“Domination” in the work of Max Weber only reveals its complete potential in religious configurations which are not churches but charismatic groups. The events that the German sociologist identifies as most striking sociologically and historically, chiefly the rise of modern capitalism, were due to the imposition of moral patterns in these small groups, reaching a level of constraint that Christian ecclesial institutions had never been able to obtain. After preliminary remarks on recent criticisms of the translation of Weberian Herrschaft as “domination” (perceived in French as a Bourdieusian concept), I will argue that Weber paradoxically explores the ways of domination in his sociology of religion by analysing the most “democratic” religious structures, Puritan sects, as responsible for the deepest forms of social control. This perspective on the Church is in many ways an inheritance from German liberal Protestant theology – except on a few decisive points.