Sectarian Tension

Benton Johnson's (1963) reconceptualization of churches and sects freed theory from the immobilizing grip of traditional typologies. Having utilized his single axis of tension with the sociocultural environment in our ongoing theoretical pursuits, the question arose: is tension too vague a concept to permit empirical testing of theories based upon it? In this paper we first specify in greater detail the meaning of tension. We then draw upon existing data to show that it can be operationalized and that a variety of empirical measures of tension consistently rank American Christian denominations in accord with intuitive standards of which are more sectlike. This demonstration invites further empirical research using tension to rank religious bodies and justifies theoretical use of the concept.