The differences between Protestants and Roman Catholics are normally defined in terms of doctrine—papal in fallibility, Marianism, the nature of the church. But there is a difference that lies deeper than dogma: the basic approach of men to prayer and piety. It is possible, for example, that a Southern Baptist could become intellectually convinced by the claims of Catholicism. Yet, accustomed as he is to a tradition of free prayer, Bible-centered sermons and mighty hymns, he might still feel alien to a church that offers its believers private confession of sins to a priest, solemn Mass with incense and chant, and worship mostly confined to set liturgical forms.
Amidst all the talk of Christian unity, relatively little has been said about the differences in spirituality and worship that could keep the churches apart even after doctrinal problems have been resolved. Last summer, a group of top-ranking Protestant, Orthodox and Catholic theologians met at St. John's Benedictine Abbey in Minnesota to compare and contrast the pieties of their churches. The papers from this unique conference appear in the current Worship, a monthly journal on liturgy published by the monks of St. John's.
Growth v. Pilgrimage. Karl Barth has pointed out, said Presbyterian John Oliver Nelson, that the difference between Catholics and Protestants begins with the first word of the Creed. For the Protestant, credo is a creative assertion and a declaration; for the Catholic, a statement of acceptance and assent. It is no wonder, then, added Dean John Coburn of Massachusetts' Episcopal Theological Seminary, that even the language of spirituality in the two traditions differs. "In the Catholic world," he said, "spirituality is interpreted to be the growth in grace that comes in the life of an individual member of a family in response to the grace infused in baptism; sin is gradually overcome by discipline and participation in the church's sacramental life." For the Protestant, on the other hand, spirituality is a "relationship" or "encounter" with God, in which God's word, preached by the minister, still dwells among men. The emphasis is not so much on growth to fullness, but on pilgrimage.