New Typology of Religious Organization
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Mark A. Foster, New Typology of Religious Organization, bahai-library.com.
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New Typology of Religious Organization

Mark A. Foster

1995

A couple of years ago, I developed a new typology of religious organization
and presented a paper on it at a regional sociological meeting. My objective
was to reduce what I regarded as the christocentric bias of the traditional
church-sect-denomination-cult typology and to eliminate the offensiveness of
the cult label (which, although used by social scientists to mean a variety of
things - almost all of them quite specific and neutral - has, unfortunately,
become, in popular usage, a pejorative).

Please bear in mind that each of these descriptions corresponds to what
sociologists call, following Weber, "ideal types". IOW, they are absolute
examples. Relative to them, actual religious organizations would be seen as
approximations. Moreover, the types themselves are society-specific. For
instance, while the Roman Catholic Church is a monopolist organization in
Vatican City, it is a traditional pluralist organization in the United States.
I use three basic types (normativist, arcanist, and distinctionist). All of
them are subdivided. I will present just a brief outline of the major types and
their subdivisions with at least one example of each:

NORMATIVIST

Monopolistic Normativist: A religious organization which approaches total
convergence with the logocenter (narrative framework/linguistic or social
structure) of a society. Most members of society belong to, or conform to, the
norms of the monopolistic normativist group. Persecution of minority opinions
may be common in _some_ instances, e.g. the Roman Catholic Church in medieval
Europe, Maoism during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Twelver Shi'ihism in
the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Official Pluralistic Normativist: A religious organization which is only unique
insofar as it is (one of) the official religion(s) of a society. Official
normativist, which may exist side by side with denominations and with other
forms of religious organization, also converge with the logocenter but only
with its general normative (rules of conduct and values, such as those which
allign it with that society's civil religion) and traditional aspects
(belonging to one of the established religious traditions in that society) -
not with norms dictating actual affiliation or membership, e.g.,
Anglo-Catholicism in The United Kingdom and the various "official" religions in
Zaire (some of which are recent imports).

Traditional

Pluralistic Normativist: A religious organization which, like an official
pluralistic normativist organization, converges with only the general normative
aspects and traditional aspects of the logocenter (not with norms of actual
affiliation or membership). This type, because of its incorporation of civil
religion (the sacralization of patriotism), tend to be tolerant of other
traditional normativists. They are culturally convergent, i.e., they belong to
one of the established religious traditions in that society. For example, in
the United States, Roman Catholicism, Methodism, Lutheranism, Conservative
Judaism, and the neo-Lutheran twelve-step recovery groups would be traditional
normativist organizations.

Nontraditional

Pluralistic Normativist: A religious organization which is, in most respects,
identical with a traditional normativist group. However, nontraditional
normativists are not traditionally convergent. IOW, they are not part of one of
the established religious traditions in that society. So, in the United States,
any normativist organization which does not _define itself_ (my criterion) as a
branch of either Christianity or of Judaism would be a nontraditional
normativist organization, e.g., the World Community of al-Islam (Wallace D.
Muhammad) and Ethical Culture in the United States.

ARCANIST

Charismatic

Native Arcanist: Similar to Ernst Troeltsch's "mystics," arcanites rebel
against secularism, bureaucracy, generalized angst, alienation, the
routinization of charisma, and the "conformania" of mass society. Typically,
they arise during periods of rapid social change and tend to attract some of
the more affluent members of their societies. In the West, the current
manifestation of this phenomenon is popularly known as the New Age Movement, a
modern synthesis of Theosophy and New Thought with a variety of other occultic
beliefs. They tend to tolerate a variety of perspectives and embody the "all
paths lead to the same place" credo. The various types of occultic, or arcane,
groups represent one variant which has been, along with some others to be
discussed below, placed under the label "cult." Charismatic native arcanists
originated in the focal society and function under the leadership of a living
charismatic leader, such as Free John's Laughing Man organization and
John-Roger Hinkins' Movement for Spiritual Inner Awareness (a split-off from
Eckankar).

Charismatic Imported Arcanist: Identical to the above except for originating
outside the focal society, e.g., Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental
Meditation.

Routinized Native Arcanist: In this case, there is no longer a single
charismatic leader. Charismatic authority has been transferred to the group
itself. The Arcane School, founded by the late Alice Bailey (who broke away
from HPB's Theosophical Society) and the Association for Research and
Enlightenment (Edgar Cayce) are both American examples.

