to wonder why Lent fasting has become so diluted?

[Wonderingwhyyy]

I was talking to a Christian who told me she fasts the traditional way in Lent. No food or water from sunrise to sunset. She was the first I had met who actually abstains from food and drink for a significant period of time.

Other Christians I know choose to give up one food e.g. chocolate, wine, tea, coffee. One Christian told me she gave up Facebook for Lent.

The Christian who said she fasted the traditional way told me she gained many benefits such as spiritual closeness to God, self discipline, greater self control.

It did make sense. Giving up Facebook doesn't seem likely to bring many benefits although may it did for that one person.

I wonder why it became diluted and whether Christianity has lost its followers by allowing most things it did not used to.

Yes - Africa’s a big place, a continent even, but the OP seems a little shy about starting where in Africa she’s from.

Just as the OP doesn’t seem to want to divulge what her own faith is while she’s busy criticising many if not most Christians for not doing Christianity as she thinks it should be done having spoken to one woman about it very recently.

It occurs to me to wonder if inducing hallucination aka religious experience was/is the reason for the severe regime?

Still bothered by the opening thought that Christianity lost followers because it 'allowed' less strict practice.
The evidence I see is that the world would not be a better place if religion 'enforced' strict practice.

I remember a bunch of us sitting in the comfortable lounge on the second day (so about 35 hours into no sleep), looking at the sun sparkling on the waves on the lake outside, and one fellow-pilgrim remarking 'this is the classic brainwashing technique, isn't it?'.

But the joy of being able to sleep when I wanted, wear shoes and sock, eat and drink what I wanted, remained with me a long time afterwards, and I think it was a useful exercise.

After mulling it over I have clicked on 'not being unreasonable' because I find both historical speculation and the variations in religious practice interesting, and have enjoyed being prodded into thinking about them.

Not sure 'diluted' was the best word, and think a little background on which branch of Christianity your friend belongs to might have avoided some misunderstandings, but not unreasonable to wonder.

My aunt did this once , they called the water with pepper "soup" it sounded horrific

hot water with pepper and salt

amazingly alluring and delicious after a day and night and another day of walking round, kneeling down, standing up walking round some more, barefoot

The pilgrimage has been on the go since at least the 12th century, was famous across Europe in the late middle ages, and the stories about it are sometimes claimed to have been an influence on Dante.

I'd agree it didn't seem like that much of a sacrifice. It seemed faintly ridiculous when they then stayed up until after midnight for a further substantial snack "because they were so hungry". They thought that would be okay because it was no longer Good Friday.

The "one full meal and two small meals" thing does seem to be widely taught in Catholicism though. For example, the attached is from https://ewtn.co.uk/chpop-your-lenten-guide-for-fasting-abstinence-according-to-catholic-teaching/

I just had a thought.......how is continuing not to do what the Church has never required and the church members have never done "diluting"?

Why do you think Christianity has lost followers?

That was an interesting read @CasperGutman Thank you

It keeps describing three meals as fasting which seems strange!

Hypocrisy amongst church leaders, cover ups of child abuse, misogyny, homophobia, an increasingly capitalist society (which runs counter to much of what the Church stands for), increased secularism, strictures that people don’t want to adhere to rather than being not strict enough.

Such extreme fasting has never been part of mainstream Christianity. Priests used to have to fast from midnight before they said Mass. But that rule disappeared a long time ago.

Current growth rate of Christianity is around 1.08%. I haven't checked growth rate for C of E, though there are excellent CofE churches like St Helens in the City of London which has extremely well attended mid week lunchtime services for city workers and super Sunday services as well. Our church (outside Bristol) has grown so much that people are spilling out into the foyer - lots of young families and thriving youth work. Churches where sermons are bible based and relevant are pulling in people who are questioning life. Alpha and Christianity Explored courses are popular. 😊

Why is it extreme?

Over 3,500 churches have closed in the last decade

In person church attendance can fall by almost a third (29%) if a local church closes, a new opinion poll commissioned by the National Churches Trust shows, with 22% of churchgoers who currently attend religious services in person unwilling or unable to worship in a different church and a further 7% saying they would only attend services online. An additional 7% of people said that they would attend less often than at present.

https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/news/closing-churches-cuts-worship-numbers-new-opinion-poll-finds

It looks to me as though the 'National Churches Trust' only concerns itself with churches of various 'protestant' denominations - I put that in inverted commas because I know some Anglicans might cavil. Which raises the question of what they mean by 'a different church' - same denomination, different building, or just anything at all?

No-one I know at my anglo-catholic church, including the priest, does this.

There are no flowers in the church through lent, and the statues are all covered for Holy Week.

Most other things are down to the individual but my priest does tend to take the view that a parishioners personal relationship with God is their own business and that he is just there for advice and guidance, and I agree.

The novelist Barbara Pym wrote that she always wanted to tell people she was giving up going to church for Lent. 😀

As many PPs have said, the sort of fasting described in the OP is not the traditional form of Lenten fasting in either the Eastern or the Western church.

I believe my priest still does this. There's a church breakfast following mass for everyone that has attended mass which is held three times a week.

Free will. Or do you think people should be forced to follow a faith?

btw are you going by census data or church attendance, because the latter is not necessarily a sign of lost faith, just lack of commitment.😁

I wouldn't say a lack of attending church is a lack of commitment. I would say not following the church's teachings in your day to day life is a lack of commitment.

An 8 word question which you so coyly ask. Yet millions of people have tried to answer it. In many millions of words, over thousands of years. I wonder why you think, with all your research expertise, that mn is the place to ask that? Just admit it op, you’re just a wind up artist.

Which brings us back to the opening post....some people are stricter with the teaching than others.
I know Christians who avoid tombolas and yoga because it conflicts with their relationship with their God, but they're outliers in my experience.

I never suggested people should be forced. People have free will. Faith has to be genuine not because someone is forced into it.