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LOADERAND ALEXANDER
the increasingindifferencewhich accompaniesEuro- predominanceof the former today. The basic fact
peanization.However, one also finds such particu- of smallnessin and by itself stands in close conneclarly "undogmatic"epochs in the past. Indeed, the tion with the sect's inner "essence,"but yet is not
(relative)indifferenceconcerningdogmais precisely that essence itself. With regardsto the church-state
a characteristicof "pietistic"(in the broadestsense relationship,naturallythe "churches"and "sects"
of the word) Christianity.The basic premise of all sharethe factualabsenceof state "recognition."The
varieties of ascetic Protestantism(radicalCalvinist, real distinction between the two types likewise is
Baptists, Menonites, Quakers, Methodists and the thatwhat for the "churches"(LutheranandReformed
ascetic branch of continental Pietism), that only as well as Catholic) is "chance" and in its entire
proving oneself in life, especially in the activity to structure contraryto principle, conversely for the
which one is called (Berufsarbeit),
provides the cer- "sect" constitutes an emanationof a religiousidea.
tainty of rebirthand exculpation,alwaysforces one The "separationof church and state" is a dogmatic
down the same path-the "proven"Christianis the axiom for all of the sects arising from the great,
person who is proven in his "calling"(Berufsmensch),popularBaptistmovementand is at least a structural
particularlythe businessmanwho from a capitalist principlefor the radicalpietistic communities(Calstandpointis capable.Christianityof this stampwas vinistic Independentsand radicalMethodists).
one of the prime educators of the 'capitalistic"
A church sees itself as an "institution"(Anstalt),
person. As early as the seventeenthcentury Quaker a kind of divine endowed foundation(Fideikomissst-fwritersrejoicedover the visiblegrace of God, which tung) for the salvationof individualsouls who are
also broughtthe "childrenof the world"as custom- bornintoit and are the objectof its efforts, which are
ers to Quaker businesses, because they could be bound to the "office" in principle. Conversely,a
certain to find in the latter reliable service, fixed "sect" (the terminologyused here has been created
prices, etc. And it is the constitutionof the religious ad hoc and would not be used by the sects in discommunitiesas "sects" in the specific sense of the cussing themselves) is a voluntary community of
word, then, that played and (as stated) even today individualspurely on the basis of their religious
to a certain extent still plays a role in this "peda- qualification.
The individualis admittedby virtue of a
resolution
gogical"achievement.
voluntary
by both parties.The historically
Andjust what is this meaning[of the word "sect"]? given forms of the religiouscommunallife (here as
And accordinglywhat is a "sect" in contrast to a always)are not examplesthat perfectlyconform to
"church"within the sphereof WesternChristianity? the conceptual dichotomy. One always has to ask
simply in what respecta concrete denominationcorrespondsto or approachesone "type"or the other.
II
However, one can alwaysperceive the fundamental
Neither the simple limitation of the number of contrast in the basic ideas. Whereas the
baptismal
followers-the Baptistsare one of the largestof all ceremony itself, exclusivelyon the basis of the volProtestant denominations-nor the statutory fea- untaryresolutionof adultfollowers,was the
adequate
ture of a lack of "recognition,"i.e., privilegedposi- symbol for the "sect-like" characterof the
Baptist
tion, for the churchby the state-which in America community, the intrinsic falsity of the "confirmais shared by all denominations-can be considered tion" (whose
postponement beyond the childhood
decisive in themselves.
Of course we know that the years even Stoecker is known to advocate)demonsize of a social group exercises the most decisive strates the intrinsic contradiction of the avowal,
influenceon its internalstructure.And the canonical which is
only formally"spontaneous,"to the struclimitationof the size of the unity, the congregation, ture of our "churches." The latter, as such, can
to such dimensionsthat all memberspersonally
know basicallynevergo beyondthe not-so-"naive"peasant
one anotherand, therefore,can judge and supervise conception that the
priest, as administratorof the
their "probation"reciprocally has always been a divine endowed foundation, must be morefaithful
fundamentalBaptistprinciple. A form of this prin- than the rest of the
congregationand also must be
ciple was also found in genuine Methodism in the capableof such due to a specialdispensationof grace.
