Supposedly, the odd (to me) practice of handling poisonous snakes is sanctioned by the NT. The believer’s faith in god is supposed to shield him/her from harm, in the event that the snake bites ( and delivers a leathal load of venom). I cannot find any justification in scripture for this-I thought that God is not to be put to the test-that is why cursing or taking the name of god in vain is proscribed.
So, the question for debate is: is handling snakes actually BLASPHEMING God? I view it sort of like daring God to strike me dead!
Any ex-snake handler out there?
And, by the way, anybody know how many people actually indulge in theis activity?
I do not have much time, but here goes.
I was in the south (Alabama) for a business meeting about 5 years ago and one of the men at the meeting was a reporter for the local newspaper. He was talking about ‘exposing’ a group of religious left wingers who were snake handlers. They repeatedly had Timber Rattlers and other different Viper species in thier mass. And this gentleman had a chance to visit and actually participate in a ‘mass’, he said it was very intense. A lot of shouting, singing, and dancing. The ‘preacher’ would pick up these snakes and start spouting off scripture and constently keep moving the snake up and down, up and down…Taunting, the snake to bite him.
However ! If the snake didn’t bite him it was an act of God, but it the snake did bite him that TOO was an act of God. Does this sound at all oxymoronish?? Well, the gentleman went on to tell me that he had a chance to speak with the ‘preacher’ on a couple occasions. And on one occasion the man had recently been bitten by his snake. The snake got him on the forearm and his arm swelled up almost triple its normal size BEFORE he went to the hospital. Apparently, when the interviews were concluded and the story was written the final conclusion was this:
Those people are a couple sandwiches sort of a picnic.!
But more seriously, the people participating in the snake handling all seemed to be looking for ‘something’ they were not getting from their own different religions. Snake Handling gave them an exciting and very visual religion or beleif that they were not getting previously. Actualy most of the handling was done in remote locations due to the fact that it is outlawed in a few places in the south.
As for the OP, I got the impression that there was not a huge following for snake handling, but there was a definite presence in certain locations of the south. One over lying problem apparently most of the ‘churches’ were having was that they kept losing preachers. You’d hope after going through several preachers the parishioners would eventualy think something was fundementally wrong with the whole concept…!!!
The Biblical reference which most snake-handlers use to justify their practice is found in Mark 16:18
Also, Luke 10:19
It is believed that there are between 1000 and 2000 believers (though not all of them necessarily handle snakes).
As for the actual blasphemy part, the handlers apparently look to Mark 16:20 for guidance:
(Emphasis mine)
Romulus Linney wrote a brilliant play about Pentecostal Church of God Snake Handlers called “Holy Ghosts”. It is just fiction, but it does provide some insight into the type of people these churches draw, and some of the reasons it does. Great read either way. Even better if you can see it performed.
DaLovin’ Dj
I’m going to take a wild guess that the overlap between snake-handlers and Straight Dopers (or even computer users, for that matter) is pretty damn small.
You mean more oxymoronish than the usual stuff most religions advocate? 
Remember, before a football game, both teams pray to God to help them win. So winning a game is an act of God – and so is losing…
From what I understand, they are only supposed to handle serpents-as well as drink poison-when the “spirit moves upon them.” Meaning, when they feel God’s pressence with them, THEN they can do so.
However, I also believe it says in the Bible, “thou shalt not tempt God”, or something like that.
I’d like to ask them, if they can do dangerous stuff without getting hurt while “feeling God’s pressence”, why not go into war torn areas of the world, and help the people there?
Here’s what Cecil has to say on the subject.
They sound exactly like Christian “Scientists”. “If I get better, it’s because God rewarded me for having faith. If I die, it’s because God wants me dead for some reason.” How do these people sleep at night knowing that no matter how faithful they are, the deity they know and love might do something horrible to them?
True, but fundamentalists quite often have a tendency to focus on certain specific parts of the Bible and ignore anything that contradicts their interpretation of those parts (such as believing that the Old Testament passage which condemns homosexuality is more important than Jesus’ statement “Love thy neighbor as thyself”)
I think someone’s directions are reversed.