Theologian Stanley Hauerwas has argued that Protestantism may be coming to an end, noting: “There is also the ongoing problem that Catholics have responded to the Protestant critique in a way that the Protestant critique no longer makes much sense.”
In our era, religious people have strong ecumenical impulses even as secularization continues apace. But the theological gulf between Catholics and Protestants remains vast, regardless of whether people talk about it.
American Protestantism is still clubby, even if it is no longer a significant social or cultural marker. But today, staking an identity as “not Catholic” has become unfashionable and unnecessary.
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