Showing papers on "Ideal type published in 1976"

Weber or Troeltsch?: Methodology, Syndrome, and the Development of Church-Sect Theory

Abstract: The historical development of church-sect theory is analyzed, and two major points are made. First, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of church-sect in its original use by Max Weber and, in particular, in the context of his treatment of the ideal type. Second, since the work of Ernst Troeltsch, the use of church-sect in the sociology of religion has been beset by the "Troeltschian syndrome"-a misdirected focusing upon Troeltsch's use of these concepts in developing a "sociological formulation" for solving a theological problem, rather than on the sociological problem itself. Recent contributions are assayed with these points in mind and placed in critical perspective to the work of both Weber and Troeltsch.