Types Of Religious Organisation

Who was the first to identify the features of different types of religious organisation?

Troeltsch.

What did Troeltsch distinguish between?

Two main types of religious organisations - the church and the sect.

What are churches?

Large organisations, often with millions of members, run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests, and they claim a monopoly of the truth. They are universalistic, aiming to include the whole of society, though they tend to be more attractive to the higher classes because they are ideologically conservative and often closely linked to the state.

What does Troeltsch see sects as?

Small, exclusive groups. They are hostile to wider society and expect a high level of commitment. They draw their members form the poor and oppressed. Many are led by a charismatic leader. They too believe they have a monopoly of religious truth,

What does Niebuhr describe denominations as?

Lying midway between churches and sects: membership is less exclusive than a sect, but they don’t appeal to the whole of society like a church. They broadly accept society’s values but are not linked to the state. They are tolerant of other religious organisations and do not claim a monopoly of the truth.

What is a cult?

A highly individualistic, loose-knit and usually small grouping around some shared themes and interests. These are led by charismatic leaders and many are world-affirming.

In summing up the similarities and differences between religious organisations, what does Wallis highlight?

Two characteristics:

• How they see themselves: churches and sects claim that their interpretation of the faith is the only legitimate or correct one. denominations and cults accept that there can be many valid interpretations

• How they are seen by wider society: churches and denominations are seen as respectable and legitimate, while sects and cults are seen as deviant.

What do some sociologists argue about the mentioned descriptions of religious organisations?

That they do not fit today’s reality.

What does Bruce argue?

That Troeltsch’s idea of a church having a religious monopol’y only applies to the Catholic Church before the 18th century Protestant Reformation.

Since the 1960s, what has there been a huge rise in the number of?

New religions and organisations, which has led to new attempts to classify them.

What does Wallis categorise the new religious movements into?

• World rejecting NRMs.

• World accommodating NRMs.

• World affirming NRMs

What are examples of world-rejecting NRMs?

• The moonies.

• The People’s temple.

• The unification church.

What are the characteristics of world-rejecting NRMs?

• They are clearly religious organisations with a clear notion of God.

• They are highly critical of the outside world and they expect or seek radical change.

• To achieve salvation, members must make a sharp break with their former life.

• Members live communally, with restricted contact with the outside world. The movement controls all aspects of their lives and is often accused of 'brainwashing' them.

• They often have conservative moral codes, for example about sex.

What are world accommodating NRMs?

These are often breakaways from existing mainstream churches or denominations, such as neo-Pentecostalists who split from Catholicism, or Subud, an offshoot of Islam.

What do world affirming NRMs differ in?

They neither accept nor reject the world, and they focus on religious rather than worldly matters, seeking to restore the spiritual purity of religion. For example, neo-Pentecostalists believe that other Christian religions have lost the Holy Spirit. Members tend to lead conventional lives.

What are examples of world-affirming NRMs?

• Scientology.

• Soka Gakkai,.

• TM.

• Human Potential.

What are the characteristics of world-affirming NRMs?

• They accept the world as it is. They are optimistic and promise followers success in terms of mainstream goals and values, such as careers and personal relationships.

• They are non-exclusive and tolerant of other religions, but claim to offer additional special knowledge or techniques that enable followers to unlock this own spiritual powers and achieve success or overcome problems.

• Most are cults, whose followers are often customers, and entry is through training. The movement places few demands on them and they can carry on normal lives

Which type of new religious movement has been the most successful?

World affirming ones.

What does Wallis offer?

Wallis offers a useful way of classifying the new religious movements that have developed in recent decades.

What do some argue about Wallis’ classification of NRMs?

That it is not clear whether he is categorising them according to the movement's teachings, or individual members' beliefs. He also ignores the diversity of beliefs that may exist within an NRM.

What does Wallis recognise?

Wallis himself recognises that real NRMs will rarely fit neatly into his typology (list of types) and some, such as 3HO (the Healthy Happy Holy Organisation), may have features of all three types. Nevertheless, many sociologists find such typologies useful as a way of analysing and comparing the significant features of NRMs.

What do Stark and Bainbridge reject the idea of?

Constructing such typologies altogether. Instead, they argue that we should distinguish between religious organisations using just one criterion - the degree of conflict or tension between the religious group and wider society.

What do Stark and Bainbridge identify?

Two kinds of organisation that are in conflict with society - sects and cults.

What so sects result from?

Splits in existing organisations. They break away from churches usually because of disagreements about doctrine.

What are cults?

New religions, or ones new to that particular society that have been imported.

In general, what do Stark and Bainbridge see sects as?

Promising other-worldly benefits to those suffering economic deprivation or ethical deprivation. By contrast, cults offer this-wordly benefits to more prosperous individuals who are suffering psychic deprivation and organismic deprivation.

What do Stark and Bainbridge subdivide cults according to?

How organised they are.

What are audience cults?

The least organised, and d o not involve formal membership or much commitment. There is little interaction between members and participation may be through the media.

What are client cults?

Based on the relationship between a consultant and a client, and provides services to their followers. In the past, they were often purveyors of medical miracles, contact with the dead, ect. The emphasis has now shifted to ‘therapies‘ promising personal fulfilment and self-discovery.

What are cultic movements?

Cultic movements are the most organised and demand a higher level of commitment than other cults. The movement aims to meet all its members' religious needs and unlike followers of audience and client cults, they are rarely allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time.

What do Stark and Bainbridge make some useful distinctions between?

Organisations. For example, their idea of using the degree of conflict with wider society to distinguish between them is similar to Troeltsch's distinction between church (which accepts society) and sect (which rejects society.

What is the limitation to Stark and Bainbridge’s conclusions?

Some of the examples they use do not fit neatly into any one of their categories.