Religion Churches and Cults Chapter.7 Complete Test Bank

Chapter 7

Organized Religion: Churches, Sects, Denominations, and “Cults”

Essay Questions

When it comes to essay questions, students sometimes write poorly because they are guessing about what the instructor wants, even if the question seems to be perfectly clear. For that reason we strongly recommend provision of an audience (so students know how much to assume in use of sociological vocabulary as well as how much must be made explicit) and criteria for evaluation (which is information that any writer needs to know.) Below are two sample statements that might be used as part of an essay question.

Since some of these questions call for careful reflection, you might consider giving students a list of these and other essay questions in advance.

1. What is distinctive about charisma and charismatic leadership? Explain how it differs from other types of leadership.

2. What is meant by the routinization of charisma? Explain why it occurs and how it affects the group and/or the religious faith.

3. What are the dilemmas of institutionalization? Illustrate each.

4. What social factors might lessen the likelihood of various dilemmas of institutionalization from occurring? Be specific in discussing each dilemma.

5. Refute or support the following statement: "When religion becomes 'organized religion' it ceases to be real religion." [Note: if you use this type of question, it is especially important to add a statement indicating what the grading criteria will be.]

6. Refute or support the following statement: "Charismatic leaders are always dangerous and unhealthy for society and for their followers." [Note: if you use this type of question, it is especially important to add a statement indicating what the grading criteria will be.]

7. [Note: Use this question only if the students have been assigned the webpage essay that discusses the Shakers.]Trace the institutionalization of charisma and the evolution of at least three dilemmas of institutionalization for the Shakers or for any other group we have discussed or read about in this course.

8. Explain the possible utility of sect/church theory for understanding the processes of change and evolution in a religious group. (You may use Yinger and/or Niebuhr.)

9. Discuss the concepts of sect, denomination, and ecclesia (church).

a. Give a brief definition of each.

b. Describe the social processes that contribute to the formation of each.

10. Discuss the concept of cult or NRM by explaining how it differs from a sect or a denomination. What social factors contribute to the formation of an NRM?

11. Using sociological perspectives and insights, support or refute the following statement: "Cults are inherently evil and are led by dangerous, dictatorial leaders." [Note: if you use this type of question, it is especially important to add a statement indicating what the grading criteria will be.]

12. Using sociological perspectives and insights, refute or support the following statement: "Denominations are functional to society and to the group's members, but sects are disruptive and dysfunctional." Indicate which theoretical perspective (e.g. functional, conflict, open systems, rational choice) you are using in your analysis. [Note: if you use this type of question, it is especially important to add a statement indicating what the grading criteria will be.]

Multiple Choice Test Questions

1. Which of the following is NOT true of charismatic authority?

a. Charismatic authority stands outside the realm of everyday routine and is intrinsically unstable.

b. Charismatic leaders are perceived to be endowed with supernatural qualities that are not accessible to ordinary persons.

c. What a charismatic leader says is considered true simply because he or she says it.

d. Charismatic leadership is frequently revolutionary and a source of change.

e. Charismatic leadership is always inherently evil.

2. Your textbook summarizes the conclusion of a number of sociologists in saying that "religion both needs most and suffers most from ."

a. mobilization of resources

b. plausibility structures

c. the dilemma of mixed motivation

d. institutionalization

e. anomie

3. If a new religious group is to survive the death of its founding leader, it must achieve several objectives having to do with organization. Sociological literature refers to this process as

a. revitalization.

b. plausibility structure.

c. routinization of charisma.

d. traditional authority.

e. mysterium tremendum.

4. The organizational genius who largely institutionalized Christianity was

a. Paul.

b. Jesus.

c. Max Weber.

d. Peter.

e. Mary Magdalene.

5. A secondary matter may take on primary importance for some members of a religious group, thus subverting the original sense of mission. This instance would illustrate the

a. dilemma of mixed motivation.

b. dilemma of administrative order.

c. dilemma of delimitation.

d. dilemma of power.

e. dilemma of expansion.

6. Groups such as Islamic Fundamentalists, some Protestant Christians, and some groups within Judaism become so caught up in rules and regulations that they lose sight of the ideals and values on which their religion was originally founded. This describes which dilemma of institutionalization?

a. The dilemma of power versus coercion

b. The dilemma of expansion

c. The dilemma of delimitation

d. The dilemma of mixed motivation

e. The dilemma of administrative order

7. To insure conformity to the values and norms of the group, religious organizations sometimes resort to excommunication. However, religious groups which exercise this option may risk alienating members; thus it is important in most cases to persuade members to cooperate voluntarily. This is the

a. dilemma of mixed motivation.

b. dilemma of administrative order.

c. dilemma of delimitation.

d. dilemma of power.

e. dilemma of expansion.

8. Members being born into a group rather than becoming members through conversion or spiritual experience contributes to which of the following dilemmas of institutionalization?

a. Conversion vs. coercion

b. Concrete definition vs. substitution of the letter for the spirit

c. Elaboration of policy vs. flexibility

d. Rationalized structure vs. communalism

e. Objectification vs alienation

9. The Shakers had to transform abstract concepts and principles into concrete ethical codes of conduct so that common members knew how to conduct their everyday lives. In so doing, the rules became inflexible and absolute, and some members began to think the rules themselves were the essence of the religion. This is an example of the

a. dilemma of mixed motivation.

b. symbolic dilemma.

c. dilemma of administrative order.

d. dilemma of delimitation.

e. dilemma of power.