cultivationof the so-called class meetings in which The "universalism"of the "churches"allows their
memberspractice(originallyweekly)a kindof recip- light to shine on both the
righteousand the unrighrocalexaminationthroughconfessions,just as it was teous. Only a rebellion
against authority that is
in the smallcommunities(ecclesiolae)
of Pietism.One expressed as a public and obstinate impenitence
needs only to see the BerlinCathedralto know that leadsto "excommunication."The
communityof the
the most consequentialformof the Protestant"spirit" "chosenfew" remainsthe "invisiblechurch"whose
is alivenot in the caesaro-papiststate hall but rather composition is known
only God. Conversely, the
in the smallchapelsof the Quakersand the Baptists "purity" of its
membershipis a vital question for
which lack such mystical ornamentation. Con- the genuine "sect." In the formative
period of the
versely, the considerableexpansionof the followers pietistic sects, the driving impulse was the continof Methodism,which exhibits in its variousforms a uous deep fear of
havingto participatein the Lord's
singular mixture of "church-like"and "sect-like" Supper with a "reprobate,"or even to receive it
principles, clearly has fostered the unquestionable from the hand of a reprobate,an official"hireling,"
10
LOADERAND ALEXANDER
whose conduct did not bearthe sign of beingchosen. been urged. Not objectivizedcontracts and tradiThe "sects" see themselves as a religious "elite," tions but rather the religiouslyqualifiedindividual
which sees the "invisiblechurch"displayedin plain is seen as the bearerof revelationwhich continues
church,
sight in the community of "proven"members.The withoutever beingcompleted.The "invisible"
intervention of the religiouslyunqualifiedinto the therefore, is largerthan the "visible"sect and so it
sects' internal affairs(especially every relationship is a question of assemblingits members.The Protof the holders of worldly power) was necessarily estant missionis seen as central not by the circles of
intolerablefor them. The principlethat "one must the "churches,"which are correctand boundby the
obey God above men," whose various interpreta- parochial fixation of their "office," but rather by
tions and explanationsin a certainsense incorporate Pietism and the sects. The above-cited examples
the whole cultural mission of Western European indeeddemonstratewhich powerfuleconomicinterChristianity,acquireshere its specific anti-authori- ests are taken by the sect-like pattern of communal
tariancharacter.
formationto serve it. The sect itself is a naturally
The exclusiveappraisalof a personpurelyin terms "particularistic"
formation,but the religiosityof the
of the religious qualities evidenced in his conduct sect is one of the most specific forms of vital, not
necessarilyprunes feudal and dynasticromanticism just traditional,"popular"religiosity.The sects alone
from its roots. To be sure, the aversionto all kinds have achievedthe combinationof positivereligiosity
of idolatry was neither confined to the "sects" in and political radicalism.They alone, on the basis of
our technical sense, nor has it been immediately Protestantreligiosity,have been able to instill in the
characteristicof all communities constituted along broadmasses, and especiallyin modern workers,an
the lines of the sect. It is much more an attributeof intensity for ecclesiasticalinterests which is elsethe religiosity whose essence is asceticand, in the where to be found only in the bigotted fanaticism
caseof the CalvinistPuritans,is a directconsequence of backwardpeasants. So in this the sects' imporof the idea of predestination.Before the frightful tanceextends beyondthe religioussphere.Onlythey
earnestnessof this idea of predestinationall earthly give, for example, American democracy its own
institutionsbased on the "divineright of kings"had flexible structure and its individualisticstamp. On
to crumbleinto nothingbut a blasphemousswindle. one hand, the idea that the religious qualifications
To be sure,however,this frameof mind only reached bestowedon the individualby God arealonedecisive
its fullest expression in the naturallyanti-authori- for his salvation,that no form of sacramentalmagic
tarianclimate of the sects. If, by their strict avoid- is of use to him here, that only his practicalconduct,
ance of all oaths of allegiancethat were courtly or his "probation,"can be taken by him as a symptom
stemmed from court life, the Quakers took upon that he is on his way to salvation,places the indithemselvesnot only the Crown of Martyrsbut also vidual absolutely on his own in the matter most
the much heavierburdenof everydayderision,then importantto him. On the other hand, this qualifithis standcame from the convictionthat those oaths cation through self-probationis viewed exclusively
of allegianceshould be made to God alone and that as the foundation for the social union of the conit is an insult to His majesty to accord them to gregation. Thus, the tremendous flood of social
people. The unconditional rejection of all such structureswhich penetrate every nook and cranny
demandsof the state that went "againstone's con- of Americanlife is constituted in accordancewith
science" and the demand that the state recognize the schema of the "sect."
