In the first treatise Du Moulin explains three important parts to prepare for true fasting taken from Gen. 18:20, “And the Lord said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous…"" He covers who it is that speaks, how God behaves himself towards his enemies, and how gentle and mild God is towards them that fear him, and the care he has of his children. He then applies this to how repentance is a precursor to holy fasting for our spiritual well-being.

In the second treatise, Wilkinson describes the physical act of fasting using Joel 2:12-13, focusing in on, “Turn you unto me… with fasting and with weeping and with mourning…” He demonstrates that fasting is a physical exercise of abstinence for a holy purpose, to enact true repentance in us and spiritually elevate our heart and mind to stand in the grace of God for the glory of Christ.

This is not a scan or facsimile, has been updated in modern English for easy reading and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.