Posted by JohnnyC
on June 5, 2008, 6:35 am
72.214.122.146
Sects, Cults and Christianity
Sects.
“A SECT is a seperatist (or Schismatic) revitalization movement that arises out of an established, religiously defined cultural system, with which it shares its symbolic worldview.
A CULT is an integrative, often syncretistic, movement that is effectively imported (by mobilization or mutation) into another religiously defined cultural system, to which it must seek to synthesize its novel worldview.
At the point of introduction both sects and cults will appear “deviant” within their respective social contexts; that is to say, they will stand in some sort of tension. This tension will be reflected in both their religious “message” and their social organization, but they will have different vectors of response to these tensions. Because sects arise in a shared worldview, they are constantly threatened with reabsorption; consequently, “sect rhetorhic” tends to erect boundaries that stress differences with “the world” (the parent culture). In fact, sect rhetoric, by its very nature tends to breed more sectarianism. In contrast, because cults by definition introduce an “alien” worldview, they tend to ameliorate this tension y stressing similarities with their new host culture.
By these definitions, the same religious movement might be a sect and a cult simultaneously it it moves from its original parent culture into a new host culture. It might even reiterate the same basic language and beliefs in both situations, but the religious value of that language will necessarily be transformed to fit each cultural context. Finally, if these different cultural experiences then produce changes from cell to cell within a movement, then these differences will result in the individual cells treating one another as dissident sects.
By it’s very nature a sect is a group that feels some sort of tension with the rest of it’s society. At the very least, a sect feels that somehow the greater part of society has gone wrong and only a few people- the members of the sect of course-see the correct way.”
Above information from the book, “From Jesus to Christianity” by L. Michael White.
Now let us take that information compare it to how Christianity developed and see what we come up with.
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