Religious Organisations Flashcards
Troeltsch Typology
Troeltch was the first sociologist to distinguish between different religious organisations. He saw the characteristics of churches and sects as being in some way polar opposites
4 categories of religious organisations
Churches
Sects
Denominations
Cults
Characteristics of Churches
Membership - open to all but members usually born into the society
Organisation - complex formal hierarchy
Worship - fixed rituals in service
Legitimacy - claim to have monopoly on the truth
Relationship to wider society - accept norms of wider society
Commitment - encourages commitment but not compulsory
Examples - Church of England, Roman Catholic Church
Characteristics of Sects
Membership - exclusive and not a birthright
Organisation- they have a lack of a professional clergy, often dependent on a charismatic
leader or lay preachers.
Worship– Often there are no rituals but spontaneous, expressive and
emotional worship.
Legitimacy – They claim a monopoly on the truth and are often highly critical of
other religions.
Relationship to Wider Society – Usually highly critical of the outside world
Commitment – High levels of commitment and most of members’ spare time will be devoted to sect activities. If members fail to meet sect
standards, they may be punished, or expelled.
Examples - People’s temple, Jehovah witness
Characteristics of Denominations
Membership – membership is open to all and there is no test of membership
Organisation – They may have a professional clergy but are much less hierarchical and
complex than churches and they have active roles for people.
Worship – worship is relatively formal, less ritualistic than a church
Relationship to Wider Society – denominations are not as strongly attached to the state,
but do not really reject wider society
Legitimacy – They do not claim a monopoly on the truth and are more tolerant of
other religions, often they are unhappy with an aspect of a church
Commitment – There is no demand for commitment or to attend a place of worship
Examples - Methodism, Pentecostalism
Characteristics of Cults
Membership - They are open to all. They tend to have few members.
Organisation – they may have a leader, but normally organisation is loose and non-
hierarchical.
Legitimacy – They don’t claim to have a monopoly on the truth. They are not
critical of other groups they are just one path to many truths.
Relationship to Wider World – it is part of the wider world, cult activity is
part- time although some are considered deviant. Commitment – There is no demand for any commitment and people
Examples - Scientology, raelians
Evaluation (Churches, Denominations, Sects and Cults)
STRENGTHS
- starting point - having categories makes it easier for sociologists and gives them a structure when approaching religious organisations
WEAKNESSES
- overgeneralised
- stigma - cults and sects loaded as weird or dangerous
New Religious Movemenrs - NRMS
During the 1970’s and the 1980’s there was a massivegrowth in various non-conventional religious organisations. Sociologists began to think the terms cults and sects were now becoming inappropriate and outdated. Sociologists began to
use the term New Religious Movements (NRMS) and New Age Movements (NAMS
Wallis typology characteristics of NRMS - WORLD ACCOMMODATING NRMS
a) Generally accept the norms and values of mainstream society.
b) Usually an offshoot of an existing religion, e.g. Pentecostalism is an offshoot of
Protestantism.
c) Usually dissatisfied with some element of traditional religion.
d) May well be unhappy with the unspiritual nature of society or of traditional religion.
e) The religion often offers spiritual experiences lost in traditional religions. E.g. speaking in tongues
Wallis typology characteristics of NRMS - WORLD REJECTING NRMS
a) They are highly critical of the outside world.
b) They may have a charismatic leader.
c) Often members will have to break from conventional life and have no contact with their
relatives etc.
d) They are normally very radical and at times considered deviant.
e) Nearly all of them exist around some kind of communal lifestyle.
f) They often have a monopoly on the truth.
g) They hold millennial beliefs.
h) High levels of commitment may mean that they have a high turnover of members.
Wallis typology characteristics of NRMS - WORLD AFFIRMING NRMS
a) They are not critical of the outside world but can help their clients to achieve success in
mainstream ways. Normally by offering special techniques to unlock spiritual powers.
b) They are non-exclusive and tolerant of other religions.
c) Many do not appear to be religious at all and may almost appear to be businesses
selling a product to a consumer.
d) They do not demand much commitment and individuals continue with their normal lives
outside the organisation.
Criticism of Wallis’ Typology
General problems - many critics argue NRMs are nothing new and have always appeared throughout history
Stark and Bainbridge totally reject the use of typologies and suggest long lists of characteristics of each type creates confusion.
The New Age Movement - Heelas
The new age movement is in some ways like cults, but has even less organisation and no
common belief system. It is just sets of different practices that draw together individuals in
search of a spiritualistic experience.
Heelas (1996) suggests its two key feature are self sprituality and detraditionalisation.
What this essentially means is that individuals dip into what ever beliefs they fancy and
sprirituality is not coming from external agencies like sacred texts or clergy but from self
discovery.
Characteristics of NAMs
Membership – They have no concept of membership you just participate in any activity which you have an interest in
Organisation – there is usually no organisation; there might be networks of like minded
individuals in contact in person or over the internet or occasionally at workshops.
Worship and Ritual - There may be the odd ritual dependent on the activity but worship is
unlikely
Sense of legitimacy – They don’t claim to have a monopoly on the truth. They might be
critical of organised religion or of other groups, theirs is just one path to many truths.
Relationship to Wider World – New Age movements live in the mainstream world
Involvement and Commitment – There is no demand for any commitment and people drift
in and out
Examples of practices linked to the new age
Astral Projection
Guided Visualisation
Reflexology
Chromotherapy
Crystals
Tarot reading
Rebirthing
Past life regression
