From Cathedrals to Cults

• Sociologists argue that some of the above descriptions of religious organisations do not fit today's reality. For example, Bruce (1996) argues that Troeltsch's idea of a church as having a religious monopoly only applies to the Catholic Church before the 16th century Protestant Reformation, when it had a religious monopoly over society, symbolised by its massive and imposing cathedrals.
• Since then, sects and cults have flourished and religious diversity has become the norm. In today's society, churches are no longer truly churches in Troeltsch's sense because they have lost their monopoly and been reduced to the status of denominations competing with all the rest.