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One common typology among sociologists, religious groups are classified as ecclesias, denominations, sects, or cults (now more commonly referred to in scholarship as new religious movements). The Church-Sect typology has its origins in the work of Max Weber. There is a basic premise continuum along which religions fall, ranging from the protest-like orientation of sects to the equilibrium maintaining churches. This continuum includes several additional types. Note that sociologists give these words precise definitions which differ from how they are commonly used. In particular, sociologists use the words 'cult' and 'sect' without negative connotations, even though the popular use of these words is often pejorative.

Churches are the religious bodies that coexist in a relatively low state of tension with their social surrounding. They have mainstream "safe" beliefs and practices relative to those of the general population. This type of religious bodies are more world affirming, so they try to peacefully coexist with the secular world and are low-tension organizations.

Sects are high-tension organizations that don't fit well within the existing social environment. They are usually most attractive to society's least privileged- outcasts, minorities, or the poor- because they downplay worldly pleasure by stressing otherworldly promises. When church leaders become too involved in secular issues, Sects start to splinter off the existing church. They may end up forming their own sect and if over time the sect picks up a significant following, it almost inevitably transforms into its own church, ultimately becoming part of the mainstream.

Cults is a religious movement that makes some new claim about the supernatural and therefore does not easily fit within the sect-church cycle. All religions began as cults, and their leaders offer new insights, claiming that they are the word of God. They are often high-tension movements that antagonize their social world and/or are antagonized by it.

Denomination lies between the church and the sect on the continuum. They come into existence when churches lose their religious monopoly in a society. When churches or sects become denominations, there are also some changes in their characteristics.

Symbolic Anthropology and Phenomenology:

Symbolic Anthropology is the study of people and the understanding of their surroundings, as well as the actions of the members of their society.

There are two major premises for symbolic anthropology. The first premise is that beliefs are unintelligible, become comprehensible when understood as part of a cultural system of meaning. The second premise is that actions are guided by interpretation. This allows symbolism to aid in interpreting conceptual as well as material activities.

Phenomenology is the study of appearances of things or things as they appear in our experience, or the ways we experience things. It studies conscious experience as from the subjective or first person point of view. Phenomenology is understood in 2 ways: a disciplinary field in philosophy or as a movement in the history of philosophy. Traditional phenomenology has focused on subjective, practical, and social conditions, where as recent philosophy of mind has focused on the neural substrate of experience.