Wallis, Roy
Wallis, Roy (1945–90) A British sociologist of religion, whose more general writings include notable studies of social movements (particularly moral crusades), and of the place of actors' motivational accounts in sociological analysis. An early study of the Church of Scientology (The Road to Total Freedom, 1976) generated the typology of ideological collectivities shown below. Cults and sects are both religiously deviant by comparison to the normatively sanctioned or respectable church and denominational orthodoxy. Unlike sects, however, cults are ‘pluralistically legitimate’ in the sense that membership is perceived to offer but one of a variety of possible paths to salvation. Sects, on the other hand, purport to offer adherents a unique access to such rewards.
In a subsequent study of contemporary sectarianism (The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, 1984), Wallis offered a tripartite typology of new religious movements, distinguishing between ‘world-rejecting’, ‘world-affirming’, and ‘world-accommodating’ types.
In a subsequent study of contemporary sectarianism (The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, 1984), Wallis offered a tripartite typology of new religious movements, distinguishing between ‘world-rejecting’, ‘world-affirming’, and ‘world-accommodating’ types.
RESPECTABLE | DEVIANT | |
|---|---|---|
UNIQUELY LEGITIMATE | Church | Sect |
PLURALISTICALLY LEGITIMATE | Denomination | Cult |
More From encyclopedia.com
New Religions , new religions, new religious movements (NRMs) This concept refers to two separate religious phenomena. First, there are the new religious movements o… Church , The term "church" dates back to a Christian context in the third or fourth century after Christ to denote an "assembly of believers." Since then, the… Sociology Of Religion , Religion, Sociology of
The study of the relationship of religion to social structures and social processes. It includes the study of the relation of… Religion , religion
Stephen W. Angell
Genevieve Slomski
The first Africans who arrived on North American shores brought their own religious worldviews with them… Religious , Religiosity
FUNDAMENTALISM
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Religiosity is a term used by social scientists to refer to religious behavior. Social scientists generally v… Anthropology Of Religion , Since the early 1900s anthropologists have been conducting field research to retrieve, record, classify, and interpret religious beliefs and practice…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Wallis, Roy