localities, and great divergences of practice were the result. In Rome, in the fifth century, Lent lasted six weeks, but according to the historian Socrates there were only three weeks of actual fasting, exclusive even then of the Saturday and Sunday and if Duchesne's view may be trusted, these weeks were not continuous, but were the first, the fourth, and sixth of the series, being connected with the ordinations...But the number forty, having once established itself, produced other modifications. It seemed to many necessary that there should not only be fasting during the forty days but forty actual fasting days. Thus we find Ætheria in her "Peregrinatio" speaking of a Lent of eight weeks in all observed at Jerusalem, which, remembering that both the Saturday and Sunday of ordinary weeks were exempt, gives five times eight, i.e., forty days for fasting. On the other hand, in many localities people were content to observe no more than a six weeks' period, sometimes, as at Milan, fasting only five days in the week after the oriental fashion (Ambrose, "De Elia et Jejunio", 10). In the time of Gregory the Great (590-604) there were apparently at Rome six weeks of six days each, making thirty-six fast days in all, which St. Gregory, who is followed therein by many medieval writers, describes as the spiritual tithing of the year, thirty-six days being approximately the tenth part of three hundred and sixty-five. At a later date the wish to realize the exact number of forty days led to the practice of beginning Lent upon our present Ash Wednesday, but the Church of Milan, even to this day adheres to the more primitive arrangement (Christian Worship, 243) (Lent. The Catholic Encyclopedia).

Pope Francis has claimed that Lent comes from Jesus' fast:

February 22, 2015

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Wednesday, Lent began with the Rite of Ashes, and today is the first Sunday of this liturgical time that makes reference to the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, after his baptism in the Jordan River. http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/angelus-address-on-crossing-the-lenten-desert

Notice that the pontiff mentioned Lent and tried to tie it in with Jesus spending 40 days in the desert.  While it is true that Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, scriptural indications are that this would have been in the Fall and not the Spring. 

How can that be determined?

Eusebius, the Greco-Roman "father of church history" taught that Jesus' ministry lasted 3 1/2 years.  Since Jesus was killed in the Spring, going back 3 1/2 years puts the beginning in the Fall. 

Notice also the following from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

The chronology of the public life offers a number of problems to the interpreter...

But a comparison of St. John's Gospel with the Synoptic Evangelists seems to introduce another pasch, indicated in the Fourth Gospel, into Christ's public life. John 4:45, relates the return of Jesus into Galilee after the first pasch of His public life in Jerusalem, and the same event is told by Mark 1:14, and Luke 4:14. Again the pasch mentioned in John 6:4 has its parallel in the "green grass" of Mark 6:39, and in the multiplication of loaves as told in Luke 9:12 sqq. But the plucking of ears mentioned in Mark 2:23, and Luke 6:1, implies another paschal season intervening between those expressly mentioned in John 2:13 and 6:4. This shows that the public life of Jesus must have extended over four paschs, so that it must have lasted three years and a few months. Though the Fourth Gospel does not indicate this fourth pasch as clearly as the other three, it is not wholly silent on the question. The "festival day of the Jews" mentioned in John 5:1, has been identified with the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Expiation, the Feast of the New Moon, the Feast of Purim, the Feast of Dedication, by various commentators; others openly confess that they cannot determine to which of the Jewish feasts this festival day refers. Nearly all difficulties will disappear if the festival day be regarded as the pasch, as both the text (heorte) and John 4:35 seem to demand (cf. Dublin Review, XXIII, 351 sqq.). (Maas, Anthony. "Chronology of the Life of Jesus Christ." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 22 Feb. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08377a.htm>)

So, between 3 years and a few months to less than four years, is consistent with the belief that Jesus ministry lasted about 3 1/2 years.

Presuming that Jesus began His ministry on the Feast of Trumpets, the beginning of the Jewish civil 'new year,' and ended on Passover, it would have lasted about 3 1/2 years.

While the Bible does endorse that Christians should fast, no forty-day period is ever proscribed. Here is basically what Jesus Himself taught:

Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?" And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days" (Luke 5:33-36).

Thus apparently Christ's disciples did not fast much while Jesus was alive and would fast after He was to be taken away. However, as even Catholic scholars admit, there is no evidence that the apostles initiated any type of forty-day fast.

Where Did the Forty-Day Lenten Fast Come From?

