First Impressions: American Sociology’s Early Encounters with Pentecostalism

Abstract

Though sometimes presented as a recent development in sociology of religion, the convergence of Pentecostalism with Weberian principles is as old as both Pentecostalism and Max Weber himself. This paper analyzes early developments in Weberian sociology and the important role Pentecostalism played in directing the trajectory of Weberian principles, particularly with respect to church-sect theory and The Protestant Ethic. In doing so we can conclude that Pentecostalism was invoked arbitrarily to serve the needs of the sociologist in perpetuating (or in at least one case, critiquing) the applicability of Weberian concepts.