Whoever represents"democracy"as a massfrag"freedomof conscience" as the inalienableright of
the individualwere conceivablefrom the positionof mented into atoms, as our Romanticsprefer to do,
the sect only as a positive religiousclaim. This claim is fundamentallymistaken so far as the American
reached its logical conclusion in the Quaker ethic, democracyis concerned. "Atomization"is usuallya
one of whose guiding principles was that what is consequence not of democracybut of bureaucratic
duty for one can be forbiddento another,when the rationalismand, therefore, it cannot be eliminated
voice of one'sown carefullyexploredconscience
implied throughthe favoredimpositionof an "organizational
engagingin the action for the formerand abstaining structure"from above. The genuine Americansocifrom it for the latter. The autonomyof the individ- ety-and here we include especiallythe "middle"
ual, then, is anchored not to indifference but to and "lower" strata of the population-was never
religiouspositions;and the struggleagainstall types such a sandpile.Nor was it a buildingwhere everyof "authoritarian"arbitrarinessis elevated to the one who entered without exception found open
level of a religious duty. In the time of its heroic doors. It was and is permeatedwith "exclusivities"
youth, this individualismconjointly produced an of everykind.' Where the old relationshipsstill exist,
eminentpower to form communities.The "church's" the individualdoes not have firm footing, either at
universalism,which goes hand in hand with ethical the universityor in businesslife, when he has been
moderation,stands in contrast to the sect's propa- unableto be accepted into or maintainhis position
gandism,which is pairedwith ethicalrigorism.Again, in a socialorganization(earlier almost always religious,
the latterreachesits logicalconclusionin the Quaker today of one kind or another). And the old "sect
ethic with the idea that God can spread his "inner spirit"holds swaywith relentlesseffect in the intrinlight"also to those upon whom the Gospelhasnever sic nature of the associations.The latter are always
11
LOADERAND ALEXANDER
12
and howsoever
that in generalwherever
the contents of
an intensive religious consciousness have met and
meet with external social configurationsand (with
or without their knowledge or intention) amalgamate themselveswith political,economic and "social"
interests, this process can be viewed in the same
manneras the idea of "boilingin water"2-simply
(which today is readilyforgotten),not onlyin water.
Were it a matterof "valuation,"then the question
would very well be whether, for one who does not
confuse the "religious"contentswith the formalpsychologicalqualityof such aestheticsentimentalityas
is again today so gladly produced through musical
and optical mystification,the most adequate form
of religious service must not be, for example, the
"sober" Quaker meeting, which reduces the
"achievements"and "intentions"of religiousinteraction to a minimum and often passes only in deep
silence and contemplation. Ought to be!-for in
generalit holds that where the "modem" person in
a concrete case actually(or occasionallyonly allegedly) is also "attuned"to religion,he is, nevertheless,
in absolutely no way a religious communal entity
and, on accountof this, is predestinedto belong to a
"church"(of which he takesno heed if he so desires)
but not to any kind of "sect." However, we should
make no mistake about it-it
of the religious
motive,
citizen), in short, the weakness
which is fostered by the "establishedchurch," and
not only by it but by the "church"in general, for
the forseeablefuture.
In addition,to avoid possiblemisunderstandings,
I would like to note that I am fully cognizantof the
fact that it is quite feasable to develop a highly
ideologicaltheory of the establishedchurch from a
genuinely religious point of view, startingwith the
absolute irrationalityof the religiousindividualand
his experiences and proceedingto the consequence
that it runs contraryto the particularessence of the
religious to have a union whose consensus as an
"association"(sect) is based on certain criteria of
belief or conduct. The deep inner insincerityof that
establishedchurch, as we find it representedeven
by those innovatorswho are filledwith a subjectively
unquestionable,earnestly intended zeal for reform
(such as FriedrichWilhelm IV in his time and perhaps now by Stoecker), lies certainly not in the
"concept" of the establishedchurch itself as such.
Ratherit lies in the totallynaiveandmassive"snakelike cunning" which, on behalf of the postulated,
exclusive,"devout" church, also "accepts as part of
the package"the monopoly on the budget for education and public worshipand (what is more important, for these materialpowersare in no way decisive
right here) the secularprivilegein governmentaland
social life. And then, just because, notwithstanding
its "exclusivity,"it is and wants to be a "church,"
it cultivatesin the religiousclaims of the "secular"
privileged classes such Erastian moderation that
THE HISTORICISTCONTROVERSY
13
This symposiumis based upon a roundtablediscussion held at the 1984 ASA meetings. As chair of
that discussionI invitedBobJonesand SteveWarner
to address themselves to general methodological
questionsregardingthe historyof sociology.I requested
that their remarksbe organizedaroundthe current
methodologicaldiscussionbetween "historicists"and
criticallyreviews the historicistcontroversy.I conclude with some brief remarks suggesting a shift
from the theme of understandingpast texts to the
problem of the development of sociology which
entailsa parallelmethodologicalshift to elaborating
models of scientificdevelopment.
Thehistoricistcontroversydivides,roughlyspeaking
between presentistsand historicists.Presentistsassert
an underlying continuity between the sociological
past and present.They assume,in other words, that
there is a common set of theoreticalaims, disputes,
and conventions that unite classics and contemporaries.Accordingly,presentistsclaim that it is legitimateto interpretpasttexts in relationto the current
theoreticalcontext. For example, in TheStructure
of
SocialAction(1968), Parsons not only reads the problems of social order into the past but interprets past
texts (e.g., the works of Hobbes, Locke, Weber,
Durkheim, etc.) in the contemporary theoretical