What's the origin of Holy roller?

Question

I'm doing a English assignment and I can't find the origin of holy roller anywhere on the web. the defintion is someone who shows devotion by shouting or moving in a uncontrolled manner during worship devices

Answer 1

Look up holy roller in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.



"Holy Roller" is a term for some Christian churchgoers of the Methodist, Holiness, and Pentecostal traditions.[1][2] The term is sometimes used derisively by those outside these denominations, as if to describe people literally rolling on the floor in an uncontrolled manner.[3] However, those within these Wesleyan traditions have reclaimed it as a badge of honor; for example William Branham wrote: "And what the world calls today holy-roller, that's the way I worship Jesus Christ."[4] Gospel singer Andrae Crouch stated, "They call us holy rollers, and what they say is true. But if they knew what we were rollin' about, they'd be rollin' too."



History[edit]

Merriam-Webster traces the word to 1841.[3] The Oxford English Dictionary cites an 1893 memoir by Charles Godfrey Leland, in which he says "When the Holy Spirit seized them ... the Holy Rollers ... rolled over and over on the floor."[5]

Similar disparaging terms directed at outspoken Christians but later embraced by them include Jesus freaks or, from former centuries, Methodists, Quakers, and Shakers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roller

Answer 2

Instead of just randomly and drunkenly fumbling around "the web," why don't you intelligently ask: Where would be a good place to look this up? A dictionary maybe? A specialized encyclopedia of religious studies? Yeah, something like that. Then go to the library and do that.



If you kids of the "born digital" generation are so fcuking smart, why can't you find simple information like this, when old farts like me can find it within a matter of a minute or two? (Hint: Oxford English Dictionary, online version.)

Answer 3

As Gigapie says, you need to get off the Web - or at least, use it to look at pre-Internet sources.



Google Books http://books.google.com is a good option. Limiting search to 19th century immediately finds this:



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He also has an interesting note on the "Jumping Frenchmen " in Maine, and the "Holy Roller* " in Vermont, the latter a class of revivalists who roll over and over on the ground when they " get religion."

- The Medical and Surgical Reporter - Volume 40 - Page 81



New Lights.-This is a name assumed by a small band of fanatics, who commenced a brief career in the town of Hardwick in the early part of 1837.

...

The exercises consisted of the most ludicrous and foolish performances, such as frightful yellings, barking in imitation of dogs, foxes and cuckoos,jumping, swinging the arms and rolling on the floor. From this last circumstance they were sometimes called holy rollers.

- History of Vermont, Zadock Thompson, 1842, page 204 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dGiZUCjvYkIC&pg=RA1-PA204#v=onepage&q&f=false

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And then there's the full OED online, which you'll probably be able to access via any decent library.



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Holy Roller n. colloq. a member of a religious group characterized by frenzied excitement or trances.

1842 Southern Q. Rev. (New Orleans) I. 400 It is a new species of religion, which sprang up..contemporaneously with the enthusiasm of the ‘Holy Rollers’.

1893 C. G. Leland Mem. I. 300 When the Holy Spirit seized them..the Holy Rollers..rolled over and over on the floor.

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