10. The institutional need to elaborate concrete policies and procedures is in conflict with the desire to be flexible and respond to ad hoc needs and issues as they may arise. This is the

a. dilemma of mixed motivation.

b. symbolic dilemma.

c. dilemma of administrative order.

d. dilemma of delimitation.

e. dilemma of power.

11. Which of the following is a part of the symbolic dilemma?

a. A secondary matter may take on primary importance for some members of a religious group, thus subverting the original sense of mission.

b. Close interpersonal caring and sharing wanes as a rational bureaucratic structure develops.

c. Religious groups often struggle with the question of whether to use coercion to attain conformity.

d. The institutional need to elaborate concrete policies and procedures is in conflict with the desire to be flexible.

e. The passage of time can render some signs of the faith alienating or meaningless.

12. Regarding institutional dilemmas, we can conclude that

a. institutionalization is always the beginning of the end for religious groups.

b. some types of organizational structures may be more susceptible to the occurrence of certain dilemmas than others.

c. the dysfunctions of routinization are inevitable.

d. generally speaking, the stronger the plausibility structures, the more the institutional dilemmas a group is likely to face.

e. all of the above.

13. When Max Weber referred to "ideal types," he meant

a. the best or preferred pattern of social organization, in the opinion of sociologists.

b. the best or preferred pattern of social organization, in the view of the members of the society.

c. conceptual classification of social phenomena into categories in order to make comparisons and contrasts.

d. the modal or most frequently observed social pattern found in a given society.

14. According to Troeltsch and Niebuhr, universal or inclusive acceptance of people in the larger society into the religious organization is a characteristic of

a. a new religious movement.

b. a sect.

c. a church.

d. an audience cult.

e. a client cult.

15. The major contribution of Yinger's typology over earlier formulations for church-sect models is that

a. it includes far more variables than any previous typology.

b. it emphasizes the dynamic process of evolution while stressing that the change may be multilinear.

c. it limits the defining characteristics of church, denomination, and sect to theological ones, making for greater clarity.

d. it proves that sects are not always in conflict with the values of the larger society.

e. all of the above.

16. A main, long-standing criticism of the church/sect typology is that

a. the basic idea is more than 100 years old and, thus, outdated.

b. the typology tends to incorporate a wide range of characteristics, mixing theological and social elements and confusing defining characteristics with causal and consequential variables. Thus there is no consensus about the meaning of the concepts.

c. the entire approach is fundamentally flawed because "ideal types" are useless.

d. the model is incapable of showing that change can occur in a religious group.

e. all of the above.

17. Yinger created a typology that attempted to simplify the church-sect construct, using fewer variables. Yinger's model stresses

a. fundamentalist vs. modernist theology, formality of worship, and exclusiveness of membership.

b. size of the group, formality of worship, and exclusiveness of membership.

c. fundamentalist vs. modernist theology, formality of worship, and extent of institutionalization.

d. only extent of institutionalization.

e. exclusiveness or openness of membership, conflict with or accommodation to the larger society's values, and extent of institutionalization.

18. In terms of open systems theory, which of the following is the most closed type of social system?

a. Ecclesia

b. Church

c. Sect

d. Denomination

e. All of the above are very closed systems.

19. Niebuhr identified four elements that he believed contributed to the break-off of sects from denominations. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

a. Some sects are expressions of ethnic values and national loyalties, with ethnicity separating Christians into different groups.

b. Some sects are expressions of a desire for religious groups that are smaller, more informal, and less under the control of a professional clergy and bureaucratic organization.

c. Sectarian movements may be spawned by a desire for more spontaneity and more emotional expression in worship, with less routinization and less intellectualizing.

d. Sectarian movements are usually internal arguments among religious people over theological matters and interpretations of doctrine.

e. Some sects arise in response to socioeconomic inequality, with churches and denominations serving the self-interests of the affluent, and sects responding to the needs and concerns of the poor.

20. A central issue in defining a NRM or cult is

a. the social class of the membership.

b. group size.

c. the style of worship.

d. whether the group has an autocratic leader who uses mind control techniques.

e. whether the group is initiating a new religious tradition rather than renewing a long-standing religion in that society.

21. Social characteristics (of groups and of the larger society in which the groups exist) can influence the likelihood of religious schisms and the character of each group's evolution. All of the following are identified in your textbook as factors that can influence the nature of religious schisms EXCEPT

a. how the larger society responds to this new group.

b. whether the host society has a policy of separation of church and state.

c. the internal belief system of the group regarding the nature of good and evil.

d. whether the economy of the host country is expanding or stagnant.

e. whether the leader of the group has the same ethnicity as the majority of the members.

22. The early Unification Church (led by Rev. Sun Myung Moon) was an example of a

a. NRM (or “cult”)

b. denomination.

c. church.

d. sect.

e. ecclesia.

23. Which of the following would be an example of a sect-like group in contemporary North America?

a. Roman Catholicism

b. Reformed Jews

c. United Presbyterians

d. Jehovah's Witnesses

e. Episcopalians

24. Sects and NRMs are alike in a number of ways. The one statement listed below that is NOT true is

a. both rebel against some predominant cultural values.

b. both typically lack formally trained professional leaders.

c. both lack a bureaucratic structure.

d. both draw their membership overwhelmingly from the lower classes.

25. Despite similarities, sects and NRMs have somewhat different forces that shape their development. Which of the following is NOT supported by evidence regarding these two types of groups?

a. Sects are more likely to form in regions where traditional forms of religion are well established.

b. NRMs are likely to form in geographical areas where traditional forms of religion are weak.

c. The desire for legitimacy may pull a sect toward becoming New Religious Movement.

d. Hostile, stigmatizing forces that are directed toward a sect may push the group toward becoming an NRM.