Sociological classifications of religious movements

Various sociological classifications of religious movements have been proposed by scholars. In the sociology of religion, the most widely used classification is the church-sect typology. The typology is differently construed by different sociologists, and various distinctive features have been proposed to characterise churches and sects. On most accounts, the following features are deemed relevant:

The church-sect typology has been enriched with subtypes. The theory of the church-sect continuum states that churches, ecclesia, denominations and sects form a continuum with decreasing influence on society. Sects are break-away groups from more mainstream religions and tend to be in tension with society. Cults and new religious movements fall outside this continuum and in contrast to aforementioned groups often have a novel teaching. They have been classified on their attitude towards society and the level of involvement of their adherents.

Claim universality, include all members of the society within their ranks, and have a strong tendency to equate "citizenship" with "membership"

Exercise religious monopoly and try to eliminate religious competition

Are very closely allied with the state and secular powers; frequently there is overlapping of responsibilities and much mutual reinforcement

Are extensively organized as a hierarchical bureaucratic institution with a complex division of labor

Employ professional, full-time clergy who possess the appropriate credentials of education and formal ordination

Primarily gain new members through natural reproduction and the socialization of children into the ranks

Allow for diversity by creating different groups within the church (e.g., orders of nuns or monks) rather than through the formation of new religions

Wallis' distinction between cults and sects[edit]

The sociologist Roy Wallis (1945–1990) introduced differing definitions of sects and cults. He argued that a cult is characterized by "epistemological individualism" by which he means that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member." According to Wallis, cults are generally described as "oriented towards the problems of individuals, loosely structured, tolerant, non-exclusive", making "few demands on members", without possessing a "clear distinction between members and non-members", having "a rapid turnover of membership", and are transient collectives with vague boundaries and fluctuating belief systems. Wallis asserts that cults emerge from the "cultic milieu." Wallis contrasts a cult with a sect in that he asserts that sects are characterized by "epistemological authoritarianism": sects possess some authoritative locus for the legitimate attribution of heresy. According to Wallis, "sects lay a claim to possess unique and privileged access to the truth or salvation, such as collective salvation, and their committed adherents typically regard all those outside the confines of the collectivity as 'in error'."^[38]^[39]

Cult and/or new religious movements[edit]

Stark and Bainbridge[edit]

In 1975, the sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge^[40] distinguish three types of cults, classified on the basis of the levels of organizational and client (or adherent) involvement:^[40]^[35]^{: 140–141}

Anthropology of religion

List of Christian movements

Psychology of religion

Religious denomination

Sect

Sectarianism

Sociology of religion

"New Religious Movements – Some problems of definition", Diskus, Internet Journal of Religion, 1997. Available online

Chryssides, George D.

Koehrsen, Jens, When Sects Become Middle Class. Impression Management among Middle-Class Pentecostals in Argentina., in: Sociology of Religion, 2017, 78(3):318–339 :10.1093/socrel/srx030.

doi

McGuire, Meredith B. Religion: the Social Context, Long Grove (Ill.): Waveland Press, 2002, (fifth edition) 0534541267

ISBN

Vasileva, E.N. In: European Journal of Science and Theology, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 37–46.

"Problems and Difficulties of Classifying Religions on the Basis of Confessional Differences"

The Church-Sect Typology at Wikibooks

by William H. Swatos, Jr . in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Society by Swatos (editor)

Church sect theory

by Tadeusz Doktòr, Warsaw University