If it's an obligation, it's one you cannot complete. If you truly search, then you will exhaust all avenues, which are infinite in the case of religion. Those who have found "the truth" have merely stopped at a point where they have found something that matches up reasonably well with how they view the universe. Given that there's no other available criteria, that's the best you can do, but that's not really fulfilling the obligation.
There is some truth in these statements. First, Jesus has told us that our goal of perfection, and being worthy of heaven is impossible for man. Then He tells us to be perfect, as our Father in Heaven is perfect. In other words, we must always be working towards perfection, and our Father recognizing this, (all things are possible with God), gives sanctifying grace to us to help us in our pursuit.
The other point is only partially true, in the sense that you've turned a potentially positive attribute into a slothful fall back. God's truths ARE in fact available to man. They CAN be found. While it is true that we may not be privy to every jot, digit, and detail, and we all have varying levels of intelligence quotient, different abilities in the area of memory retention etc., we also all have a soul and a conscience at any level of intellectual capacity. As we proceed through our journey towards perfection and truth seeking, we do, and SHOULD get stopped at some place or another which is the truth according to our conscience (which is of God), and which rings true to us in faith and reason. But when we "stop" there, even if it lasts the rest of our lives, (which could end any second), we have an obligation to continue testing and seeking. You just continue your search from a much more solid foundation. You may end up somewhere else, and you may end up staying where you are, but your are always to be discerning the truth of God, filtered through your faith, reason, and with prayer, fasting, and the grace of God, you will continue to find truth.
For instance, I traveled through 3 protestant groups and a nearly countless set of ideologies and theologies which would be considered loosely bound as "the new age movement", (Urantia, Scientology, Lifespring, Castaneda, TM, TA, T. Lobsang Rampa, Jane Roberts, Seth, pshychic healings, astral travel, Wicca, modern paganism, etc. etc.) before settling on Western Pure Land Buddhism (Jodo Shinshu), where I stayed for many years. But even while I was a Buddhist, (and self identifying as such, attending temple, chanting the Nembutsu, meditating), I was still testing it against my God given conscience, faith, reason and intellect, seeking perfection in not only what I believed and practiced, but perfection in myself as a human being. My conversion to Catholic Christianity is a long story, and I'll save that for a more appropriate thread, but the point is, though I was thoroughly convinced of my Buddhism for many years, I found by brutal self honesty, and an openness to universal truth, that I had to admit that something was missing. That something turned out to be Jesus Christ. It wasn't wrong that I had found a religion, and was practicing it for many years, and had "stopped" there, because in my heart of hearts, I was still open to truth. So the journey was far from over, and yet I was being honest with myself to the best of my ability at the time.
Now I find myself immersed in the truth of Jesus Christ, and all the tumblers on the dial have fallen into place. I am once again "stopped" as you would say, and I no longer feel a nagging tug that anything is missing. Yet, (and this goes for the whole Church, by the way), I am still open to Gods revealed truth. I can't even imagine myself any other way anymore, because I feel that my former self has died, and that I am a new creation. But even with that, as I live out my Christian life in full faith, obedience, and love, I still learn something new every day, and I run it through my conscience, (which is now property informed by faith and reason), and make a discernment of it's truth, before adding it to my foundation. I find the Church, the Scriptures, and the Magisterium to be the truth, and I seek further knowledge from those sources. It's a whittling away. I mean, once I have tried something, and found it to be untrue, I've died to it. There is no reason to return. There is no danger of my ever reverting to Scientology, of instance, nor even Buddhism.
The search for truth is progressive. Once greater truth is revealed to you at the level of faith, reason, and intellect, there is no reason to go back to something that has been shown to be false to them personally.
But yes, we "rest", (not stop) at the highest level of truth we have been able to discover by the grace of God, and our level of acceptance of Jesus Christ, until and unless we find something false. For instance a Presbyterian may find that he is more in accord with the Methodists, or something along those lines. It's not very likely that once one has been exposed strongly to the truth of Jesus Christ, (who IS the truth), that they would find themselves looking outside of Christianity again. But Christians do need to remain open to Christian truth, wherever that leads. Though they can check off all non Christian ideology and theology, because Christianity invalidates non-Christian thought. To go elsewhere, would then be regression, and a turning away from truth, rather than seeking ever purer Christian truth.
There is SOME truth in nearly every philosophy and religion. And it is the bits of truth that keep fueling our search forward, but as we move forward, we dismiss all that that which we have found NOT to be true.
Wow. I meant like a 3 or 4 line post. Sorry for the running at the mouth. I hope I haven't muddled my own point. ;-)
Blessings,
