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A Classic Sociological Definition
"...a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to shared things, that is to say, things- set apart and forbidden--beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a church all those who adhere to them."
Emile Durkheim
An Anthropological Definition
"...a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long lasting moods and motivation in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with an aura of factuality so that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."
Clifford Geertz
A Contemporary Evangelical Christian
"...the profession of faith in the atoning gift of salvation through acknowledgment of belief in the Lord Jesus Christ"
A Liberal Protestant Theologian
"...the ground of our being."
Paul Tillich
A Syncretic Eastern Faith Tradition
"...the awe that comes with the recognition of the oneness of the universe."
A Contemporary Sociological
"...a system of general compensators based on supernatural assumptions."
Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge
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Assessing Definitions
- How Do We Choose Among Definitions?
- The Role of Unspoken Presuppositions
- Selecting Among Definitions
- Criteria for Social Science Definitions
How Do We Choose Among Definitions?
- Validity?
- Elegance?
- Utility?
Unspoken Presuppositions
- Validity -- Implies Criteria for Assessing Truth
- Elegance -- Implies Artistic or Aesthetic Standards
- Utility -- Begs the Question, Usefulness for What?
Selecting Among Definitions
- Are Some Definitions True and Others False?
- Are Some Definitions Better Than Others?
- Are Some Definitions More Useful Than Others?
Social Science Definitions
Types of Definitions
- Grounded in the notion of utility
- Utility begs the question: "usefulness for what?"
- Utility Understood As:
- Empirical Observation
- Analytical Insight
- Prediction
- Substantive : What Is Religion?
- Functional :What Does Religion Do?
- Religion
- Church
- Sect
- Cult
- Religious Movement
- Social Movement
- Religious Economy
- Secularization
Church Sect-Typology
- An ideal-type
- Stated most succinctly:
- Churches - established and stable religious groups
- Sects - unstable religious organizations
Stark and Bainbridge's Critique
- Weberian church-sect typology not useful for theory construction
- Why?
- The typology indiscriminately mixes attributes and correlates
Benton Johnson's Clarification
- A church is a religious group that accepts the social environment in which it exists
- A sect is a religious group that rejects the social environment in which it exists
The Stark and Bainbridge Resolution
- Clarify the issue by identifying the church-sect typology as an implicit theory of social change.
- Specifically, it is a theory about how religions change.
- More concretely, it is a theory of religious movements.
- Further, religious movements may be viewed as a subcategory of social movements.
Movement Definitions
- Social Movements:organized groups whose primary purpose is to cause of prevent social change
- Religious Movements: a subcategory of social movements that have as their primary concern to cause or prevent change in systems of beliefs, values symbols, practices or institutions concerned with providing supernatural compensators.
Types of Religious Movements
- Sects: schismatic groups that break from ties to an established religious group
- Cults: non-schismatic groups that emerge relatively independent of established groups
How Are Cults Created?
- Importation
- Invention/Innovation
- Radical Departure From Established Group
Importation
- Immigration of Members
- Example: Roman Catholics
- Missionizing
- Example: Hare Krishnas
Invention
- Created De Novo
- Example: Scientology
- Packaged From Cultural Resources
- Example: Christian Science
Radical Departure From Established Group
- Culture and established religious groups deny the legitimacy of the schismatic movement
- Example: Mormons
Types of Cult Organizations
Client Cults
- Cult Movements
- Audience Cults
Audience Cults
- Product: Mythology
- Activity: Consumption
- Example: Astrology
- Compensator: Entertainment
Client Cults
- Product: Magic
- Activity: Service Rendered
- Example: Therapy Groups
- Compensator: "Insight," Feeling Good
Cult Movements
- Product: Religion
- Activity: Practice of Belief Systems
- Example: Unification Church
- Compensator: General Compensators
Two Quick Propositions
- The > the level of organization of a religious movement, the > theopposition from the broader culture The > the level of visibility of an religious movement, the > the opposition from the broader culture
- Review
- Definitions
- Concepts
- Propositions
- Theory
New Concept:Religious Economy
- A religious economy consists of all the religious activity going on in any given society.
Constructing Theory
- Propositions = a statement about the relationship between two or more concepts.
- Theory = an interrelated set of propositions.
Proposition #1
- The capacity of a single religious firm to monopolize a religious economy depends upon the degree to which the state uses coercive force to regulate the religious economy.
Proposition #2
- To the degree that a religious economy is unregulated, it will tend to be very pluralistic.
Proposition #3
- To the degree that a religious economy is pluralistic, firms will specialize.
Proposition #4
- To the degree that a religious economy is competitive and pluralistic, overall levels of religious participation will tend to be high.
Proposition #4A
- Conversely, to the degree that a religious economy is monopolized by one or two state-supported firms, overall levels of participation will tend to be low.
Summing up theory construction
- Propositions = a statement about the relationship between two or more concepts.
- Theory = an interrelated set of propositions
Reviewing propositions:
Identify the concepts in each of the propositions above.
- Note how each proposition satisfies this definition.
- There are two or more concepts and together they make a statement about the relationship between these concepts.
Reviewing theory:
An interrelated set of propositions.
- Note also in the example above that each of the propositions is related to the other; they build upon each other.
- See if you can deduce further proposition building upon the four examples.
- This is the essence of theory -- an interrelated set of propositions.