The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1813 page)

Pentecost
.

The Jewish feast of Weeks, i.e.
Shavu‘ot
, held fifty days (hence the name) after
Passover
. The Greek name occurs in (e.g.) Tobit 2. 1;
Josephus
,
Antiquities
, 17. 10. 2. In Christian use, ‘Pentecost’ refers specifically to the occasion at the conclusion of the Jewish festival when, according to the account in Acts 2, the
Holy Spirit
descended on the
apostles
‘with the noise of a strong driving wind’ in the form of tongues of fire, so that they began to speak in foreign languages.

 
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Pentecostals/Pentecostalism
.

Groups of Christians who emphasize the descent of the
Holy Spirit
on the
apostles
at the first (Christian) Pentecost (Acts 2) and the continuing post-conversion work of the Holy Spirit. The modern movements date from the ministry of Charles Parham (1873–1929) in the USA, in 1900/1901. He linked baptism in the Spirit with
glossolalia
(speaking with tongues), and saw the revival as a restoration of the gifts promised in the latter days. Because experience outweighs formal ministry, there have been many Pentecostal churches. There are at least 130 million Pentecostals worldwide, with particularly rapid expansion in S. America. See also
CHARISMATIC (MOVEMENT)
.

 
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see
DOUKHOBHORS
.

 
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see
AHL AL-KIT
B
.

 
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Peoples' Temple
.

Movement founded by the Reverend Jim Jones, a Christian socialist, in Indianapolis during the early 1950s. Having moved to California in 1965, Jones then established Jonestown, Guyana (1977). The Jones-town tragedy occurred in Nov. 1978, when 913 followers and Jones himself died, a sizeable number by drinking cyanide-laced ‘Flavor-Aid’ (the remainder were murdered). The tragedy was triggered by an investigation by Congressman Les Ryan and a party of journalists, seen as demonic agents.

 
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(Heb., ‘corners’). The growth of
hair
by Jews in accordance with the command of Leviticus 19. 27. By the
Talmudic
period, it was interpreted to mean that some hair must be left between the back of the ears and the forehead, and for many Jews in the present the command is obeyed by taking care not to remove all the hair by the ear.
asidim encourage the long twisting locks which mark them off from gentiles (and from other Jews), although there is no specific commandment for them.