Snake handling in Christianity

Snake handling, also called serpent handling, is a religious

rite observed in a small number of isolated churches, mostly
in the United States, usually characterized as rural and part of
the Holiness movement. The practice began in the early 20th
century in Appalachia and plays only a small part in the
church service. Participants are Holiness, or Pentecostals.
The beliefs and practices of the movement have been
documented in several films and have been the impetus for a
number of state laws related to the handling of venomous
animals.

History Snake handling at the Church of God with

Signs Following at Lejunior in Harlan
County, Kentucky, 15 September 1946
(NARA). Photo by Russell Lee.
Gnosticism

In the 2nd century the Ophites reportedly handled snakes during their services,[1] and also worshipped the
serpent.[2]

In American Christianity

The practice of snake handling first appeared in American Christianity around 1910[3] and was associated
with the ministry of George Went Hensley of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern Tennessee. Hensley's role
in initiating the practice has been disputed by academic studies.[4] Kimbrough notes that claims of Hensley
being the originator of snake handling are usually found to be unsubstantiated by research, and the origins
of the observance are unclear.[4] Hood and Williamson similarly argue that the beginnings of Pentecostal
snake-handling rituals cannot be ascribed to a single person,[5] and that the observance arose independently
on multiple occasions.[6]

However, historians agree that Hensley's advocacy, leadership, and particularly his personal charisma, were
important factors in advancing the Pentecostal snake handling[7] and spreading it throughout the southeast
United States.[6] Coverage of Hensley's ministry was influential in prompting various churches to include
the practice in their services.[8] The media has focused on popular snake handlers such as Hensley, and the
deaths of ministers due to snakebite have received particular attention.[9]

The Church of God with Signs Following

Hensley was a minister of the Church of God, now known as the Church of God (Cleveland), founded by
Richard Spurling and A. J. Tomlinson. In 1922, Hensley resigned from the Church of God,[10] citing
"trouble in the home";[11] his resignation marked the zenith of the practice of snake handling in the
denomination, with the Church of God disavowing the practice of snake handling during the 1920s.[12][a]
In the 1930s, he traveled the Southeast resuming his ministry and promoting the practice.[13][14] If believers
truly had the Holy Spirit within them, Hensley argued, they should be able to handle rattlesnakes and any
number of other venomous serpents. They should also be able to drink poison and suffer no harm
whatsoever. Snake handling as a test or demonstration of faith became popular wherever Hensley traveled
and preached in the small towns of Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana. Sister-
churches later sprang up throughout the Appalachian region.[15] In 1943, Hensley and Ramond Hayes, a
young adherent of Hensley's teachings, started a church together in 1945, which they named the "Dolly
Pond Church of God with Signs Following".[16] Snake-handling churches influenced by Hensley's
ministry are broadly known as the Church of God with Signs Following. In July 1955, Hensley died
following a snakebite received during a service he was conducting in Altha, Florida.

The Church of Lord Jesus with Signs Following

Serpent-handling in north Alabama and north Georgia originated with James Miller in Sand Mountain,
Alabama, at about the same time. Miller apparently developed his belief independently of any knowledge
of Hensley's ministry. Whereas Hensley's ministry was trinitarian, the snake-handling churches influenced
by Miller's ministry are non-trinitarian, and are broadly known as the Church of Lord Jesus with Signs
Following. This version dominates snake-handling churches north of the Appalachians.[17][18]

Prevalence
Each church body is independent and autonomous, and the denominational name is not consistent in all
areas. However they are typically some variation of the name "Church of God" (Trinitarian) or "Church of
(Lord) Jesus" (Oneness).

The exact membership is unknown, and has recently been estimated as low as 1,000 and as high as 5,000
with possibly fifty to a hundred congregations. According to the Encyclopedia of American Religions,
churches "can be found from central Florida to West Virginia and as far west as Columbus, Ohio." The
snake-handling sect of beliefs and practices go as far as to cross the border into Western Canada in 2004 to
Lethbridge and Edmonton, Alberta.

Most religious snake handlers are still found in the Appalachian Mountains and other parts of the
southeastern United States, especially in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 2001, about 40 small churches practiced snake handling, most of
them considered to be Holiness, Pentecostals, or Charismatics. In 2004, there were four snake-handling
congregations in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada.[19]

Ralph Hood, professor of social psychology and the psychology of religion at the University of Tennessee,
who has studied the snake handling movement, indicated in 2003 that the practice is "currently at a fairly
low ebb of popularity".[20] A 2013 article by National Public Radio gave a figure of "about 125" churches
where snakes are handled, but also indicated that "snake handlers are notoriously private".[21]

Common doctrines

Biblical foundation and "signs following"

Practitioners believe serpent handling dates to antiquity and quote the Gospel of Mark (chapter 16) and the
Gospel of Luke to support the practice:
 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

Churches that practice snake handling and drinking poison as a demonstration of the strength of their faith
during worship services frequently describe themselves with the phrase "with sign following"; this is based
on a literal interpretation of the following biblical passage which they cite for biblical validation:

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

These passages are part of the longer ending of Mark which many biblical scholars regard as a later
addition to the manuscript tradition and it is noted as such in many modern translations of the Bible, such as
the New International Version.[22] However, the longer ending is part of the received text and the canonical
status of these passages is rarely disputed.