Although the answer of this may not be entirely clear, there are some indications.

The Apostle Paul invoked keeping Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread:

7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7-8)

Thus, while the Apostle Paul specifically endorsed the observance of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, he did not do so for something called Lent. Second century Church of God leaders such as Polycarp and Polycrates observed Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

However, because the Days of Unleavened Bread involve a seven-day "fast" from leaven, it may be that some associated with Rome and Egypt felt that an abstinence period would be appropriate, but the amount of time varied.

Notice what the Catholic Socrates Scholasticus admitted around the beginning of the fifth century:

The fasts before Easter will be found to be differently observed among different people. Those at Rome fast three successive weeks before Easter, excepting Saturdays and Sundays. Those in Illyrica and all over Greece and Alexandria observe a fast of six weeks, which they term 'The forty days' fast.' Others commencing their fast from the seventh week before Easter, and fasting three five days only, and that at intervals, yet call that time 'The forty days' fast.' It is indeed surprising to me that thus differing in the number of days, they should both give it one common appellation; but some assign one reason for it, and others another, according to their several fancies. One can see also a disagreement about the manner of abstinence from food, as well as about the number of days. Some wholly abstain from things that have life: others feed on fish only of all living creatures: many together with fish, eat fowl also, saying that according to Moses, Genesis 1:20 these were likewise made out of the waters. Some abstain from eggs, and all kinds of fruits: others partake of dry bread only; still others eat not even this: while others having fasted till the ninth hour, afterwards take any sort of food without distinction. And among various nations there are other usages, for which innumerable reasons are assigned. Since however no one can produce a written command as an authority, it is evident that the apostles left each one to his own free will in the matter, to the end that each might perform what is good not by constraint or necessity. Such is the difference in the churches on the subject of fasts (Socrates Scholasticus. Ecclesiastical History, Volume V, Chapter 22).

Since the Babylonians took over the Greeks and the Egyptians, that may have been when they started this practice.

Notice:

WHY the Churches Observe Lent

   The Lenten season is a period of 40 days abstinence, beginning on "Ash Wednesday." Do you know what the meaning of "Lent" is?
   The word "Lent" comes from the old English word "Lencten" meaning the "spring" of the year. You can verify it in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Lenten celebration was originally associated with the spring of the year. But today it begins in the winter! Why?
   Where did the spring-time celebration of Lent actually originate? When was the celebration of Lent changed from spring to winter? Here is the surprising answer!
   Let us first turn back the pages of time till we reach the close of the second century. This was 100 years after the death of the last of the 12 apostles. Here is what Irenaeus writes to the Bishop of Rome about Lent at this time:
   "For the controversy is not only concerning the day" — there was a controversy over the time to celebrate Easter — "but also concerning the very manner of the fast" — the fast of the Lenten season. "For some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more, and some forty," reports Irenaeus, Bishop from France.
   How did all this confusion originate? God is not the author of confusion! Then who originated this confusion over Lent?
   "And this variety in its observance," continues Irenaeus, "has not originated in our time; but long before in that of our ancestors. It is likely that they did not hold to strict accuracy, and thus formed a custom for their posterity according to private fancy" — not apostolic authority or Christ's command! (From Eusebius' Church History, Book 5, chapter 24.)
   Lent came into the Church through custom — through PRIVATE FANCY. The churches observe Lent, not because the Bible commands it, but because professing Christians adopted the custom from their Gentile neighbors.
   "As long as the perfection of the primitive church [the inspired New Testament Church] remained inviolable," wrote Cassian, the Catholic prelate of the fifth century, "there was no observance of Lent; but when men began to decline from the apostolical fervour of devotion... then the priests in general agreed to recall them from secular cares by a canonical indiction of fasting..." (Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book 21, chapter 1.)
   Fasting, or abstinence from certain foods, was imposed after the days of the apostles — by the authority of the priests!
   Lent is not of apostolic origin! It did not originate with Christ! It entered the Christianity of the Roman World in the second century. (Hoeh H. WHERE Did God Command YOU to Observe Lent? Plain Truth, April 1957)

But the original length of the fast, traced back to Babylon was a "forty-days" fast in the spring of the year (Laynard's Nineveh and Babylon, chapter 4, page 93). That is why it bore its name of "40 days"! (Hoeh, H. Did Jesus Observe Lent? Plain Truth. February 1982, p. 30).

