The Church in Opposition

Abstract

The relationship of religion to social change can be researched at the macro-level of the society, the micro-level of the individual, or the intermediary level of religious bodies. Advantages of the third approach are pointed out. Within this approach, hypotheses are set forth for explaining under what conditions a religious body assumes an oppositional, change-oriented stance toward its host society. Six predictor variables are critically examined: the church-sect typology, degree of orthodoxy, locus of control, the preferences of dominant groups, degree of homogeneity of the membership, and theological tradition. Analysis of a range of instances of an oppositional stance assumed by Protestant and Catholic bodies in different societies and at different points in time tends to discount the importance of thefirst three variables and to lend support to the explanatory power of the latter three. The relationship between religion and social change has been the subject of research in sociology since the very beginning of the discipline. Nineteenthcentury thought produced no consensus on the nature of that relationship; neither has more recent research in a variety of contexts and with a wide range of research strategies. The first and basic purpose of this article is to clarify three levels of analysis on which the role of religion in social change can be researched. Two such levels, the societal and individual, are shown to have certain limitations; organizational analysis is offered as a neglected complement to studies of the two former kinds. The second part of the essay critically examines six variables at the organizational level for predicting the adoption by a religious body of an oppositional, change-oriented stance toward its host society.