A Comparison of Roman Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist concepts of worship

Abstract

The liturgical and evangelical types of worship as practiced by Roman Catholics and Seventh-day Adventists respectively, represent two quite distinctly different forms of worship services. From the observation and research made by the writer on the practices of worship in various denominations, the need was felt to make a closer study of the significance of the various acts of worship. In both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, the spirit of ecunenism and liturgical renewal have exerted a powerful influence on their worship service. The Liturgical Renewal represeinting a trend of the past century toward more liturgy in Protestant worship has not significantly influence Adventism; it demonstrates, however, the way in which the pendulum swings from evangelical to liturgical worship. with this trend in mind, the writer made a comparative study between the Roman Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist concepts of worship calculated to give the general picture of Christian worship. Data were gathered from books, from catechisms, from church manuals, from church periodicals, and from personal interviews which were available in the Manila area. These data were arranged according to the descriptive-nonquantitative method of research in the form of a comparative study. The history of Christian worship reveals how world conditions influence christian worship. The liturgical and the evangelical types of worship are the two main streams of services that are followed by Christians. Roman Catholics prescribes a fixed order of worship service, while Seventh-day Adventists adapt the evangelical type, with more flexibility in the order of service. This study is limited to a discussion of certain aspects of worship areas in whlch both Catholics and Adventists have common ground to a degree. An attempt was made to make clear differences in interpretation in some distinct acts of worshlp. Other aspects of worship are left to be discussed by future researchers as recommended in this study.