The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (551 page)

 
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Church-sect typology
.

The attempt to classify religious groups according to their typical relationships with society. First developed by
Troeltsch
, the distinction has been influential in the
sociology of religion
. A Church ‘utilizes the State and the ruling classes, and weaves these elements into her own life; she then becomes an integral part of the existing social order’. Sects, on the other hand, are protest groups (on this view; for a fuller typology, see
SECTS
).

 
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Churning of the ocean
(
samudramathana
)
.

A Hindu myth, which tells how a great flood covered the earth, as a result of which many precious objects were lost, especially
am
ta
. In order to recover them,
Vi
u
, in his incarnation (
avat
ra
) as a tortoise (
K
rma
) dived to the ocean floor so that Mount
Mandara
could be set up on his back. The gods and demons then coiled the serpent V
suki round the mountain, and, by pulling on each end, churned up the ocean until the missing objects were recovered. However, a poison, Hal
hala, was also churned up, which
iva
drank, in order to protect humanity, with the consequence that his throat is dyed blue.

 
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