Lent was not a practice of the original catholic church (see also Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? ).

It is likely that the idea of a forty-day fast came from the pagans in Alexandria in Egypt or from Greece.

The historian Alexander Hislop apparently felt so as he wrote:

The forty days' abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of forty days, "in the spring of the year," is still observed by the Yezidis or Pagan Devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a Lent of forty days was held in spring by the Pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: "Three days after the vernal equinox...began a solemn fast of forty days in honour of the sun." Such a Lent of forty days was observed in Egypt, as may be seen on consulting Wilkinson's Egyptians. This Egyptian Lent of forty days, we are informed by Landseer, in his Sabean Researches, was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god. At the same time, the rape of Proserpine seems to have been commemorated, and in a similar manner; for Julius Firmicus informs us that, for "forty nights" the "wailing for Proserpine" continued; and from Arnobius we learn that the fast which the Pagans observed, called "Castus" or the "sacred" fast, was, by the Christians in his time, believed to have been primarily in imitation of the long fast of Ceres, when for many days she determinedly refused to eat on account of her "excess of sorrow," that is, on account of the loss of her daughter Proserpine, when carried away by Pluto...

Among the Pagans this Lent seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz, which was celebrated by alternate weeping and rejoicing, and which, in many countries, was considerably later than the Christian festival, being observed in Palestine and Assyria in June, therefore called the "month of Tammuz"; in Egypt, about the middle of May, and in Britain, some time in April. To conciliate the Pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and Pagan festivals amalgamated, and, by a complicated but skilful adjustment of the calendar, it was found no difficult matter, in general, to get Paganism and Christianity--now far sunk in idolatry--in this as in so many other things, to shake hands...

Let any one only read the atrocities that were commemorated during the "sacred fast" or Pagan Lent, as described by Arnobius and Clemens Alexandrinus, and surely he must blush for the Christianity of those who, with the full knowledge of all these abominations, "went down to Egypt for help" to stir up the languid devotion of the degenerate Church, and who could find no more excellent way to "revive" it, than by borrowing from so polluted a source; the absurdities and abominations connected with which the early Christian writers had held up to scorn. That Christians should ever think of introducing the Pagan abstinence of Lent was a sign of evil; it showed how low they had sunk, and it was also a cause of evil; it inevitably led to deeper degradation. Originally, even in Rome, Lent, with the preceding revelries of the Carnival, was entirely unknown; and even when fasting before the Christian Pasch was held to be necessary, it was by slow steps that, in this respect, it came to conform with the ritual of Paganism. What may have been the period of fasting in the Roman Church before sitting of the Nicene Council does not very clearly appear, but for a considerable period after that Council, we have distinct evidence that it did not exceed three weeks (Hislop A. Two Babylons. pp. 104-106).

Hence we see that the so-called Christian observance of Lent is apparently a continuation of widespread ancient pagan practices that were subtly incorporated into mainstream Christianity over the centuries.

The late evangelist Dr. Herman Hoeh wrote:

Where Lent Is Mentioned in the Bible

   Lent is nowhere commanded or mentioned in the New Testament. But it is mentioned in the Old Testament!
   Lent was an indispensable preliminary to the great annual festival in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz — another name for Nimrod, reborn as the pagan Babylonian messiah. Forty days preceding the feast of Tammuz (usually celebrated among pagans originally in June) the heathen held their Lenten season! Ezekiel describes it vividly in Ezek. 8:13-14:
   "He" — the Lord — "said also unto me, 'Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.'" Notice that God calls what Ezekiel is about to see an ABOMINATION. What does the prophet see?
   "And, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."
   They wept for Tammuz, the false messiah of the pagans!
   Fasting was joined with weeping FOR A PERIOD OF FORTY DAYS before the festival in honor of Tammuz. The period of weeping and semi-fasting fell originally during springtime. That is why the word Lent means "spring!" Lent is a continuation of the pagan spring-time custom of abstaining from certain foods just prior to celebrating a fake resurrection! And God calls LENT an ABOMINATION!

Lent a Substitute for Days of Unleavened Bread

   Jesus left us an example of what we ought to do — and that example is not Lent!
   The example of Jesus was to keep the Days of Unleavened Bread. This festival symbolizes putting sin out of our life. But people do not want to put out sin. They want the temporary pleasures of sin and then prefer to do penance instead. Penance means to give up something in payment for sin. That is why the pagans, flocking wholesale into the professing Christian Church, ousted the celebration of the Days of Unleavened Bread and substituted Lent — 40 days of Penance — 40 days of denying oneself certain physical pleasures in return for enjoying sin for the other 325¼ days of the year!

