Weber And Religious Authority

1. Weber And Religious Authority

2. weber’s forms of authority. • TRADITIONAL Authority • Your authority is transmitted from generation to generation, by inheritance, or appointment by a “higher power” • RATIONAL-LEGAL Authority • Your authority is established via impersonal, rational rules that have been legally enacted . . often by some kind of contract • CHARISMATICAuthority • Your authority is based on your appeal to a set of followers . . . “follow-ship” is critical to this kind of leadership

3. professional authority. “At the beginning of the 19th century, all intellectual callings were becoming increasingly respectable and respected. Only the clergy, medicine, and the law were, however, firmly established as ‘learned’ professions.” (Larson 1977:83) “Professions are occupations with special power and prestige [resulting from] special competence in esoteric bodies of knowledge.” (Larson 1977:x)

4. religious professionals. Benny Hinn Where Does Their “Special Competence In Esoteric Bodies Of Knowledge” Come From? Paula White Joel Osteen A.A. Degrees Or Less? T. D. Jakes Bob Coy

5. priests and prophets. “A distinguishing quality of the priest . . is his professional equipment of special knowledge, fixed doctrine, and vocational qualifications, which brings him into contrast with sorcerers, prophets, and other types of religious functionaries who exert their influence by virtue of personal gifts (charisma) made manifest in miracle and revelation.” (Weber 1963:29)

6. priests and prophets. Priest Influences gods by worship Regular interaction with believers Often has “staff” Claim to fame: Keeping the role’s rules Associated with social organization “Professional” abilities Evidence of super powers: Not Necessary Prophet Proclaims gods’ messages Regular interaction with followers Works by himself but may have “staff” Claim to fame: Charisma! An organization builds around him/her “Supernatural” abilities Evidence of super powers: Critical Sorcerer Coerces gods with magic Occasional interaction with clients Works by himself Claim to fame: Effectiveness Self-employed “Supernatural” abilities Evidence of super powers: Critical

7. priests and prophets. CHARISMA is . . . . “ . . . a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which one is ‘set apart’ from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.” (Weber 1947:358)

8. credentials in the sample. MEN AvgAge Yrs Ed Aspiring Minister4613 Minister4115 Elder4715 Pastor 6016 WOMENAvgAge Yrs Ed Aspiring Missionary4315 Deaconess Missionary 4515 Evangelist Missionary 5814 Chaplain4816 Education background summary: 5th grade to M.D., with mean of 15 years 29% 12th grade or less 43% BA or higher 18% Seminary or bible college “trained” (only 7% completed)

9. what the anointing is. “The anointing is a special impartation through the Holy Spirit to give you the wisdom, the know-how, the revelation to do what it is you need to do from a spiritual perspective. The things that I go forth to do, I know that me and my own ability wouldn’t come up with the ideas, the creativity, the understanding that I have. That doesn’t come from a natural ability.” (Darlene) “The anointing of God is when the Holy Ghost comes in and empowers you to do certain aspects that He has called you to do. I couldn’t lay hands on the sick and they recover if I didn’t have the anointing of God.” (Art) Charisma: “ . . . a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which one is ‘set apart’ from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.” (Weber 1947:358)

10. how the anointing operates. “When the anointing hits, the understanding that I get are not things that I can understand on my own. I’m hyperaware of my surroundings. I can hear things I couldn’t normally hear. I can see things that I couldn’t normally see. So that’s not me. I know that’s not me.” (Terri) “We have a model that you need to be ready when called. One time . . . I got up there and didn‘t have any idea what I was going to say. Even now I can’t tell you what I said. After-wards, I had to ask my wife what I said because I was gone. I remember standing up behind the podium and leaving the podium, but all that in between? No clue, Doc.” (Walter) Charisma: “ . . . a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which one is ‘set apart’ from ordinary people and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These as such are not accessible to the ordinary person, but are regarded as divine in origin or as exemplary, and on the basis of them the individual concerned is treated as a leader.” (Weber 1947:358)

