IN A SOW'S EAR: A Reply to Goode.

The article presents a comment on a previous paper Some Critical Observations on the Church-Sect Dimension, by Erich Goode, that appeared in the April 1967 issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. According to the author of this article, Erich Goode's paper has a double purpose in criticizing the wider legacy of the church-sect distinction. By and large, the author of this article concurs in his evaluation of the former, but perhaps understandably, the author has reservations about his appraisal of the latter. At the risk of overpersonizing the matter, the author wants to defend his own work, his book Social Class in American Protestantism, first before turning to the broader issue. The author appreciates the opportunity to speak offensively about the church-sect distinction in general and defensively about his own work in particular. Somehow the author had never expected more than cursory reviews of his book. In many respects, the analysis was an abortive attempt to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.