Should Christians Abstain from Lent?

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.

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.