What are the defining characteristics of a church as a religious organisation?

Large, well-established, bureaucratic structure, professional clergy, claims monopoly of truth, inclusive membership, and close relationship with the state.

What are the defining characteristics of a sect?

Small, exclusive, charismatic leadership, demanding high commitment, claiming monopoly of truth, often hostile to wider society, drawing members from marginalised groups.

A loosely organised religious movement with individualistic beliefs, tolerant of other beliefs, making few demands on members, often focused on self-improvement or spiritual experience.

On what bases did Troeltsch distinguish between churches and sects?

Their relationship to the state, attitude to wider society, type of membership, and claims to religious truth.

Why did Niebuhr argue sects are short-lived?

Second generation members lack the commitment of original converts, leading to accommodation with society and transformation into denominations.

AQA A-Level Sociology 7192

Education

Topic overview The role and functions of education Class differences in educational achievement Labelling, subcultures and processes within schools Gender and educational achievement Ethnicity and educational achievement Selection and marketisation Privatisation and vocational education Educational policy, equality and globalisation

Methods in Context

Topic overview Access, gatekeepers and research ethics in schools Choosing methods for research in schools Data, theory and validity in educational research

Theory and Methods

Topic overview Research design and choosing a method Sources of data and types of data Positivism, interpretivism and research ethics Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories Modernity and post-modernity Is sociology a science?Objectivity, value freedom and social policy

Culture and IdentityOptional topic

Topic overview Conceptions of culture Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation The self, identity and difference Identity, age, disability, ethnicity, gender and class Identity, production, consumption and globalisation

Families and HouseholdsOptional topic

Topic overview Functionalist views of the family Marxist and feminist views of the family The New Right, postmodernism and family policy Marriage, cohabitation and divorce Family diversity and the personal life perspective Conjugal roles and domestic labour Power relationships and domestic violence The social construction of childhood Birth rates and death rates Family size and the ageing population Migration and globalisation

HealthOptional topic

Topic overview The social construction of health and models of illness Class and gender inequalities in health Ethnic and regional inequality, and access to health care Mental illness and the power of the medical profession The sick role and the globalised health industry

Work, Poverty and WelfareOptional topic

Topic overview Poverty: definitions, explanations and distribution The welfare state and welfare provision The division of labour and the control of work Work, worklessness and life chances Globalisation and the global division of labour

Beliefs in SocietyOptional topic

Topic overview Ideology and science as belief systems Functionalist views of religion Marxist and feminist views of religion Religion as a force for social change Churches, sects, denominations and cults New religious movements and New Age movements Religion, gender, ethnicity, age and social class Secularisation Believing without belonging and postmodern religion Globalisation, fundamentalism and religion worldwide

Global DevelopmentOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of development and underdevelopment Globalisation, transnational corporations and aid agencies Aid, trade, industrialisation and urbanisation Environment, conflict and human development Population, gender and postcolonial critiques

The MediaOptional topic

Topic overview The new media and its significance Ownership, control and media globalisation The selection and presentation of the news Media representations of social groups Media effects and models of the audience Reception analysis and selective filtering

Stratification and DifferentiationOptional topic

Topic overview Theories of stratification Life chances and dimensions of inequality Defining and measuring social class Changing structures of inequality and globalisation Social mobility

Crime and Deviance

Beliefs in Society

Churches, sects, denominations and cults

3 things to know
Paper 2

Overview

Troeltsch and Niebuhr on the four organisation types, and why sects rarely outlive their founders.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

What is a denomination, and what is a cult?

Who and when

Why did Niebuhr argue that sects are short-lived, and what do they become?

Key term

How do conversionist and introversionist sects differ, and what are new religious movements?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What are the defining characteristics of a church as a religious organisation?
Model answer
Large, well-established, bureaucratic structure, professional clergy, claims monopoly of truth, inclusive membership, and close relationship with the state.
2
What are the defining characteristics of a sect?
Model answer
Small, exclusive, charismatic leadership, demanding high commitment, claiming monopoly of truth, often hostile to wider society, drawing members from marginalised groups.
3
What is a denomination?
Model answer
A religious organisation midway between church and sect, with professional clergy, accepting religious pluralism, less demanding of members, and tolerant of wider society.
4
What is a cult?
Model answer
A loosely organised religious movement with individualistic beliefs, tolerant of other beliefs, making few demands on members, often focused on self-improvement or spiritual experience.
5
On what bases did Troeltsch distinguish between churches and sects?
Model answer
Their relationship to the state, attitude to wider society, type of membership, and claims to religious truth.
6
Why did Niebuhr argue sects are short-lived?
Model answer
Second generation members lack the commitment of original converts, leading to accommodation with society and transformation into denominations.

See the rest and revise

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book

2Open book

3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Education

Methods in Context

Theory and Methods

Culture and Identity

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

The product belongs to the .

capitalistworkerconsumer

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AAll change begins with an act of deviance.

BToday's deviance can become tomorrow's normality.

CCrime provokes a collective reaction.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Impairment means a physical or mental limitation.

TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Beliefs in Society, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Start revising, £5 a month See how the method works

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.