this discipline for Ambrose.^150 Historically Horton Davies is correct when he asserts
that fast days were not a Puritan innovation but already stipulated in 1563 in the
Elizabethan Book of Homilies.^151 However, the Protestant origin of this practice can
be traced earlier. The form of prayer that Grindal developed in 1563 was an
adaptation of the Genevan liturgy that in turn was derived from Leviticus 23:27-32.^152
Further, according to the Puritans there were a few significant differences between
themselves and the Roman Catholic observance of fasting. While the Roman
Catholic practice focused on external actions the Puritans also emphasized the
internal movement of the soul. Additionally, the Puritan practice was voluntary.
Finally, almsgiving for the poor and needy soon became a standard practice within
Puritanism.^153
Henry Scudder describes the purpose of these fasts as “sanctifying a day to the
Lord by a willing abstinence from meats and drinke, and from delights & worldly
labours, that the whole man may be more thorowly humbled before God, and more
150
The literature on fasting and fast days within Puritanism is considerable. See for See Ambrose, Media (1650), 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 83, 84, 101, 104, 105, 110.
example Tom Webster, Godly Clergy, 60-74; Walsham, Providence in Early Modern
England, 142-7, 164-6; Durston, “Better Humiliation of People”; Collinson,
Elizabethan Puritan Movement, 214-9, 437-440; Collinson, Religion of Protestants,
167 - 8, 260-3; and the index in Hambrick-Stowe, Practice of Piety. For fasting in
Protestant Scotland see Schmidt, Holy Fairs, 19, 28, 32-3, 55, 77-8, 121, 239n10 and
Mullan, (^151) Horton Davies, Scottish PuritanismWorship and Theology in England, 29, 115, 275-6. (^) , 2: 238.
(^152) Winthrop Hudson, “Fast Days and Civil Religion,” 12; Collinson, Elizabethan
Puritan Movement 153 , 215; and Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, 143.
On the distinction between Roman Catholic and Puritan fasting see Tom Webster,
Godly Clergy, 61, 64, 72 and Durston, “Better Humiliation of People,” 129. On the
voluntary nature see Tom Webster, Godly Clergy, 63, 69, 71. On almsgiving and
fasting see Tom Webster, Godly Clergy, 61; Walsham, Providence in Early Modern
Catholic practice of fasting see Bossy,England, 143, 145; and Collinson, Religion of the Protestants English Catholic Community, 261-2. On the Roman , 110-6.