Extramural Religious Movements

1. Video (see transcript below)

Transcript (from icpetermahidol.wordpress.com)

Extramural Religious Movements.

I want to propose a new piece of terminology in the study of religious movements namely ‘Extramural Religious Movements and Traditions’.

Most, or perhaps all, of the great world religions are actually congeries of separate groups and movements which are linked together by history and tradition. Thus, defining exactly what constitutes Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, or Islam is not straightforward as each of these traditions embraces a diversity of groups of people with sometimes quite contradictory beliefs and practices. This is seen most obviously in the form of sectarianism, in which separate churches and sects present themselves as the truest or sometimes as the only true expression of the religion as a whole and condemn rival sects as heresies.

Beyond sectarianism however there may be groups which whilst linked to the religion are in some ways distinct and separate from it. These are what I want to term Extramural Religions and Religious Movements.

Thus, in Christianity objective observers find it easy to see Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and the various mainstream Protestant churches as belonging to the same family no matter how bitter the divisions between these groups may have been in the past, but these observers may be less sure whether to include groups such as the Church of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons), Unitarianism, Christian Science, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses within the Christian fold. These groups may describe themselves as Christian but they are sufficiently different from the mainstream churches as to seem to require a separate designation. Although they are related to the Christian tradition that relationship is complex and distant.

How to categorize such groups and movements? One term that has been used in the academic study of the history of religions has been ‘Marginal’, as for example in David Barrett’s otherwise excellent World Christian Encyclopedia, where he categorizes the Mormons and others as marginal Protestants. For me at least this term seems judgmental, implicitly devaluing these groups implying that they are insignificant unimportant and perhaps inferior from the standpoint of the central tradition of the religion. Of course then perhaps they are, but if we are to understand such groups and movements more objectively and creatively that an alternative term is needed, hence my suggestion of ‘Extra–mural’, literally beyond the walls.

Just as with real city walls, conceptual walls are created to separate off those who live within them from those outside. They are communal boundary markers: those within the walls are part of the defined community and are subject to its laws; those outside the walls are not. By describing a religious group movement or tradition as extramural we avoid marginalizing those outside the wall, but rather identify the existence of some conceptual boundary wall which can then be described and examined. Just as with real walls, these conceptual barriers are historical creations. We can analyze their development and try to identify the reasons for their construction: What were the historical circumstances of their construction? What issues were involved? What is their sociological importance?

These may vary. Both Unitarianism and Christian Science emerged out of the Protestant religious tradition but they did so at very different times and for different reasons. Again, the Islam-related movements which I examined in a recent article comprise both ancient and often secretive Middle Eastern sects, recent movements based on prophetic claims, expressions of globalized Sufism, and movements of socio-religious protest amongst African-Americans. That is a diverse collection of groups with generally little in common apart from not being part of the Islamic mainstream.

Again, self-conceptions may vary: both the Baha’i faith and the Ahmadiyya movement emerged out of 19th century Islamic milieux, and are both seen as non-Muslim by the majority of mainstream Muslims, but whilst the Ahmadiyya have staunchly maintained their Islamic identity the Baha’is have happily come to embrace a separate identity, expressing their respects for Islam but proclaiming their separateness as an independent world religion.

See also: Islam-Related Movements.