Religious typologies

Troeltsch

Among the first to identify the key features between a church and a sect.

Niebuhr

Added to typologies further, by identifying key features between denominations and cults.

Stark + Bainbridge

Suggest that all cults can be divided into three parts:

Audience cults - provide little beyond information services of some kind for individuals

Client cults - have more organisation and offer a wider range of services to followers

Cult movements - a wide range of activities provided

Weber

Argued that sects often attract those who are pushed to the edges of society, and who find themselves in poverty.

Barker

In her study of the moonies, she discovered individuals may turn to sects because they are experiencing personal, family or economic struggles.

Glock + Stark

Argue that some individuals may see society negatively impacted and want to change it, hence why they join sects.

Wilson

Suggests that rapid social change may disrupt and undermine established norms and values, producing anomie and hence why people turn to sects.

Niebuhr

Suggests that over time sects either turn into denominations or disappear altogether.

Adridge

Disagrees with Niebuhr that all sects die or turn into denominations. For example, many sects have been around for a long time and retained their features as sects by successfully socialising their children into the beliefs and practices for a sect.