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Definition:
Probably derived originally from a harvest festival among the Canaanites, Petecost
(Greek for "fifty days") was a festival among the ancient Hebrews which came exactly
fifty days after passover. In later Jewish literature it was sometimes claimed that it
commemorated the anniverary of when Moses received the Law at Mt. Sinai. The
Jewish term for this day is Shavuot.
It is not known when exactly Christians began to adopt the festival for their own purposes, but it was probably early on. The first mention we have of the day is in an work from the Eastern Church of the 2nd century, named Epistola Apostolorum. References to it also occur in the works of Origin in the 3rd century and Tertullian.
For devout Christians, this feast celebrates the day when the Holy Spirit descended among the followers of Jesus, allowing them to communicate with each other even though they didn't know each other's native language. This is the "speaking in tongues" referred to in Acts 2:1 and celebrated today on the seventh Sunday after Easter. In the early church, the entire 50-day period following Easter was known as Pentecost, but today it is restricted to just a single day.
When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2.1)
In the United States there are a number of Christian denominations which have taken the label "Pentecostal," at least in part because they regard the act of speaking in tongues to still be a sign that someone has been touched by God and that a congregation is following the true path set down by Jesus. The theology of pentecostal sects is fundamentalist in character, although other fundamentalist groups tend to look up pentecostal chuches with at least suspicion, if not hostility, because of the charismatic nature of their services and leaders.
Because of the highly emotional nature which characterizes their services, they acquired the derrogatory label "holy rollers," a term which is not used as much today but which had wide currency in the first half of the 20th century.
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Related Resources:
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