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Religious organisations, including cults, sects,
denominations, churches and New Age movements and
their relationship to religious & spiritual belief in practice:Typologies of churches, denominations, sects, cults with examples
of each.
New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world
rejecting/accommodating/ affirming; millenarian beliefs, with
examples of each.New Age movements and spirituality, with examples.
The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual
belief and practice.
The relationship between different social groups and
religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs
and practices:
Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations.
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Typologies of religious organisations: churches,
denominations, sects and cults with examples of each.
Church Denomination Sect CultStructure Large hierarchical religious
organisationLarge formal religious
organisationSmall voluntary group Small group
Organisation Based on priesthood andrituals
Based on priesthood and lay
(or non official members)
Charismatic leadership and
authorityCharismatic leadership
Relationship
with secular
societyGenerally recognises state
and accepts norms and
values of society
Usually recognises value of
state and shares most norms
and values
Critical of mainstream
society
Often reclusive and
withdrawn from society with
differing prevailing norms
and values
Relationship
with members Little formal commitmentrequired from membersStronger commitment of
members following rules
such as teetotalism or non-
gambling
Exceptional commitment of
members
Flexible commitment, but
exceptional while in place
New members Children join at birth Adults join, but childreninducted earlyMembers converted, though
some second generation
membership. Members can
be expelled.
Membership is flexible and
movement between cults
can take place
Expulsion possible
Time Scale Often developed overcenturies
Often more than a hundred
years of development
Can continue beyond death
of leader, but generally have
a discernible life span. May
evolve to denomination
status.
Often short-lived and die
with the leader
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Identify the key characteristics of churches and
denominations. Recognise the possible links between church, denomination
and sect.
Explore some examples of churches and denominations in
society today.
Lesson 1: Learning Objectives
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A large, formal religious organisation mostcommonly associated with Christianity.
Worldwide examples are the Anglican
(Protestant) or Roman Catholic Churches A national example is the Church of England.
A Church is?????What do you think a
church is?
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Developed the classification of religiousorganisations.
Identified a church as having several features whichdistinguish it from other organisations.
Came to a definition based on Western Christian
Organisations, which is still applicable to othersocieties and faiths.
Troeltschs classification focuses on 16th CenturyEurope so does not account for the wide variety of
religious groups in modern society.
Ernst Troeltsch (1931)
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A Church: Defining Features
Large, Formal
organisation
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A Church: Defining Features
A hierarchy of
paid officials
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A Church: Defining Features
Automatic
Recruitment
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A Church: Defining Features
Tries to appealto all members
of society
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A Church: Defining Features
May have a
close relationship
with the state
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A Church: Defining Features
Accepts wider
society
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A Church: Defining Features
Claims a
monopoly on
religious truth.
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Part of the worldwide Anglican church spans
several societies. Huge size so has to be bureaucratically organised
with a hierarchy of professionals: bishops, ministers,archbishops.
Draws members from all social classes. Is traditionally conservative and supports the status
quo appeals to the upper classes.
Case Study: The Church of England
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Weaker now than in the middle ages, but the Queen
is still head of the church and the state in England. Automatic recruitment still applies but infant
baptisms have fallen from 70% in the 1930s to 30%during the 1990s.
Now tolerates a wide range of coexisting faithswhich have contrasting versions of religious truth.
Participates in the Ecumenical Movement unitingChristians against the threat of non Christian groups.
Church of England and The State
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Bruce (1996) suggests the concept of the church is out-dated inmost Christian countries now and should only really be applied in
cases where a single religious organisation really does dominatesociety and can reasonably claim to be administering to all membersof society. E.g. the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, Spain or Italyor Islam in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan.
Many Western societies are now experiencing religious pluralism
and many churches do not expect or get a high degree of religiouspluralism.
Churches are becoming more tolerant of other groups and beliefsand coexist quite happily with other groups.
The term denomination may now more accurately describe the
major religious organisations in societies with religious pluralism.
Is the concept of the church nowobsolete?
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Robertson (1987) argues that there has been an increasein church-state tensions throughout the world.
Churches are increasingly distancing themselves from theState. Examples of tensions between churches and the state:
o Shiite fundamentalists in the Middle East.o
Coptic Christians in Egypt.o Sikhs in India.o Islamic Fundamentalists in Pakistan, Indonesia and thePhilippines.
Churches are increasingly transnational organisations. In International trade and diplomacy theological issuesare not seen as important so national governments tend tocome into conflict with the concerns of domestic churches.
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Contemporary churches do retain some of theirtraditional features in some areas: They tend to be larger and more conservative thanother religious groups. Bruce and Wallis (1986) argue that where it isdominant, the Roman Catholic Church acts as auniversal church which claims authority over society
as a whole e.g. In Spain, Portugal and the Republic ofIreland. In Iran there is a close identification of Islam and thestate.
