Roundtable 27: The Distinction of Meats

It is difficult for 21st century Christians to appreciate fully the subject under discussion here probably because, both among Roman Catholics and non-Roman Catholics, the impact of canon laws governing what can, and can not, be eaten and at what times one must fast, and not fast, has become more of a historic relic of the past. Choosing not to eat a certain food, at a certain time, is a matter of Christian freedom, but by the 16th century, Roman Catholicism had created elaborate rules and regulations governing the practice of fasting. These regulations and rules and requirements misled people into thinking that the act of fasting was a means by which they could make themselves worthy of God's favor and earn merit in His eyes. Contrived laws governing what we eat have no basis in command, example of promise contained in the Sacred Scriptures. The confessors at Augsburg were careful in this article to make it clear that fasting is a fine practice, if done for the right reasons. The article asserts that Lutherans keep ancient traditions that contribute to proper piety and devotional meditation on the Word of God. This article actually offers a broader insight into the spirit of the Lutheran reformers than simply a statement about fasting. No observance chosen in Christian freedom for the sake of order, decorum, teaching, etc. can ever be regarded as something that merits justification before God. And it is never any sin to omit them. That every Christian "ought to train and subdue himself with bodily restraints, or bodily exercises and labors, so that neither over-indulgence nor laziness may tempt him to sin." (AC XXVI, par. 33; Concordia, p. 52).