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.

That's quite a reach. I'd have thought the OP is entirely secular and has an understanding of 'fasting' that has been influenced by some recent medical diet theories. She's mentioned fasting as a thing that might be good for the body.

Religious fasting is good for the spirit. Its effects on the body are only considered inasmuch as people who might be harmed by it are excused from it.

Agreed. Lenten observance certainly hasn’t been “diluted” in the last 150 years

Also I think giving up Facebook would be far more difficult for some people than chocolate for example.

My Irish grandfather always tried to give up cigarettes for Lent ( and never could!!)

As pp said, (@DeanElderberry ?), the more extreme practices aren't dis-similar to brainwashing techniques. It's not a coincidence that some faith leaders target vulnerable people for evangelical proselytising.
Ricky Gervais film 'the invention of lying' is an interesting watch wrt peoples need fueling their faith.
I like the aspect of faith that makes you a small part of something bigger, the sense of belonging.(And I'm not alone in that - ha ha). Though I hope I retain the independence to step outside my group when it turns into a mob.
I sometimes wish I could abdicate responsibility for my life because 'god has a plan for me,' however , I live by the phrase 'pray to god but row for the shore.'
Faith can be a useful exercise in self-discipline, so can sport. Both can be taken to detrimental extremes.
As I've said before on these boards, as patriarch of 3 major world faiths, I wonder if Abraham's life was a journey alongside his god or an exercise in crowd control.

Don't get me started on Abraham.

okay, tiny start,

All that 'she's my sister, she's my wife, ha ha gotcha, she's my sister AND my wife!!!' is a bit unexpected.

For a Patriarch he's a lousy dad to Ishmael and Isaac.

Is he Brahma?

Life was very different a few thousand years ago, though on the whole human nature is constant.
When I learned the story of Abraham being prepared to sacrifice Isaac and then being given a sheep because god was just testing...I was not old enough to talk about the daddy issues that could ensue. I was much older when I was informed ( through the marvellous David Kossoff) that Ishmael & Isaac were half brothers and the original division between Judaism and Islam.
We were given the story of Job as an example of accepting all the shite that life throws at you as part of the plan.
In retrospect, I much prefer the new testament.

Because god doesn’t exist? The big man in the sky with the big beard is a myth?

Whatever God is, it isn't 'a big man', or 'in the sky', and, being non corporeal, certainly doesn't have 'a big beard'.

Judaism, Islam. A Mormon friend also fasts once a month for 24 hours - no food or water.

😁Doesn't wear sandals either.
Genesis claims that God created man in his own image but I've suspected the converse since I first saw an African crucefix with an African Jesus.
I like Terry Pratchett's take on it in 'small gods'. Belief is a powerful force.

Islam isn't really fasting though. They just don't eat between sunrise and sunset. They just change the times they eat and drink and in fact end up eating more over the month of Ramadan.

Judaism you fast from sundown to sundown the next day on the major fasts.

I don't think that's a requirement of LDS faith though?

Google "the history of Lent in the UK" or something similar.

Why are you asking on here, surely you'd begoogling it if you actually want to know the answer to your question.

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:16-18

Your friend is not fasting correctly either. Making a show of it to others (you) and criticising others contradicts the entire meaning of why we fast. And as we are meant to keep our fasting private, perhaps you cannot truly ascertain how many people are observing Lenten fast or not. Kind of the point.

What has the UK got to do with it? The question was about Christians, who are not limited to one country.

That's not traditional fasting though is it? It used to be limiting the number of meals and not eating certain foods at all, hence pancakes being made to get rid of some stuff.

I know in the RC church days of fasting you eat two small meals that add up to one meal, I think, I left school in the dark ages.

@quantumbutterfly

I think other than Buddhism all or at least most faiths have some form of fasting.

As for giving something up, it is supposed to be something that means a lot to you / is difficult to give up e.g. the smoking a PP mentioned.

You are also supposed to give any money saved to charity so whatever a packet of cigarettes costs should go in a charity box.

Because it appears both the OP and her friend are in the UK, though the friend is non-specifically from “Africa”, and she’s comparing what this one friend does against what’s done in this country. Ergo, it’s western Christianity that’s under discussion.

Well leave UK out of it then, I don't care.

I was giving a suggested search term, it's not mandatory!

I am a disciple of Christ Jesus. I am not of the Catholic tradition although I am a member of the world-wide universal and inclusive catholic church who follow the commands and teachings as presented in the Bible. It's interesting that this thread is continuing and yet the OP, who, as far as I can see has yet to answer what is their own 'religion' and yet seems to be insistent as to what is 'proper' Christian practises in their own opinion in agreement with some 'friend' or other. Popcorn anyone?

We are talking of two discretely different practices.

Lent, in the Catholic tradition means giving up something to prepare for Easter: this may be chocolate, alcohol, telly, social media ... anything that enables the individual to focus on the Lord and His time in the desert. It is not a teaching from the Bible, but is a cultural Catholic tradition. Nothing wrong with it and anything that focuses the mind on God can only be a good thing.

OP incorrectly asserts that rules have changed and things have been diluted. The Bible is consistent in its message:

Biblical fasting is something completely different to 'giving up something for Lent'. Biblical fasting is practised by many born again believers in the Christ Jesus, but is done so 'in secret' as He instructs in the Scriptures according to His own one-time of fasting in the desert prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. Some may do this during the time of Lent as a coincidence, in addition to all other times they feel moved to fast according to Biblical principles. I have already given the answer to this further up the thread, but as it has gone on for pages and pages, I will give the Biblical-final-answer-authoritative links again - just in the hope that the OP is genuinely interested in facts, and is not just prolonging this one sided and deaf discussion hoping for this thread to end up in 'classics'; plus for the casual reader who doesn't know differently.

How to fast—what does the Bible say? and What is Lent? and Christian Fasting - what does the Bible say?

HTH

If she ate it on Sunday, then she didn’t break anything.
Sunday is feast day, and you’re not supposed to give anything up on Sunday.

If you count the days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday on a calendar, there will be more than 40 days, as Sundays are not included. However count only Monday to Sat, and it’s 40 days

I believe that the people who fast from sun up to sun down during Lent, are a small minority of Christians who are fasting in Lent, @Wonderingwhyyy. Indeed, I have never heard of anyone doing a full day's nil by mouth fasting for Lent. Clearly some people do, but as I say, I suspect it's a very small fraction.

Never heard of fasting for the whole of Lent, and I was brought up Catholic, attending mass every Sunday without fail and attending Catholic schools. Fasting for specific days/periods yes, not eating meat on certain days and also giving up something for Lent, but not fasting for the whole thing.

Isn't that all fasting? Not eating between two periods of time. I do intermittent fasting. I will not eat for upto 24 hours, sometimes more. That is not fasting then?

I think it is a very small fraction yes. A few people on this thread have mentioned being aware of it also but few and far between.

So do you now accept that there has been no dilution for the vast majority of Christians, and that those who choose to fast do so under their own direction, and that it doesn’t make them better Christians than those who don’t (because it’s not a requirement)?

You say the Bible is consistent in its message. Which version of the Bible? The Bible has been changed many times.