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A smaller, formal religious group.
First identified by Neibuhr (1929) Have steadily increased in number over the last 200
years.
Developed from sects which originated asbreakaway groups from the main church.
Share some characteristics with the church.
A Denomination is
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The relationship
Sect Denomination
Church Growth in sizeand influence
Increase in
Membership
or influence
Formal, large, more
socially acceptable
Militant or
deviant behaviour,
dwindling numbers
Rejection of
the church and or
organised religion.
Extremist groups.
Often led by a
charismatic leader.
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Denomination: Defining Features
Large, formal
organisation
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Denomination: Defining Features
Hierarchy ofpaid officials
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Denomination: Defining Features
Tries to appealto all members
of society
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Denomination: Defining Features
No claimto monopoly on
religious truth
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Denomination: Defining Features
Accept
religious
diversity
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Denomination: Defining Features
No close
relationship
with the state
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Denomination: Defining Features
May not fullyaccept wider
society
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A variety of denominations can exist within a single society therefore impossible to offer a monopoly of truth.
Brierley (2001)claimed there were 250 Christiandenominations in Britain at the start of the 21st Century.
Bruce (1995)argues the most significant differencebetween them and a church is the acceptance of other
beliefs. Are conservative, but advocate a split of the church from
state to focus on religious not political matters.
Tend to place a few minor restrictions on members
participation in social life.
Denominations: The Info
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Methodists are advised against drinking and
gambling.
Denominations Case Study: Methodists
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Have a lesser appeal in society than the church.
Brierly estimates there were 340,500 Methodists inBritain in 2005 compared to 1,549,940 for AnglicanChurches.
It is difficult to define membership. Other examples: Pentecostalists, Baptists
The appeal of Denominations
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Acrostics
WA OF THINKING
FORMAL SET OF ID AS
OFTEN SUPPORTED BY ESEARCH
ISTORICAL MOMENTLINKED TO A SPECIFIC
INVI E CRITICISM
PEN TO DEBATE
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Try your own
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Churches
Troeltsch (1931) who was one of the 1st writers to try to distinugish
between different types of religion defined a church as a large
religious organisation which stabilises and determines the political
order.
Claims a monopoly on religious truth.
Dont have to demonstrate faith often born into it so children
automatically recruited. Accepts and affirms life in society, members can play a full and
active part in society and are not expected to withdraw.
Claims to be universal welcoming everyone but not always in
practice.
Upper classes particularly likely to join.
Often closely linked to State, particularly in the past.
Likely to be ideologically conservative and support the status quo.
Formal organisations with a hierarchical structure.
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Bruce (1996) believes that Troelschs definition is only really applicable to
premodern Christian societies.
He believed that the development of religious pluralism in modern times
undermined the maintenance of church type organisations as it became difficult
for the state to only support one religion.
Bruce says that the Church of England is now a denominations.
Support for Bruce:
Percentages of people who are members of churches vary widely.
Many churches no longer claim to have a monopoly on the truth. Ecumenical movement seeks unity between different Christian religious
groups shows how far churches are willing to compromise their beliefs.
Churches are not always ideologically conservative and do not always
support the dominant groups. The General Synod of the C of E clashed with
the UK Conservative government in the 1990s over things like poverty andpoor conditions in inner city areas.
In some circumstances churches are not linked to the state and may even
oppose them e.g. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland who opposed the
Communist Government.
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Denominations
Niebuhr (1929) was the first sociologist to differentiate clearly thedenomination from the church. He says that denominations have the
following features:1. Does not have a universal appeal in society.2. Draw members from all areas of society but are not closely linked to the
upper classes like Churches. All members are freely accepted.3. Does not identify with the state and approves the separation of church
and state.
4. Do not claim monopoly on religious truth. Tolerate and work with otherreligions.
5. Usually conservative: members generally accept the norms and values ofsociety. They may be expected to do slightly different things to widersociety e.g. Methodists are encouraged not to drink to excess or gamble.
6. Hierarchy of officials.
Stark and Bainbridge (1985) see denominations as sharing several, but not allof the features of a church. They are a kind of watered down church whichhave some similarities to a sect.
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Bruce (1995) sees the lack of claim to a monopoly of thereligious truth as the defining feature of denominations. He
sees them as increasingly important in society.The concept covers a wide range of organizations fromJehovahs Witnesses to Methodists to Pentecostalists toBaptists.
Some organisations are classified as sects by somesociologists but as denominations by others.
In 2000 the UK Christian Handbook listed 250 differentChristian Denominations.