Eating meat on Friday

[Nexus]

Why is there a rule not to eat meat on Fridays? Are there any exceptions? Why is eating fish allowed?

[disq]

I think that the main purpose is abstaining from something, instead of abstaining from meat, you can perform some other act of penance.

[mark11]

Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Meat was a luxury food, and abstaining from meat on Fridays is an act of penance.

[Ankhhape]

The Bible does not require anyone to abstain from meat on any day. In fact, the only passages in the New Testament that talk about it are Acts 15:29 and 1 Timothy 4:3. The passage in Acts 15 says that the only parts of the Law of Moses required by the elders and apostles in the congregation in Jerusalem were prohibitions against idolatry, fornication, and eating blood and meats from strangled animals. It says nothing about abstaining on certain days.

The passage in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” This says that people who command others to abstain from meats are false teachers. Whether it is talking about people who insist that others practice a vegetarian lifestyle at all times or whether it is talking about abstaining only on certain days (like Fridays) is unclear. Maybe it applies to both.

The practice of not eating meat on Fridays (all Fridays) dates back to about the fourth century. It is written in some writings of that time that it was a practice, but does not say it was a sin.