The Origin of Lent

   From what city did the celebration of Lent really begin to spread throughout the professing Christianity of the Roman World?
   Here is what the Catholic Encyclopaedia records:
   "In any case it is certain from the 'Festival Letters' of St. Athanasius that in 331 [he] enjoined upon his flock a period of FORTY DAYS of fasting preliminary to... Holy Week, and second that in 339 after having travelled to Rome and over the greater part of Europe, [he] wrote in the strongest terms to urge this observance" — Lent — upon the people under his jurisdiction.
   Athanasius was influenced by Roman custom. It was at Rome that Lent entered the popular Christian Church. Irenaeus wrote that Lent was introduced during the time of Bishop Xystus of Rome. This Bishop "did not permit those after him" to observe the practices of the apostles, but instead introduced the custom of Lent.
   Notice that Lent is a counterfeit of the Days of Unleavened Bread commanded by the apostles to be observed by all Christians (I Cor. 5:7).

A Fake Resurrection

   Lent immediately precedes the celebration of a Sunday resurrection — supposedly of Christ! But Christ was not resurrected on Sunday!
   Nowhere does the New Testament command us to observe the resurrection of Christ! We are commanded to observe the PASSOVER, a MEMORIAL OF HIS DEATH — "Do this in remembrance of Me," commanded Jesus! The early inspired true New Testament Church did observe that memorial, but it never observed Easter or Lent! And we observe that same memorial today because we are the true Church of God.
   Easter and Lent celebrate the fake resurrection of a false Christ. Paul warned that this very custom would develop — "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached — and that is exactly what has happened (II Cor. 11:4). Lent celebrated another Jesus, a false messiah from Babylon!
   The celebration of a festival on Sunday in honor of the resurrection comes directly from PAGANISM.
   Notice that immediately after the Lenten observance, the prophet Ezekiel sees the people observing an Easter sunrise service: "Then said He unto me, 'Hast thou seen this?'" — the Lenten fast. "'Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see GREATER ABOMINATIONS than these.'" What does the prophet see? — people bowing down toward the sun in the East. Easter sunrise services — the climax to the 40 days of Lent! (Ezek. 8:16). (Hoeh H. How ROME Counterfeited Gods Holy Days! Good News, April 1958)

It should be noted that the Bible condemns practices associated with pagan worship, such as those that involved Tammuz:

And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing." So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD's house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz (Ezekiel 8:13-14).

Essentially, mourning for Tammuz could include fasting of some type for some time. Scholars tend to believe that Tammuz was related to Adonis or Osiris as the following commentary records:

Ezekiel 8:14-15

Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

Tammuz. This god can be traced back to the Sumerian Dumuzi, the god of the subterranean ocean and a shepherd deity, whose sister-consort, Inanna-Ishtar, descended into the lower world to bring him back to life. In his worship are similarities to that of Egyptian Osiris, the Canaanite Baal, and the Syrian Adonis. Gebal or Byblos, twenty-one miles north of Beirut, was the great seat of Adonis worship. The nightly death of the god, the god's dying before the touch of winter, or the vernal god's dying with the parched summer are variations on the theme of death and resurrection. Mourning for the god was followed by a celebration of resurrection (from The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1962 by Moody Press).

Notice that the mourning ended with the resurrection for Tammuz. This is essentially the same as fasting for forty days which ends with the pagan Easter celebration!

Since Ash Wednesday involves receiving ashes on one's forehead to begin the forty-day period of Lent, this may be related to the beginning of the mourning for the death of Tammuz. It may or not be relevant to note that Ishtar (pronounced about the same as "Easter") is also spelled as Ash-tar (not the connection to Ash Wednesday). An interesting coincidence, don't you think?

Also notice:

A Lent of forty days was observed by worshipers of the Babylonian Ishtar and by the worshipers of the great Egyptian meditorial god Adonis or Osiris...Among the pagans, this Lent period seems to have been an indispensable preliminary to the great annual (usually spring) festivals (Bacchiochi S. God's Festivals in Scripture and History, Part 1. Biblical Perspectices, Berrian Springs (MI), 1995, p. 108).