11. when the anointing fails. PERSONAL HINDRANCES “I had this experience recently where I could’ve did wrong, but there’s something in me that says I don’t want to lose my anointing. I don’t want to jeopardize that by doing something that I shouldn’t be doing.” (Doris) “I think the anointing is something you can lose by sin in your life. I’ve heard speakers who I know were anointed. And then you’ll hear them later or whatever, and you’ll think ‘that was nice’ but it doesn’t hit you anywhere. I say they’ve lost their anointing. “ (Carla) “AUDIENCE” HINDRANCES “God anoints the Word, but that Word has to land on good ground. People have to be receptive to it and you can’t do something if they’re not. If they’re not open to the Word of God, you can have all the anointing in the world. It’s not going to change their situation.” (Anisha) “We have all these ‘anointed people’ in this church and we laying on hands but nobody’s recovering from sickness. Something’s definitely wrong. I don’t think its necessarily that they’re not anointed as much as I think there’s some stuff that hinders the anointing in this church.” (Andrea)

12. “The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about all things.” (I John 2:27) “Don’t go to school, don’t go to college, go to Jesus” “Jesus chose common men, everyday men, men used to the sunshine, men used to the rain, not seminary men or college men.” From Williams’ (1974) Community in a Black Pentecostal Church A Prophet Attitude “Ninety percent of African-American clergy persons are not seminary trained. I cannot be a lawyer if I don’t go to law school. I cannot be a doctor if I don’t go to med school. But all I got to do is turn around my collar and say ‘hallelujah, I got the anointing’ and I got fifty thousand Negroes following me.” Pastor Jeremiah Wright (2003) at State Of The Black Church A Priestly Attitude

13. the school of the prophets. “PRIESTLY” TRAINING AS A HANDICAP “I think there’s a danger in seminary; in how they teach you to think. The Bible says, ‘Lean not on your own understanding,’ and I think seminary can really, I don’t know, can really take you away from that” (Darlene) “I never prepare a whole lot because I’ve learned the hard way that you’re never going to use that. That is one of the things you see a lot with people who have been ‘trained.’ They try to plan out their whole message. I think a lot of people who have been taught in seminary are being taught how to do that and not relying on God to do it. The anointing’s coming if you are relying on God to do it.” (Mike)

14. the school of the prophets. “PRIESTS” AS LESS AUTHENTIC “We can learn the mechanics of something and go through the motions of doing it . You see that with a lot of seminary-trained preachers. They learned how to do the technical work of ministry, how to talk, how to make sure you have three points, but they don’t really have any impact because they’re not anointed.” (Cliff) “Ministry can’t be like a vocation where you go to school and learn it like a trade, like some skills. I know what I have comes from God. I can’t help wondering when some Dr. Such-and-Such preaches, what book he got that message from.” (Audrey) You have children. Say your children came to Sunday School, which teacher would you rather have in the class: one who was anointed to teach or one who was anointed to teach and had also been trained in seminary? “I would say the one who is just anointed. Personally, I think if you need to go to school to learn how to do ministry, that’s a crutch. You can tell the difference between someone who was schooled by man and someone who was schooled by the Holy Ghost.” (Darlene)

15. what else we can find here. • Ultimately, these ministers present some problems for our understanding of religious authority and religious professionals: • While they can hold the office of priest, they find their legitimacy in their “prophet-ness.” If congregants are anything like these ministers, it is this anointing that is the key to their religious authority. Without it, all they have is the “hierarchical (priestly) office.” • The anointing, like charisma, is dependent on the responses of “followers.” Unlike with charisma, the anointed leader still believes she is anointed even when the followers don’t follow. • Instead of increasing the status of Pentecostal ministers, religious educational credentials actually DECREASE their status in the minds of other Pentecostal ministers and, possibly, congregants. • These folks aren’t religion starters or even church (!) starters. They operate like priests (i.e., embedded in an organization that precedes them) but they claim to bring supernatural powers and revelation. Are they really prophets?