4.2.5.3 Religious organisations, cults, sects and New Age movements Quiz: AQA Sociology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. In Ernst Troeltsch's typology, what distinguishes a church from a sect?

   • A church is large, inclusive and accepts the social order, while a sect is small, exclusive and based on voluntary membership
   • A church rejects all forms of worship, while a sect requires members to attend formal services each week
   • A church is based on mystical experience alone, while a sect is based on the authority of a written legal code
   • A church is small and voluntary, while a sect is large and accepts all members regardless of their beliefs, behaviour or commitment

2. Which sociologist developed the three-part typology of church, sect and mysticism in the early twentieth century?

   • Talcott Parsons, who developed the sick role and the concept of pattern variables in his theory of action
   • Ernst Troeltsch
   • Emile Durkheim, who developed the concept of the sacred and the profane in his study of religious life
   • Max Weber, who developed ideal types of traditional, charismatic and rational-legal authority in his general sociology

3. In Roy Wallis's typology of new religious movements, what is a 'world-accommodating' movement?

   • A movement that seeks to live within existing social structures and to change the individual's life while accepting the wider world
   • A movement that seeks to transform the whole of society through political action and direct control of the state
   • A movement that rejects all contact with the modern world and seeks to withdraw completely from the surrounding society
   • A movement that focuses on the spiritual development of its members and has no interest in social or moral questions

4. Which distinction did Stark and Bainbridge draw between a sect and a cult?

   • A sect is always illegal in the country where it operates, while a cult is always recognised and regulated by the state
   • A sect has a schism from an established religion, while a cult is a new religious movement with no connection to a tradition
   • A sect has a fixed membership of exactly 1000 people, while a cult has any number of members at all times
   • A sect is a new movement with no roots in any tradition, while a cult is a schism from a long-established religion and its doctrines

5. What is meant by a 'denomination' in the sociology of religion?

   • A religious organisation that claims exclusive truth and rejects all other branches of its own tradition as heretical
   • A religious organisation that is one of several recognised branches within a wider tradition and accepts the legitimacy of others
   • A religious organisation that is controlled directly by the state and has no members outside government service
   • A religious organisation that has no formal doctrine and is open to followers of every faith at the same time, without any branches

6. Which of the following is typically associated with a New Age movement?

   • Membership of a long-established national church, which is funded through taxation and holds monopoly status
   • Strict adherence to a single written scripture, with no interpretation allowed and no flexibility for members
   • Organised political campaigns for control of national government, with members working through party structures
   • Emphasis on personal spiritual experience, holistic health and self-development, often drawing on a mix of traditions

7. Which feature distinguishes a cult from a sect in some sociological definitions?

   • A cult is loosely organised, focused on individual spiritual growth and often lacks a strong tradition of formal membership
   • A cult is always larger than a church in membership, while a sect is always smaller than any religious denomination
   • A cult is always a branch of a national church, while a sect is always a new movement without any historical roots
   • A cult has strict membership rules and a long-established doctrine, while a sect has no doctrine and no formal rules

8. Which factor is most often identified as a reason for the growth of new religious movements?

   • The fall in the cost of religious buildings, which makes it cheaper for groups to open new places of worship
   • The legal requirement that every citizen must join a religious movement, which increases membership automatically
   • Social change and personal crisis, which can lead people to seek new meaning, community or spiritual experience
   • The decision of governments to ban all religious practice, which leaves citizens with no option but to join new groups

9. Why do sociologists study the relationship between religious organisations and their members' wider social lives?

   • Religious organisations can shape members' social networks, identities and behaviour, which can affect their integration with wider society
   • Religious organisations determine every aspect of members' lives, so no other social influence ever affects their behaviour
   • Religious organisations only affect members' finances, so their social lives are unaffected by their membership
   • Religious organisations have no effect on members' social lives, because beliefs are entirely private and never discussed with others

10. Which concept describes a religious group that is strict and exclusive and that sees itself as separate from a corrupt wider society?

