Types of Religion
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the differences between various types of religious organizations and classifications
Types of Religious Organizations
Religions organize themselves—their institutions, practitioners, and structures—in a various ways. For instance, when the Roman Catholic Church emerged, it borrowed many of its organizational principles from the ancient Roman military and turned senators into cardinals, for example. Ecclesia, denomination, and sect are terms used to describe these classifications. Scholars are also aware that these definitions are not static. Most religions transition through different organizational phases. For example, Christianity began as a cult, transformed into a sect, and today exists as an ecclesia.
Cults, like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater size, stability, and organization. The term cult is sometimes used interchangeably with the term “new religious movement” (NRM). In its pejorative use, these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly controlling of members’ lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader.
Controversy exists over whether some religious groups are in fact cults, perhaps due in part to media sensationalism over groups like the polygamous Mormon FLDS or the Peoples Temple followers who died in a mass suicide at Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978. Some groups that are controversially labeled as cults today include the Church of Scientology and the Hare Krishna movement.
A sect is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the United States today began as sects. For example, the Methodists and Baptists protested against their parent Anglican Church in England, just as Henry VIII protested against the Catholic Church by forming the Anglican Church. From “protest” comes the term Protestant.
Occasionally, a sect is a breakaway group that may be in tension with the larger society. They sometimes claim to be returning to “the fundamentals” or to be contesting the truth of a particular doctrine. When membership in a sect increases over time, it may grow into a denomination. Often a sect begins as an offshoot of a denomination, when a group of members believes they should separate from the larger group.
Some sects dissolve without growing into denominations. Sociologists call these established sects. Established sects, such as the Amish or Jehovah’s Witnesses fall halfway between sect and denomination on the ecclesia–cult continuum because they have a mixture of sect-like and denomination-like characteristics.
A denomination is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or state sponsored. It is one religion among many. For example, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist are all Christian denominations.
The term ecclesia, originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first colonists came to America to escape.
One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential and ecclesia are most influential.
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Types of Religions
Scholars from a variety of disciplines have strived to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below.
| Religious Classification | What/Who Is Divine | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Polytheism | Multiple gods | Belief systems of the ancient Greeks and Romans |
| Monotheism | Single god | Judaism, Islam |
| Atheism | No deities | Atheism |
| Animism | Nonhuman beings (animals, plants, natural world) | Indigenous nature worship (Shinto) |
| Totemism | Human-natural being connection | Ojibwa (Native American) beliefs |
Note that some religions may be practiced—or understood—in various categories. For instance, the Christian notion of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) defies the definition of monotheism, which is a religion based on belief in a single deity, to some scholars. Similarly, many Westerners view the multiple manifestations of Hinduism’s godhead as polytheistic, which is a religion based on belief in multiple deities, while Hindus might describe those manifestations are a monotheistic parallel to the Christian Trinity. Some Japanese practice Shinto, which follows animism, which is a religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world, while people who practice totemism believe in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings.
It is also important to note that every society also has nonbelievers, such as atheists, who do not believe in a divine being or entity, and agnostics, who hold that ultimate reality (such as God) is unknowable. While typically not an organized group, atheists and agnostics represent a significant portion of the population. It is important to recognize that being a nonbeliever in a divine entity does not mean the individual subscribes to no morality. Indeed, many Nobel Peace Prize winners and other great humanitarians over the centuries would have classified themselves as atheists or agnostics.
Think It Over
- Consider the different types of religious organizations in the United States. What role did ecclesia play in the history of the United States? How have sects tended to change over time? What role do cults have today?
- What is your understanding of monotheism versus polytheism? How might your ideology be an obstacle to understanding the theism of another religion you’re unfamiliar with?
- In U.S. society, do you believe there is social stratification that correlates with religious beliefs? What about within the practitioners of a given religion? Provide examples to illustrate your point.
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glossary
- agnosticism:
- the belief that ultimate reality, or God, is unknowable
- animism:
- the religion that believes in the divinity of nonhuman beings, like animals, plants, and objects of the natural world
- atheism:
- the belief in no deities
- cults:
- religious groups that are small, secretive, and highly controlling of members and have a charismatic leader
- denomination:
- a large, mainstream religion that is not sponsored by the state
- ecclesia:
- a religion that is considered the state religion
- established sects:
- sects that last but do not become denominations
- monotheism:
- a religion based on belief in a single deity
- polytheism:
- a religion based on belief in multiple deities
- sect:
- a small, new offshoot of a denomination
- totemism:
- the belief in a divine connection between humans and other natural beings
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