The Holy Ghost People

1132 Words5 Pages
While analyzing the documentary, The Holy Ghost People several faith and ritual observations practiced by this congregation as well as the social group itself are examined through various conjectures of religion theorized by influential and scientific minds such as Frazer, Muller Freud and Durkheim. The documentary was filmed during a service of a Pentecostal community in Scrabble, West Virginia. The foundation of this community’s Pentecostal practice is based on the Holiness Church, exclusively focusing on the Christian concept of the Holy Spirit. The significance of the Pentecostalism sect is that it a renewal and revival movement within Christianity that highlights a direct personal experience with God received through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Apart from other sects of Christian faith, seen within the baptism with the Holy Spirit that enables them to live an empowered life. The empowerment is derived from applied subsets of the bible, which similar acts were often noted during the first five books of the New Testament (Apostles), they describe their “movement” as Apostolic. A described by Peter Adair(1967) the members of the Holiness Church in Scrabble, West Virginia are related in a manor of doctrine and worship, sharing a literal interpretation of the bible and an informality of approach. Meetings were held several times a week, lasting between four and six hours long. Durkheim’s views of “concept of the sacred” and “religious functionalism” of the social institution can be understood through the ritual of worship. Durkheim defines the primary characteristic of religion is that it divides the world into two domains: sacred and profane. In fact the two are opposed so fundamentally, that they are seen as two separate worlds. The sacred is regarded as the church, acting as the secondary characteristic to religion defined as a group of people
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