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Article: Pentecostalism
- Article from:
- The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
CopyrightThe Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information)
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Pentecostalism worldwide 20th-21st-century Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (
glossolalia
). The name derives from
Pentecost
, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which falls on the fiftieth day after Passover. On this day the Holy Spirit descended upon the first Christians enabling them to "speak in other tongues" (see
Acts
2:1-4). Besides glossolalia, Pentecostals promote other gifts of the Spirit (
charismata
), including faith healing, prophecy, and exorcism. Ecstatic experience remains the unifying element of the movement. Pentecostals in America are generally conservative evangelical in ...