Snake handling
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Snake handling is a religious ritual in a small number of Christian churches in the U.S., usually characterized as rural and Pentecostal. Practitioners believe it dates to antiquity and quote the Bible to support the practice, especially:
| And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. |
- Mark 16:17-18
| Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. |
- Luke 10:19
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[edit] Founders
George W. Hensley (1880-1955), a preacher who had left a Pentecostal church when it stopped embracing snake handling, is credited with creating the first holiness movement church dedicated to snake handling in the 1920s. Sister-churches later sprang up throughout the Appalachian backwoods. However, the roots of the snake handlers can be traced further back to strict Calvinists, who were among the early English and Scotch-Irish settlers colonizing the Appalachian area.
Many of the later followers were brought into the belief through traveling preachers in the late 19th century, attracted by charismatic preachers who boasted great miracles and demonstrated wonders. James Miller, without hearing of Hensley's ministry, claimed he received a Revelation from God to handle serpents and baptize in the Jesus Only formula of Acts 2: 38 in the King James Bible. By the beginning of the 21st Century, snake handling had spread to Canadian soil, where a handful of Canadians embraced the Mark 16 revelation.
[edit] Snake handlers today and practices
As in the early days, worshippers are still encouraged to lay hands on the sick (cf. Faith healing), speak in tongues (cf. Glossolalia), and provide testimony of miracles. Gathering mainly in homes and converted buildings, they generally adhere to strict dress codes such as uncut hair, no cosmetics and ankle-length dresses for women, and short hair and long-sleeved shirts for men. Most snakehandlers preach against watching television, secular newspapers, and use of all types of tobacco and alcohol. They also abstain from holidays such as birthdays, Halloween and Christmas, dismissing them and other holidays as worldly, pagan and nonscriptural.
Most religious snake handlers are still found in the Appalachian Mountains and other parts of the southeastern United States, especially in such states as Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Ohio. However, they are gaining steady recognition from news broadcasts, movies and books about the non-denominational movement.
In 2001, there were about 40 small churches that practiced snake handling, most considered to be holiness-Pentecostals or charismatics. In 2004, the practice moved across the border and there were four snake handling congregations in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Most, if not all, use the King James Version of the Bible and consider other versions to be demonic or false. Like their predecessors, they believe in a strict and literal interpretation of the Bible. Most Church of God with Signs Following churches are non-denominational, believing that denominations are 'man made' and carry the Mark of the Beast. Worshippers often attend services several nights a week. Services, if the Holy Spirit "intervenes", can last up to five hours, and the minimum time is usually ninety minutes.
[edit] Scriptural basis and practice
Those espousing the snake handling practice base their belief upon Mark 16:17-18. Based upon this passage, church services often include not only the handling of poisonous snakes (usually copperheads and rattlesnakes), but also handling fire and drinking water laced with strychnine, arsenic, or some other poisonous substance. Some of their churches even handle scorpions. Several investigations have concluded that many congregants do indeed ingest poisoned water.
Rags soaked in kerosene are ignited and placed in glass jars or empty soda bottles. Then they are passed around for any of the faithful who feel so inclined to touch them by slowly passing their hands through the flames or under their chins for several seconds.
[edit] Risks
If a worshipper is bitten, poisoned, or burned during the services, it is believed to be because that individual lacked faith, has sin(s) unrepented for in their life, or that it was a message from God, either to teach them suffering or to demonstrate to those lacking faith in the ceremony that the poison is real.[citation needed] Few seek medical attention after being bitten.[citation needed] While children attend the services, the worshippers strongly deny that any of them have been bitten.[citation needed]
Several of the leaders in these churches have been bitten numerous times, as indicated by their distorted extremities.[citation needed] Hensley, the founder of modern snake handling in the Appalachian Mountains, died from snakebite in 1955. Another prominent leader, a 34-year-old evangelist, died in 1998 after being bitten by a timber rattler at the Rock House Holiness Church in rural northeastern Alabama. Members of his family contend that his death was likely due to a heart attack, although his wife had died three years earlier after a snake bite while in Kentucky.
Another follower died in 2006 in Kentucky. [1]
[edit] Legality
The states of Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee have passed laws against the use of poisonous snakes and/or other reptiles in a place that endangers the lives of others or without a permit. The Kentucky law specifically mentions religious services; in Kentucky snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to $100 fine. [1] Most snake handling practices therefore take place in the homes of worshippers, which avoids the process of attempting to obtain a government permit for the church. Law enforcement officers usually ignore these religious practices unless and until they are specifically called in. This is not usually done unless a death has resulted from the practice.
[edit] Snake handling churches
- Rock House Holiness Church on Sand Mountain in the rural northeast
Alberta, Canada
- True Holiness Believers Gathering, Lethbridge
- Holiness Fire Church Of Lord Jesus With Signs Following, Edmonton
British Columbia, Canada
- The Right Hand Of Jesus With Signs Following Church, Kamloops,
- Small Believers Of Light Church With Signs Following, Revelstoke
- The Jesus Name Believers Holiness Church, Canton
- Holiness Church of God in Jesus' Name, Kingston
- Holiness Church Of Lord Jesus, Roopville
- Hiway Holiness Church of God, Fort Wayne
- Crockett Church, Fields
- East London Holiness Church, London
- Apostolic Church, Warren
- Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, Greenville
- Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, Carson Springs
- Sand Hill Church, Del Rio
- House of Prayer in Jesus Name, Morristown
- Church Of The Lord Jesus With Signs Following, Jolo
- Full Gospel Jesus Church, Micco
- Full Gospel Jesus Church, Kistler
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links and sources
- Beyond the Serpents, a photo documentary
- Cincinnati Skeptics article on snake handling
- Shelton, Steve. "Taking up serpents", Augusta Chronicle, June 28, 1996.
- History of serpent handlers
- "Snake Handling in the Pentecostal Church: The Precedent Set by George Hensley" by Joi Brown
- Handwerk, Brian. "Snake Handlers Hang On in Appalachian Churches", National Geographic News, April 7, 2003.
- University of Virginia article on serpent handlers
- "Snake Handling" by Pat Arnow, from Southern Exposure (PDF file)
Professional herpetologists also handle snakes for research. People such as Bill Hasst of Miami serpentarium and Joel La Rocque both are well known snake biologists who inject small amounts of venom to build up an immunity to certain snakes. Hasst has recieved over 100 bites from various species and La Rocque has been bitten several times with minimal effects.
