Redefining the 'church and sect' typology

Abstract

Religious groups differ specifically; they also change over time, disintegrating and sometimes refinding their stability. The typology that has been used to describe this phenomenon has been the 'church and sect' typology. I argue that this typology and the criteria used to identify the constituent types are too static to be useful for the scholar studying a vibrant and developing religious tradition. However, sociologists of science have elaborated models to explain a similar situation in regard to scientific communities. The application of such theoretical work to the sociology of religion, with attention to the theory of tradition that undergirds it, allows a more dynamic description of religious group activity. A case study of early Christianity is used as an exemplar.