Thesis statement: Snake-handling is an obscure but real spiritual medium in a few churches found throughout the eastern and southeastern United States. Though the practice is frightening to those who do not understand it and sometimes deadly to those who do, it is a personal choice (under religious freedom) and it should not be made illegal.
- The act of “taking up serpents” during Christian fellowship was believed to have emerged as early as 1909.
A) The first man to ever handle a living snake because he felt that a higher power wanted him to was probably George Went Hensley, a Church of God minister from southeastern Tennessee. It was said after much fasting and praying that the Holy Spirit led Hensley out in to the woods and told him to take up a Timber Rattler. Hensley handled the snake as directed by what he believed to be the voice of God, and no harm was done to him.
B) After his experience in the woods, Hensley began to spread what he believed to be a new-found gospel, a literal interpretation of Mark chapter 16, verses17-18: “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…”
- How much do you really know about snake handlers? The practice is unfamiliar to the majority of us, and seeing someone preach the word of God and then turn around and pick up a serpent undoubtedly seems like a sinister paradox.
A) Snake-handling churches are widely Pentecostal in their belief system, even though the alleged “founder” of the movement was from the Church of God.
B) The events at these churches do not just consist of only snake-handling. Services usually include preaching, spirited singing, praying, and speaking in tongues. They may last for two or three hours. The parishioners also follow Christian tenets of baptism by water and by the Holy Spirit, healing, cleanliness in daily living, and the washing of feet.
C) People attending services at these churches, even official members, are not required to handle snakes. In fact, picking up a serpent would be strongly discouraged unless the person doing it was completely sure they were “anointed” by the Holy Spirit. (If they are not “anointed”, their faith would be more likely to fail and thusly, get them bitten.)