    • Church, which is a large and inclusive institution that accepts the social order and its members from birth
    • Denomination, which is a tolerated branch of a wider religious tradition that accepts the legitimacy of other branches
    • Sect
    • New Age movement, which emphasises personal spiritual experience and self-development without strict membership

11. In Troeltsch's typology, what is 'mysticism' as a form of religious organisation?

    • Collective worship in large public buildings, led by a hierarchy of officials who are paid by the state for their services
    • Individual inner experience of the divine that is largely independent of church structures, doctrine and formal membership
    • Political campaigning through formal parties that seek to change national law in line with religious principles
    • Strict obedience to a written legal code, enforced by a community of believers who police each other's behaviour

12. What is a key concern raised by some sociologists about high-control religious groups?

    • Members have no contact with any other religious group, which means they have no understanding of belief at all
    • Members are always legally required to live in the same building, so their family life is uniformly organised by law
    • Members may face restrictions on their freedom, relationships or information, which can make it harder for them to leave
    • Members are always wealthier than other people in society, which allows the groups to dominate local economic life

13. Which pattern is commonly observed in the membership of New Age movements in contemporary Britain?

    • A preference for membership of an organisation that requires exclusive loyalty and a lifelong commitment to its rules
    • A preference for individual spiritual practice and self-directed belief over membership of a fixed congregation
    • A preference for long-term membership of a single congregation that requires weekly attendance and fixed doctrine
    • A preference for membership of a national church, which is held by most people who identify with spiritual practice

14. Why might a religious group's strict membership demands limit its growth?

    • High demands and strict boundaries can deter potential members, while more flexible membership may attract a wider following
    • Strict demands are illegal in most countries, so no religious group can enforce them against its own members
    • Strict demands have no effect on membership, because people join religious groups only for their buildings and services
    • Strict demands always increase membership, because every person who joins a demanding group becomes a lifelong supporter

15. Evaluate the claim that new religious movements are always harmful to their members.

    • The claim is confirmed by the fact that new religious movements are always illegal in every country that permits religion
    • The claim is irrelevant, because new religious movements do not have members or any influence on social life
    • The claim is fully proven, because every new religious movement has been shown to cause harm to all of its members
    • The claim is overstated, since many new movements are benign and some members benefit, though high-control groups can cause harm

16. Which conclusion best follows from the view that religious organisations can be understood as a spectrum rather than as fixed types?

    • Religious organisations should be grouped only by size, since size is the only meaningful difference between organisations
    • Religious organisations are all identical in structure, so typologies have no value for comparing different groups or their change
    • Religious organisations can be classified only once, because their structure never changes over time or place
    • Sociologists should treat church, denomination, sect, cult and New Age types as ideal types describing tendencies in real organisations

17. What is a 'new religious movement' in the sociology of religion?

    • An established national church that has existed for many centuries and holds an official status recognised by the state
    • A religious group that emerged in recent times, often outside established traditions, and may be new to the society
    • A government body that registers all religious groups and decides which beliefs may be taught in state schools
    • A religious group that is recognised only in a single town and has no members living outside that community

18. Which feature is most characteristic of church-type religious organisations in Troeltsch's account?

    • Strict criteria for membership and a commitment to separation from the wider social order and its institutions
    • A focus on individual mystical experience rather than on institutions, doctrine and formal organisation
    • A broad mission to include all members of society, accepting them within the existing social order
    • A rejection of all religious doctrine in favour of secular goals pursued through rational public debate

19. Which concept describes a sect that gradually becomes more accommodating to society and takes on church-like features over time?

    • Sect-to-church development, in which a religious group becomes more integrated with society over time
    • Syncretism, in which beliefs from different traditions are blended to form a new religious practice for members
    • Church-to-sect development, in which a state church breaks away from the state and becomes exclusive and separatist
    • Denominationalism, in which several branches of one tradition coexist without any claim to be the only true church

20. Why do some new religious movements attract young adults, according to sociological research?

    • They impose strict obligations to remain with parents and follow family traditions without question for all of adult life
    • They require members to hand over all personal property and income to the movement's leadership on joining
    • They guarantee high incomes for members who take up full-time roles in the organisation's business activities each year
    • They offer community, meaning and personal spiritual experience at a period of transition in people's lives

Related quizzes

• Conceptions of culture Quiz · 4.2.1.1 · 20 questions
• Socialisation and the agencies of socialisation Quiz · 4.2.1.2 · 20 questions
• The self, identity and difference Quiz · 4.2.1.3 · 20 questions
• Identity and age, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexuality and class Quiz · 4.2.1.4 · 20 questions
• Identity, production, consumption and globalisation Quiz · 4.2.1.5 · 20 questions
• The family, social structure and social change Quiz · 4.2.2.1 · 20 questions
• Marriage, cohabitation, divorce and the life course Quiz · 4.2.2.2 · 20 questions
• Gender roles, domestic labour and power in the family Quiz · 4.2.2.3 · 20 questions
• The nature of childhood Quiz · 4.2.2.4 · 20 questions
• Demographic trends in the UK since 1900 Quiz · 4.2.2.5 · 20 questions