I was reading about this guy on Drudge…it seems he had lamented the decline of this Pentecostal custom (though his own father died of a snakebite).
At any rate, don’t these people understand that the Gospel writers frequently indulged in hyperbole?
Anyway, the guy was planning a “real old fashioned gospel celebration…with speaking gibberish, snake handling, etc.”-no mention of poison drinking.
It passes my understanding that people could be so stupid…anyway, is it the custom to repeat this activity (snake handling) till you get a fatal bite?
Anyway, I wonder if this event put a damper on the “old fashioned gospel weekend”?
You are asking for rational thought and motivations for a Pentacostal preacher who is into snake-handling?
And no, they don’t believe the Gospel writers engaged in anything but writing down the absolute, literal Truth.
That’s just God’s way of saying, “Dude, I love your act! In fact I love it so much I’m giving you a permanent gig up here at The Pearly Gates Resort.”
No, the custom is to continue doing this schtick after a fatal bite.
Er, wait, I guess not.
He died of insufficient faith?
He forgot about Matthew 4:5-7.
In a nutshell: Don’t deliberately put yourself in harm’s way to show off. He won’t intervene.
Just trying to keep up the family traditions, I guess.
Hopefully he didn’t have any kids.
Unto the third generation and all that.
Well, everybody was a little rattled.
I have just a tiny bit of respect for these people when they don’t go running to the nearest hospital for treatment after a bite.
He died because he was handling a fucking poisonous snake.
Why he thought this was a good idea is probably beyond the ken of rational people.
Maybe they do, for a little while at least. I don’t think poisonous snake bites will kill you instantly.
Venomous snakes, people. Venomous.
No snake is poisonous, any snake can be eaten with no ill effect. Some do carry venom, which is a digestive fluid and not a poison.
Aren’t you supposed to have a brass serpent handy for these kinds of situations?
Sounds like a candidate for the Darwin Award. Did he have any offspring?
Either way, probably best not to handle them.
I went to a restaurant in Arizona once that had rattlesnake meat on the menu. I didn’t try it. Now I keep kosher, and can’t eat it.
Here’s a link to the local newspaper’s coverage of the event.
According to the article…
“If someone handling a snake had sinned, they could be bitten for not leading a righteous life. A bite also could mean God was using the person as a messenger, to confirm the faith and word is true, Fowler said.”
Ah. That clarifies…nothing.
If you get bit, you are either a sinner or blessed. Gotcha.
Either way, you’re screwed.
Heh. Stuff you can test, like handling snakes, healing the sick, casting mountains into the sea — actually, just about EVERYTHING Jesus promised that can be tested — is hyperbole, but stuff you can’t test, like going to heaven after you die, is to be taken literally. Got it.
You might almost say they spoke with forked tongue.