Here is your essay on the genesis of religious groups in India.
Religion is not only a body of belief but it is practiced. Almost all major religions of the world are found in organized forms. A religious organization grows out of and after the religious experience of a charismatic personality. This religious experience of a charismatic personality gets organized and institutionalized. Its developmental process operates at three levels:
(i) Formation of the pattern of worship, i.e., the cult
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(ii) Formation of the pattern of ideas and definitions, i.e., development of myths and theology;
(iii) Formation of association and organization. The problem of interpreting the original religious experience can also be added to this. Sociologists generally speak of four types of religious groups-the ecclesia (The Church), the sect, the denomination and the cult. Known as the Church-Sect Typology. This differentiation of religious groups is based mainly on the pioneering work of Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch and on the basis of development of Christianity in the West.
Does it help to explain religion-social groupings of all types and of all religions other than Christianity? The prevalent sociological stand on this question is somewhat ethnocentric, ambiguous and even contradictory. To some, with certain changes, this typology is universally applicable (Mobergh, 1961), while to others, it is not (Bhatt 1969). To Johnson it can be conveniently adopted for ‘the purpose of exposition’ though he also finds it somewhat ‘awkward to discuss oriental religions’. In India, we identify religious groups as Mat, Marg, Sampradaya, Sangh, Panth, Samaj, Ashram and Akhara. Here, we face a problem, that is, can we explain religious groups ‘in India by the Church-Sect Typology?
To find an answer to the question, we have to look at religious groups from the social-historical perspective.
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Without emphasizing too much on the uniqueness of India, the distinction between two traditions of religious experience-the Semitic, out of which grew Christianity and Islam and the tradition of netiwad-anekantwad (the tradition of religious pluralism) out of which grew religious groups in India elaborate them a little more discern the crossover of religious concepts from the Christian tradition, as discussed above are really distinct from each other so far as organizations are concerned.
In the Semitic tradition, religious experience is viewed as revealed and a commandment from God sent through a divinely chosen mediatory between man and God therefore the Semitic tradition tends to be monolithic. This helps in the organization and spread of this type of religion. But, it sometimes comes in conflict with the political authority and other religions.
In the other tradition, no religious experience is final. There are and can be many paths to reach God. In India, we have both these traditions, growing parallel and cutting across each other. Islam tends to be monolithic though Sufism is pluralistic.
While there are socio-historical differences between monolithic and pluralistic religions, according to sociologists there are certain characteristic features of religious organizations. These can be made the basis of comparison. Johnson (1868:419-20) suggests a seven-point criteria of variables to compare religious groups. They are summarily given below for your reference as they have been made use of in describing religious groups for you:
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(i) Group Membership: Compulsory or voluntary
(ii) If voluntary: exclusive or relatively open to new members
(iii) Group’s attitude towards other religious groups
(iv) Whether the group proselytizes or not
(v) Internal Organisation: autocratic or democratic
(vi) Clergy: Whether clergy regarded as necessary for the salvation of lay members
(vii) Attitude of the group towards the secular affairs of the society as a whole. Such criteria can be used for comparative study of religious groups.