Such - Religious Organisations

Question 1

types of religious organisations

Answer 1

-denomination
-sect
-cult
-church

Question 2

CHURCH: Scope and organisation Troeltsch 1931

Answer 2

-used church to refer to a large formal religious organisation with a hierarchy of professionals
-tend to be monolithic
-guard its monopoly on religious truth and will not tolerate challenges to religious authority

Question 3

CHURCH: hierarchy and bureaucracy

Answer 3

-churches have large complex bureaucratic structures and hierarchies (resemble business organisations)
-power in the form of policy and decision making is concentrated at the top eg c of e led by Archbishop of Canterbury

Question 4

CHURCH: professional clergy

Answer 4

-churches have professional salaried clergy who undertake training

Question 5

CHURCH: membership

Answer 5

-try to embrace all members of society ( any classes)
-individuals do not have to demonstrate their faith to become members of church, often born into it eg baptism
-very little or if any membership tests or requirements

Question 6

Troeltsch 1931 - church acting as a conservative force

Answer 6

• a church usually stabilises and determines the political order eg roman catholic church in the Middle Ages had educational + political functions
  -churchs in support of status quo

Question 7

A03 Evaluating the church

Answer 7

-sloss argues the church may not be relevant due to: almost half of the uk population identifies as having no religious affiliation
-rapid growth of other religions in the uk such as islam and hindu

Question 8

DENOMINATIONS: what are they, Moore 1988

Answer 8

-sects that have become respectable in the eyes of the middle class society
-membership is usually democratic with all members having a say in the affairs of the denomination
-there is no claim that the clergy have supernatural powers
-lies in-between church and a sect eg baptist

Question 9

DENOMINATIONS: scope and organisation Stark and Bainbridge 1985

Answer 9

• like churches they have a large membership eg 1 mill pentecostals
  -national organisations
  -also have hierarchy and full time paid officials

Question 10

DENOMINATIONS: membership

Answer 10

-like churches they have large membership and draw from all sections of society
-not exclusive organisations so no membership test
-people choose to join eg evangelism or born into it eg methodism

Question 11

DENOMINATIONS: differences from churches

Answer 11

-dont closely identify with upper class (normally wc mc)
-denomination does not identify with the state and approves the separation of church and state
-denominations do not claim a monopoly of the religious truth

Question 12

SECTS: what are they, Moore 1998

Answer 12

-usally small in membership and very exclusive in their acceptance of members
-place great stress of conformity and obedience to the rules of the sect
eg Jehovah witness
-sects were originally groups which broke away from the dominant religion in a. society due to a disagreement over the interpretation of the religion
-eg the people temple Jim jones

Question 13

SECTS: scope and organisation Troeltch 1931

Answer 13

-smaller and more strongly intergrated
than other religious organisation
-like roman catholic church they tend to believe they possess a monopoly of the religious truth

Question 14

SECTS: hierarchy and bureaucracy

Answer 14

-unlike churches they are not organised through a hierarchy
-central authority usually exists through a charismatic leader (some claiming a divine relationship with god)

Question 15

SECT: membership

Answer 15

• membership of a sect is usually by choice and not birth
  -entry normally involves a period of probation followed by some testing before they can fully join
  -sects tend to appeal most to the poorest sections of society: people who are looking for some kind of religious solution to moral and social problems

Question 16

CULTS: scope and organisation

Answer 16

-cults tend to be a very loose knit social group
-collects around a set of common themes and beliefs or interests
-tend to be short lived
-cults for the above reasons lack formal organisational structures
-eg scientology

Question 17

CULTS: Membership

Answer 17

• rarely any formal joining mechanism
  -followers of a cult tend to resemble consumers rather than members
  -members are encouraged to buy into the cult

Question 18

CULTS: beliefs

Answer 18

-they black clearly defined, exclusive, belief systems for all their followers
-cults are tolerant of dissenting views
-cults tolerate other beliefs and their own Beliefs are often so vague