Routinized Imported Arcanist: The same as the above, except for their point of
origin, e.g., Mokichi Okada's Johrei Fellowship (World Messianity) in the
United States.

Factional

Native Arcanist: Simply, an arcane group (either charismatic or routinized)
which separated itself from another group (either charismatic or routinized),
e.g. the Movement for Spiritual Inner Awareness, the Arcane School, and the two
branches of Ernest Holmes' Religious Science (the science of mind).

Factional Imported Arcanist: As the above, except that the group comes from
outside the focal society, e.g., the Society of Johrei, the Johrei Fellowship,
and the two Mahikari organizations (all factions of the Japanese Johrei
movement which have been imported to the United States).

DISTINCTIVIST

Charismatic

Native Distinctivist: All distinctivist groups are characterized by a belief
in the extraordinary legitimacy of their own religion. Native distinctivists,
for example, are NRMs (new religious movements), or, as I prefer, alternative
religious movements, which originated in the focal society but have no
connection with any of its dominant religious traditions (and, BTW, are another
sort of organization which is often termed "cultic"); and charismatic native
distinctivists are under the leadership of a single charismatic leader where
there has been little routinization of charisma. So, Scientology, during the
lifetime of L. Ron Hubbard, was a charismatic native distinctivist group as was
the Bahá'í Faith in the Near East during the lifetimes of Bahá'u'lláh,
`Abdu'l-Bahá, and, to an extent, Shoghi Effendi.

Routinized

Native Distinctivist: Here, the charisma has been largely routinized. Although
there _may_ be a formal leader, s/he is, from an objective POV, really not the
center of power. There may, for example, be some sort of ecclesiatical
structure under which the authority of the "leader" is subsumed. Present-day
Scientology and the Bahá'í Faith in the contemporary Near East would be
routinized native distinctionary groups.

Factional

Native Distinctivist: These would include any native distinctivist group which
has split off from another religious organization (of any type). Scientology,
for example, has had many of these, e.g., Silva Mind Control and, to some
extent (since it also traces its descent from Kirpal Singh's Ruhani Satsang),
Eckankar (especially during Paul Twitchell's lifetime).

Charismatic

Imported Distinctivist: What I term imported distinctivists have, like
arcanists and native distinctivists been classed as cults. These are
alternative religious movements which did not, either theologically or
organizationally, originate in the focal society. IOW, they are imported
religions. Charismatic imported distinctivists are under the leadership of a
charismatic figure. Examples include the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification
Church in the United States, the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON), especially during the lifetime of A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, in the United States, and the Bahá'í Faith in the West during
the lifetimes of Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá, and, to an extent, Shoghi Effendi.

Routinized

Imported Distinctivist: An routinized native distinctivist group is one in
which the charisma has become routinized (established/ institutionalized).
Examples would include most of the native Indian branches of the Radhasoami
movement (surat shabd yoga) as they have been transplanted to the West, Rudolph
Steiner's Anthroposophy in the United States, and the present-day Bahá'í Faith
in the West.

Factional

Imported Distinctivist: This type consists of either a charismatic or a
routinized imported distinctivist group which is a branch of another religious
organization, i.e., Kirpal light Satsang and Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission (both
Indian branches of the Radhasoami movement).

Charismatic

Retrospective Distinctivist: This type is roughly the equivalent of a "sect."
These are religious organizations which believe that they have returned to the
original ("proto") doctrine of an established religious tradition in the focal
society, such as Judaism, Islam, or Christianity. A charismatic retrospective
distinctivist group is one which is under the leadership of a charismatic
figure. The Bible Students (the parent religion of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the
Millenial Dawnists, and other groups), under Charles Taze Russell, were
charismatic retrospective distinctivists. Phelps' ultra-fundamentalist
Christian organization (in Topeka, Kansas) is also in this category.

Routinized

Retrospective Distinctivist: This type would include those which have become
institutionalized/established in the focal society. The Jehovah's Witnesses
and the Worldwide Church of God would both be examples. Factional

Retrospective Distinctivist: This type would include those which have split
off from another, usually retrospective distinctivist, organization. These
would include the Jehovah's Witnesses and the various factions of the Worldwide
Church of God (such as the Philadelphia Church of God and the Church of God
International).

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-- New Typology of Religious Organization (Used by permission of the curator)