Week 2: Community Religious Sensations

In Meyer’s article, Religious sensations: Media, aesthetics and the study of contemporary religion, the philosopher and psychologist William James defines religion as “the feelings, acts and experiences of individual men in their solitude” (Meyers, 2012). However, religion is about community and the connection not only with God but ones religious community and faith. As a result, many people gravitate towards Pentecostal churches as the church services involve powerful and sensational sermons that allow the believers to feel the presence of God, as born again believers are able and entitled to embody the Holy Spirit (Meyers, 2012). The Pentecostal services are typically broadcasted and projected to a mass audience. However, the public broadcasts are not considered as simply television or profane but viewed as being sacred to the Pentecostal church. The broadcast of church services strengthens the idea of religion being a community as it engages more people to participate to feel the presence of God in a group setting.

Source:

Meyer, B. 2012. Religious Sensations: Media, Aesthetics, and the Study of Contemporary Religion. In Lynch G. and J. Mitchell with A. Strhan. Eds.,Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader. 159-170. London and New York: Routledge

Image source: http://www.augsburg-church.org/