A Possible Connection to Mithras?

Here is what Tertullian of Carthage (in eastern Egypt) noted near the beginning of the third century:

Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan,) sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers (Tertullian. The Prescription against Heretics, Chapter 40. Translated by Peter Holmes, D.D., F.R.A.S.)

The 20th century writer Manly Hall wrote:

Candidates who successfully passed the Mithraic initiations were called Lions and were marked upon their foreheads with the Egyptian cross. (Manly P. Hall Manly P. Hall (Author), J. Augustus Knapp (Illustrator) The Secret Teachings of all Ages. Originally published 1926, reprint Wilder Publications, 2009, p. 45)

Payam Nabarz wrote in the 21st century:

Tertullian certainly writes that Mithras marks (signat) his soldiers on the forehead, but what 'sign'? Some writers have even speculated that this mark was the mark of the "Beast of Revelations," as the numerological value of the Sun is 666!...

Mithratic...initiates...would henceforth have the Sun Cross on their foreheads. The similarity to the cross of ashes made on the forehead on the Christian Ash Wednesday is striking. Some have suggested this to be an example of the early Christians borrowing from the Mithratic cult; others suggest that both cults were drawing upon the same prototype (Nabarz P. The mysteries of Mithras: the pagan belief that shaped the Christian world. Inner Traditions / Bear & Company, 2005, p. 36).

It appears that the idea of a cross on the forehead probably came from Egypt initially. Mithraism probably picked it up (there is some question about the exact mark on the forehead, but a type of cross seems to be the most likely). And sometime after the Church of Rome absobed some aspects of Mithraism, Ash Wednesday appeared.

Others have felt, however, that it was adopted from India, and then made it to Rome. Notice what Barbara Walker reported:

Ash Wednesday This allegedly Christian festival came from Roman paganism, which in turn took it from Vedic India. Ashes were considered the seed of the fire god Agni, with the power to absolve all sins...

At Rome's New Year Feast of Atonement in March, people wore sackcloth and bathed in ashes to atone for their sins. Then as now, New Year's Eve was a festival for eating, drinking, and sinning, on the theory that all sins would be wiped out the following day. As the dying god of March, Mars took his worshippers' sins in with him into death. Therefore the carnival fell on dies martis, the Day of Mars. In English, this was Tuesday, because Mars was associated with the Saxon god Tiw. In French the carnival day was called Mardis Gras, "Fat Tuesday," the merrymaking day before Ash Wednesday. (Walker B. The woman's encyclopedia of myths and secrets. HarperCollins, 1983, pp. 66-67).

And although Ash Wednesday is now normally in February, the aspect of penance from sins is still tied in with Ash Wednesday. And the merrymaking still exists in places that observe Mardi Gras or "Carnaval" (Mardi Gras: The Devil’s Carnival?).

Notice that the Apostle Paul warns against being involved in pagan observances (Catholic New Jerusalem Bible translations shown below):

14 Do not harness yourselves in an uneven team with unbelievers; how can uprightness and law-breaking be partners, or what can light and darkness have in common? 15 How can Christ come to an agreement with Beliar and what sharing can there be between a believer and an unbeliever? 16 The temple of God cannot compromise with false gods, and that is what we are -- the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:14-16, NJB)

19 What does this mean? That the dedication of food to false gods amounts to anything? Or that false gods themselves amount to anything? 20 No, it does not; simply that when pagans sacrifice, what is sacrificed by them is sacrificed to demons who are not God. I do not want you to share with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons as well; you cannot have a share at the Lord's table and the demons' table as well. (1 Corinthians 10:19-21, NJB)

Whether from Egypt, Roman paganism, or India, the one place it did not come from was the Bible. Nor did it come from early traditions of the first followers of Jesus. An article of related interest may be Do You Practice Mithraism?

More on Carnival and Mardi Gras

According to Wikipedia:

Carnival begins 12 days after Christmas, or Twelfth Night, on January 6 and ends on Mardi Gras, which always falls exactly 47 days before Easter.

Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations include New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Here is one news item about it:

The Salt Lake Tribune - Jan 8, 2008

Although the origins of Carnaval are shrouded in mystery, some believe the fest began as a pagan celebrationof spring’s arrival sometime during the Middle Ages. The Portuguese brought the celebration to Brazil in the 1500s, but it took on a decidedly local flavor by adopting Indian costumes and African rhythms. The word itself probably derives from the Latin “carne vale,” or “goodbye meat,” a reference to the Catholic tradition of giving up meat (and other fleshly temptations) during Lent…

Rio’s first festivals were called entrudos, with locals dancing through the streets in colorful costumes and throwing mud, flour and suspicious-smelling liquids on one another. In the 19th century, Carnaval meant attending a lavish masked ball or participating in the orderly and rather vapid European-style parade. Rio’s poor citizens, bored by the finery but eager to celebrate, began holding their own parades, dancing through the streets to African-based rhythms…

…an event that happens annually in Brazil on the days leading up to Ash Wednesday. In 2008, Carnaval officially begins Friday, Feb. 1, when the mayor gives the keys to the city to King Momo, the portly pleasure-seeker who ushers in the bacchanalia. The next four days are marked by neighborhood parties, lavish masked balls and impromptu fests all over town (http://www.sltrib.com/travel/ci_7883824).

The origens of this are not a complete mystery as the sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia:

Carnival communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent.

Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had their origins in pre-Christian pagan rites, particularly fertility rites that were connected with the coming of spring and the rebirth of vegetation.

One of the first recorded instances of an annual spring festival is the festival of Osiris in Egypt; it commemorated the renewal of life brought about by the yearly flooding of the Nile. In Athens, during the 6th cent. BC, a yearly celebration in honor of the god Dionysus was the first recorded instance of the use of a float.

It was during the Roman Empire that carnivals reached an unparalleled peak of civil disorder and licentiousness. The major Roman carnivals were the Bacchanalia, the Saturnalia, and the Lupercalia. In Europe the tradition of spring fertility celebrations persisted well into Christian times, where carnivals reached their peak during the 14th and 15th cent.

Because carnivals are deeply rooted in pagan superstitions and the folklore of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church was unable to stamp them out and finally accepted many of them as part of church activity (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-carnival.html).

Essentially, this Mardi Gras is a pagan holiday that the Catholics adopted as a compromise to keep members. Participants eat a lot (hence the name “fat Tuesday”) before they begin a fast now called Lent–another observance with pagan origins as this article has shown. More information can be found in the article Mardi Gras: The Devil’s Carnival?

People participate in many non-biblical practices during 'carnaval,' including ones the Bible warns against. Notice what the Apostle Paul warned Christians:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:13-14)

Christians should not promote paganism nor lewdness--yet carnaval really does do this. Being followed by Lent is not real repentance.

The writings from the apostles should be enough to stop professors of Christ from participating in carnaval revelries, but sadly most who profess Christ overlook much of what the Bible teaches about real Christian practices.

3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles — when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. (1 Peter 4:3-4)

Peter even warns that some will think it strange if you stop such improper behaviors. But many who profess Christ, encourage and participate in such actions.

It seems to be that after breaking God's laws, Ash Wednesday is observed to publicly feign repentance. But notice what Jesus said about outward piety:

25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:25-28)

Carnaval encourages "self-indulgence." Carnaval followed by Ash Wednesday and Lent seems to be similar to being whitewashed the way Jesus warned against.

But some think that having Lent after carnaval is good, so that people will ask for forgiveness. That attitude brings to mind something the Apostle Paul wrote:

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4)

Others warned of having an attitude like Paul warned about. Notice what Jude wrote:

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 3-4)

Also, consider what the Apostle John wrote:

1 To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: 2 "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; 3  and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary. 4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent. 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate' (Revelation 2:1-6).

The reference to the Nicolaitans seems to refer to possible Gnostics who wrongly felt that various of their physical actions/deeds were not of spiritual consequence. The Nicolaitans were seemingly among those “who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality” (Jude 4, NIV) and/or were certain “semi-Gnostics” who instituted anti-biblical practices—they understood a false gospel. Irenaeus said that they claimed to be descended from the deacon Nicolas in Acts 6:5 and that they “lead lives of unrestrained indulgence” [Irenaeus. Adversus Haereses.  Book 1, Chapter 26, Verse 3], while they still claimed to be Christian.

They were not, nor are those who engage in carnaval/Lent practicing biblical Christianity.

Some will say, but you do not understand, observing such things is in my culture.

What did the Apostle Paul teach about something related to that? Notice:

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Christians are NOT to be confirmed to the standards of the world that differ from God's standards.

