Dynamics of Denominationalism in America

这项研究试图通过关注主流新教教派近一个世纪的生活史来了解美国有组织宗教的演变。特别是，它分析了分裂的决定因素，大多数新的宗派都是通过分裂而产生的，以及现有宗派通过合并而消亡。较为传统的做法侧重于将教义争议作为宗派界限的主要决定因素。相比之下，这项研究追随韦伯、特罗尔奇和尼布尔的脚步，将教义争端视为关于教派与更广泛的社会秩序之间的关系以及宗教社区内权威性质的更大辩论的反映。分裂和合并被视为组织过程。根据1890年至1980年间175个主流新教教派的生活史，实证分析将分两个平行阶段进行。首先，他们计划从档案来源收集关于经历过分裂和合并的教派子集的详细定性数据。目标是了解内部过程，通过这些过程，争端被编纂成意识形态，为叛乱和建立联盟设定条件。在第二阶段，他们将使用整个面额样本的纵向数据来测试关于分裂和合并倾向的假设。他们将利用组织理论开发三种模式：强调教派内部特征的结构模式；强调组织资源竞争的生态模式；以及强调社会规范结构转变的制度模式。这项研究对组织理论的潜在贡献来自于它对出生和死亡的比率、类型和过程的关注。通过综合微观和宏观层面的分析，本研究有望对美国宗派重组的过程有一个全面的了解。

This study attempts to understand the evolution of organized religion in America by focusing on the life-histories of mainstream Protestant denominations over nearly a century. In particular, it analyzes the determinants of schisms, by which most new denominations have come into existence, and the demise of existing denominations through merger. The more conventional approach focuses on doctrinal disputes as the major determinant of denominational boundaries. By contrast, this study follows Weber, Troeltsch, and Niebuhr in treating doctrinal disputes as reflections of larger debates about the relationship between denominations and the wider social order, and about the nature of authority within religious communities. Schism and merger are treated as organizational processes. Drawing on life-histories of 175 mainstream Protestant denominations between 1890 and 1980, the empirical analysis will be conducted in two parallel phases. First, they plan to collect detailed qualitative data from archival sources on subsets of denominations that have experienced schisms and mergers. The goal is to understand the internal processes by which disputes become codified into ideologies that set the terms for insurgency and coalition- building. In the second phase, they will use longitudinal data from the entire sample of denominations to test hypotheses about the propensity to schism and merger. They will draw on organizational theory to develop three kinds of models: structural models that emphasize the internal characteristics of denominations; ecological models that emphasize competition for organizational resources; and institutional models that emphasize shifts in the normative structure of society. The potential contribution of the study to organizational theory arises from its attention to rates, types, and processes of birth and death. By synthesizing micro- and macro-level analyses, this study promises to yield a comprehensive understanding of the process of denominational reorganization in America.