[1] Major proponents of the theory include William Sims Bainbridge, Roger Finke, Laurence Iannaccone, and Rodney Stark.
Carl L. Bankston III refers to religions and religious groups as "…competing firms [that vie for] customers who make rational choices among available products…" (311).
As a marketplace, religious consumers are subject to things such as marketing, availability of product, resources, brand recognition, etc.
Prior to the emergence of the theory of religious economy some scholars of religion, such as Steve Bruce,[3] believed that modernization would inevitably lead to the erosion of religiosity.
These sociologists have predicted the disappearance of religion from Earth, based on the decline in religious belief and observance in Western Europe.
Revival often begins in a context of perceived spiritual or moral decline, where individuals or communities feel alienated from their faith or see institutional religion as stagnant or corrupt.
Individuals may experience a sense of guilt or conviction, often fuelled by charismatic leaders or preachers emphasizing the urgency of repentance.
Consequently, many followers go through personal transformations, or "conversions", where individuals recommit to their faith, often adopting stricter moral and spiritual practices.
These revivals can spread rapidly through social networks, media, or preachers, gaining momentum as more people join the movement.
[8] Despite their usual short life-span, according to Stark and Bainbridge, instead of dying out, some sects can evolve into larger denominations of their parent faith.
[5] This process usually requires that a sect realigns its beliefs to be more world-accommodating, grows in size, and forms a more rigid internal hierarchy, as opposed to having a single charismatic leader.
This process can come as a result of multiple factors, such as: As these sects evolve into full-fledged denominations, they start to offer competitive alternatives to their parent faiths.
This produces a shift, where religious groups within a population will follow these new subgroups instead of the parent faith, working against the demise of religion.
[1] Unlike a sect, which seeks to reform or revive traditions from its parent religion, a cult often introduces novel religious ideas or practices.
The implication of these, “strict demands ‘strengthen’ a church in three ways; they raise overall levels of commitment, they increase average rates of participation, and they enhance the net benefits of membership.”[16] Complying with these demands prevent the members of a church from free loading within the group and promote group solidarity.
Originally proposed by H. Richard Niebuhr in his book The Social Sources of Denominationalism, the theory discusses the difference between churches and sects.
[1] Church and sect form opposite poles on an axis representing the amount of "tension" between religious organizations and their social environments.
[19] A microeconomic theory of the household production function and time allocation is associated with the work of Chicago economist Gary Becker.
It postulates stable preferences and rational choice constrained by limited human and social capital to explain behavior.
[19] Some economists view a person's participation in religious activities, such as attending worship services or venerating a deity, as a form of consumption within a market.
In this case, the foregone tax revenue can be seen as the price the Mongols paid for the religious services provided by the clergy and monks.