If you know what you should do, you need to repent:

30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

Christians are not perfect people, but imperfect people who repent, are baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). And repentant Christians are not to participate in practices that God condemns:

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Do you want to inherit the Kingdom of God? Then do not live according to ways that God condemns, even if you did in times past.

Because of Lent, Vatican Declared a Mammal a Fish

There is an interesting story related to Lent that someone sent me:

Giant Rodents A Lenten Dish

Sun Sentinel, Florida - March 18, 2003   excerpt...

About 400 years ago, Spanish missionaries discovered that some indigenous communities in Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil relied for much of their protein on the meat of the capybara, an animal that no European had seen before.

The missionaries reported back to Rome that they had encountered an animal that was hairy and scaly and spent more of its time in the water than on land. They asked whether their new converts could continue to eat capybara at Lent, a time when Catholics traditionally avoid meat.

With no clear idea of what the capybara was or looked like and concerned a ban would lead to indigenous communities starving during Lent, the Vatican immediately ruled that the semi-aquatic mammal was in fact a fish.

The tradition continues to this day, and eating capybara remains part of the Lenten tradition for many families, despite the fact that the giant rodent tastes like a cross between fish and lamb.

                                                                     http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2003-03-18/news/0303170443_1_rodents-lenten-capybara

"In 1784 and after several attempts at obtaining a Vatican license, a Papal Bull (decree) allowed the consumption of capybara flesh during Lent..."

                 - Capybara: Biology, Use and Conservation of an Exceptional Neotropical Species,
                   by José Roberto Moreira, Katia Maria P.M.B., Springer Aug 15, 2012, page 307

Of course, the Vatican did not really know. But, I would add that biblically, capybaras are not some that Christians should eat as they do not meet the biblical criteria for 'clean' animals (see also The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats and/or watch the sermon length video Christians and Unclean Meats).

Lent Not So Sacred to the Church of Rome

While many in the Church of Rome attach a certain sacredness to the observance of Lent, the following shows that the it grants a special dispensation from its Lenten observances so that people can consume otherwise restricted items to celebrate St. Patrick's Day:

For the commemoration of St Patrick, 17 March 2017, the following local churches are generally dispensed or granted commutation from Lenten abstinence by act of the respective (arch)bishop or the proper solemnity of the diocesan patron – conditions/substitions may vary by jurisdiction:

All dioceses of Wisconsin and Georgia (by common action)

Archdioceses of Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dubuque, Galveston-Houston, Hartford, Indianapolis, Kansas City in Kansas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Miami, The Military Services USA, Mobile, Newark, New Orleans, New York, Omaha, Philadelphia, Saint Paul and Minneapolis, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC

Dioceses of Albany, Allentown, Arlington, Austin, Baton Rouge, Beaumont, Belleville, Birmingham, Boise, Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Brownsville, Buffalo, Burlington, Camden, Charleston, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Corpus Christi, Covington, Dallas, Davenport, Des Moines, Duluth, Erie, Fall River, Fargo, Fort Wayne-South Bend, Fort Worth, Fresno, Gary, Gaylord, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Jackson, Jefferson City, Joliet, Juneau, Kalamazoo, Kansas City-St Joseph, Knoxville, Lafayette (La.), Las Cruces, Las Vegas, Lexington, Manchester, Memphis, Metuchen, Nashville, Norwich, Oakland, Ogdensburg, Owensboro, Palm Beach, Paterson, Peoria, Pensacola-Tallahassee, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Maine), Providence, Raleigh, Rochester, Rockford, Rockville Centre, Sacramento, St Augustine, St Cloud, St Petersburg, San Bernardino, San Diego, Scranton, Spokane, Springfield (Mass.), Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Steubenville, Stockton, Syracuse, Toledo, Tucson, Tyler, Venice (Florida), Victoria, Wheeling-Charleston, Wilmington, Winona, Worcester, Yakima, Youngstown http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2017/03/irish-or-not-happy-indult-day.html

So, Lent is not so special to the Church of Rome that it should not be changed to allow people to consume items that they normally avoid then in order to party on St. Patrick's Day. As far as that day is concerned, you may wish to check out the article Why The Continuing Church of God Does Not Wear Green on St. Patrick's Day.

