The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum What is Lent?

I was just recently listening to a podcast by Reformed Forum and the title of the talk was ‘’Zwingli, Sola Scriptura and the Reformation of Christian Worship’’, they discussed among many things the observation of Lent, they taught that not only was it not biblical but not Reformed and shouldn’t be observed at all, what is the historical context of Lent and should Christians and or those who hold to Reformed theology dismiss it as a false link of study?

What is the primary authority in a Christian's life? in the practice of the Church?

I am not sure what is meant by a false link of study as I personally see nothing wrong with pursuing the original question to understand from whence this practice originated.

A basic Google search for the history of the practice of Lent led me to this https://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/193181.pdf:
"By the mid-third century, Dionysius of Alexandria speaks of a fast of up to six days practiced by the devout in his see; and the Byzantine historian Socrates relates that the Christians of Rome at some point kept a fast of three weeks.2 Only following the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. did the length of Lent become fixed at forty days, and then only nominally. Accordingly, it was assumed that the forty-day Lent that we encounter almost everywhere by the mid-fourth century must have been the result of a gradual lengthening of the pre-Easter fast by adding days and weeks to the original one- or two-day observance.3 This lengthening, in turn, was thought necessary to make up for the waning zeal of the post-apostolic church and to provide a longer period of instruction for the increasing numbers of former pagans thronging to the font for Easter baptism. Such remained the standard theory for most of the twentieth century."


~ John Calvin https://www.the-highway.com/The_Word.html

Lent is not in the Bible.
But...
Lent could be seen as BIblical.
Just as we are to focus on prayer and fasting, Lent can be seen as a time on enforced/focused prayer and fasting.
Done right..Lent is very VERY Biblical.
Done wrong (as most do)....it is not.

Thank you for the clarity, when I said a ‘’false link of study’’, the podcast guest basically said if you hold to the Reformed Faith it should not be a question that we should not participate in the event of Lent, being that its not found in the Bible, thus making a holiday from tradition not scripture.