<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Religion comes in many shapes and sizes, and the classification of religious movements may help scholars understand how these groups form, develop and change. One of the most common tools used in the sociology of religion to do so is the church-sect typology, which is rooted in the basic idea that religious movements can be placed along a continuum according to their degree of congruence with mainstream society. This article provides an overview of how this kind of thinking developed, in order to show how the church-sect typology has been widely accepted and built upon, as well as being heavily criticised by other sociologists. The first part consists of a survey of early versions of the typology, contains different methods of classifying religious movements and provides further explanations where necessary, especially where the term ‘cult’ is concerned. The next section is focused on the many criticisms of the church-sect typology as a whole, after which some possible solutions are offered, and it will end with some recommendations in the form of a new theoretical framework.</p>
</abstract>

Religion comes in many shapes and sizes, and the classification of religious movements may help scholars understand how these groups form, develop and change. One of the most common tools used in the sociology of religion to do so is the church-sect typology, which is rooted in the basic idea that religious movements can be placed along a continuum according to their degree of congruence with mainstream society. This article provides an overview of how this kind of thinking developed, in order to show how the church-sect typology has been widely accepted and built upon, as well as being heavily criticised by other sociologists. The first part consists of a survey of early versions of the typology, contains different methods of classifying religious movements and provides further explanations where necessary, especially where the term ‘cult’ is concerned. The next section is focused on the many criticisms of the church-sect typology as a whole, after which some possible solutions are offered, and it will end with some recommendations in the form of a new theoretical framework.

A Sign of the Types: A Critical Reflection on the Church-Sect Typology

Perichoresis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"A Sign of the Types: A Critical Reflection on the Church-Sect Typology"}

Religion comes in many shapes and sizes, and the classification of religious movements may help scholars understand how these groups form, develop and change....

A Sign of the Types: A Critical Reflection on the Church-Sect Typology

Published Online: Jul 04, 2022

Page range: 133 - 149

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/perc-2022-0025

Keywords
religion, sociology, church, sect, cult, typology

© 2022 Jarell Paulissen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A Sign of the Types: A Critical Reflection on the Church-Sect Typology

Published Online: Jul 04, 2022

Page range: 133 - 149

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/perc-2022-0025

Keywordsreligion, sociology, church, sect, cult, typology

© 2022 Jarell Paulissen, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
religion, sociology, church, sect, cult, typology