Many Protestants Observe Lent

Although it is essentially a Catholic holiday, many Protestants also observe and encourage the observation of Lent:

Steven R. Harmon, author of Ecumenism Means You, Too, Frederica Mathewes-Green, the author of The Jesus Prayer, and Michael Horton, author of The Gospel-Driven Life, suggest why Christians should care about Lent.

While Israel's neighbors celebrated the cycle of seasons as shadows of the realm of the gods, Israel celebrated the interventions of God in historical events of judgment and deliverance. The major feasts include Passover, Firstfruits (Pentecost), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), and Tabernacles (Sukkot). In commanding these feasts, God was incorporating them into his unfolding drama, anchored in his promises and their future fulfillment in Christ.

Unlike the Old Testament, however, the New Testament does not prescribe a church calendar. Furthermore, Lent became associated in the medieval church with all sorts of rules and superstitions. For the most part, the Protestant Reformers continued to celebrate Lent, but in a more evangelical way. They inveighed against the connection between fasting and penance "as a work of merit or a form of divine worship," as Calvin put it. Lent is still celebrated today in Lutheran, Anglican, and many Reformed churches...

I believe an evangelical celebration of Lent affords an opportunity to reinforce rather than undermine the significance of Christ's person and work.

Lent is a 40-day preparation for the observance of Christ's passion and Easter. (Horton M. Lent—Why Bother? To Lead Us to Christ. Christianity Today, February 10, 2010. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/february/15.55.html)

Let's Lengthen Lent...
...pre-Lenten festivals such as the Mardi Gras have turned into bacchanals that have become a reproach to civilization.So what do we do? Observe Lent or ignore it?...I hope to be in my church on Ash Wednesday as a worshiper. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/marchweb-only/34.0.html)

In medieval Europe, Christians often gave up eating rich foods like meat, eggs, and milk for the 40-day period of penance, prayer, and preparation leading to Easter. The practice and duration of the ritual corresponded to Christ’s 40 days of fasting in the desert. ... Lent is to Easter what Advent is to Christmas. Lent gets us in the “Easter spirit,” http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/february-web-only/he-is-risen-so-i-am-shriven.html

Lent...
Lent is one of the oldest observations on the Christian calendar. Like all Christian holy days and holidays, it has changed over the years...(http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/)

It is interesting that some Protestants understand that there actually is a "church calendar" in the Bible--but they misunderstand it and think it was somewhat done away for Christians (they may wish to read the article Is There "An Annual Worship Calendar" In the Bible?).

Of course, Lent does not come from the Bible. Nor was a forty-day Lenten fast the practice of the early Christian church. Certain Protestants are unknowingly admitting that they are relying on tradition and the authority of Rome (which they often claim does not exist) and not sola Scriptura for their observations. (Easter, of course, is not a biblical term related to Jesus' resurrection.)

Conclusion

Lent means Spring and the pagan practice of abstention for forty-days originally occured in the Spring, yet Lent is now mainly in the Winter--this strongly suggests a pagan connection--otherwise the practice would not be called Spring!

For now, let me simply reiterate that neither Lent nor Ash Wednesday was observed by the early church--this is admitted by Roman Catholic scholars and at least one Catholic saint. Nor was Easter for that matter--this is also admitted by Catholic scholars. Yet these observances seem to eventually have become common and then encouraged by the Roman Church and many others.

In the Spring of the year, the New Testament mentions biblical holy days, like Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread (for early Spring) and Pentecost (for late Spring)--it also mentions that Jesus and/or His disciples observed all of those.

History records that they were also observed by early Christians and that Christians even today observe them. Some who professed Christ apparently thought compromise with non-biblical holidays would substitute for biblical ones like the Days of Unleavened Bread. Yet, the original practice of the earliest Christians were to observe Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Christians, like some of the observant Jews, purged their homes of leaven prior to to sunset on the 15th of Nisan. And Christians avoided leaven for those seven days. This is something that the Bible teaches and early Christians practiced.

Will you follow those who followed Christ or do you prefer later adaptations?

Should you observe what is taught in the Bible or rely of later traditions of men?

Here is a link to a related sermon: Lent, Ash Wednesday, Carnaval, and Christianity?

Thiel B., Ph.D. Is Lent a Christian Holiday? www.cogwriter.com/lent.htm 2007/2008/2010/2011/2013/2014/2015/2016/2017 /2022 0/ 2024 0106

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