Another passage from the New Testament used to support snake handlers' beliefs is Acts 28:1–6, which
relates that Paul was bitten by a venomous viper and suffered no harm:

And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the
barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every
one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a
bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on
his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said
among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea,
yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after
they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and
said that he was a god.

Only snake-handling churches interpret these passages as a call to handle serpents, while others dispute
these interpretations.[23]

Practices

As in the early days, worshipers are still encouraged to lay hands on the sick, speak in tongues, provide
testimony of miracles, and occasionally consume poisons such as strychnine.[24] Worship services usually
include singing, praying, speaking in tongues, and preaching. The front of the church, behind the pulpit, is
the designated area for handling snakes. Rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads (venomous snakes
native to North America) are the most common, but even cobras have been used. During the service,
believers may approach the front and pick up the snakes, usually raising them into the air and sometimes
allowing the snakes to slither on their bodies. Handling the snakes is not compulsory for those attending
services. Some believers will also engage in drinking poison (most commonly strychnine) at this time.
Although individual incidents may actually be understood in a variety of ways, those who die from
snakebites are never criticized for lack of adequate faith; it is believed that it was simply the deceased's time
to die.[25] Bitten believers usually do not seek medical help, but look to God for their healing. They fully
believe that adherents need to handle the snakes as a demonstration of their having the Holy Spirit within.
Darlene Summerford, when asked how it felt to handle venomous serpents, replied, "It's just knowing you
got power over them snakes".[24]: 43 And, if they get bitten by the snake, then they lack the true
Spirit.[24]: 3 Moreover, if they are bitten, then the congregation prays over them.[24] If they die, then God
intended for that to happen.[25][24]

Legal issues

Legality

All Appalachian states except West Virginia outlawed the snake-handling ritual when it first emerged. The
states of Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee have passed laws against the use of venomous snakes or other
reptiles that endangers the lives of others 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.[26]

Snake handling is legal in the state of West Virginia, as the current state constitution does not allow any law
to impede upon nor promote a religious practice.[27]

Snake handling was made a felony punishable by death under Georgia law in 1941, following the death of
a seven-year-old from a rattlesnake bite. However, the punishment was so severe that juries would refuse to
convict, and the law was repealed in 1968.[28]

The American Civil Liberties Union has defended the religious freedom of snake handlers against various
attempts to have the practice banned.[29]

Manslaughter and murder

In 1992, Glenn Summerford, a serpent-handling preacher, was convicted of attempted murder of his wife
with a rattlesnake, by forcing her to be bitten on two occasions, at their home.[24]: 30, 33 [30][31] During the
trial, some members of the congregation sided with Glenn Summerford, and others with his wife,
Darlene.[24]: 48–49 Each Summerford accused the other of infidelity, and "backsliding" from their faith by
drinking alcohol.[24]: 41, 49 Dennis Covington, a journalist who covered the Summerford trial [32] discusses
his first-hand, investigative experiences at a snake-handling church in Appalachia, in his book, Salvation on
Sand Mountain.[24]: 20

Possession and transportation of venomous snakes

In July 2008, ten people were arrested and 125 venomous snakes were confiscated as part of an undercover
sting operation titled "Twice Shy". Pastor Gregory James Coots of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus'
Name (FGTJN) in Middlesboro, Kentucky, was arrested and 74 snakes seized from his home as part of the
sting.[33]
Jamie Coots (son of Gregory Coots) was cited in 2013 for illegal possession and transportation of
venomous snakes when three rattlesnakes and two copperheads were discovered in his vehicle during a
vehicle check in Knoxville, Tennessee.[34] Later in 2013, Coots published an op-ed in The Wall Street
Journal making an argument for U.S. Constitutional protection regarding religious freedom, especially
freedom to practice the unique variety of religion found in snake-handling churches.[35] Coots died on 15
February 2014 from a snakebite.[36]

Andrew Hamblin, who appeared alongside Jamie Coots in Snake Salvation, was cited for having
dangerous wildlife in 2014, but a grand jury declined to indict him.[37]

Risks
The handling of venomous snakes has significant risks. Ralph Hood observes, "If you go to any serpent-
handling church, you'll see people with atrophied hands, and missing fingers. All the serpent-handling
families have suffered such things".[20] Jamie Coots, a pastor who subsequently died from a snakebite,
said, "Handlers get bitten all the time, and every few years someone dies".[38]

Various figures for the total number of deaths from snakebite during religious services have been proposed:

"over 100 documented deaths" (2003) by Ralph Hood.[20]

"around 120" (2005) by Robert Winston.[39]
"about 100 deaths" (2013) by Julia Duin, a journalist who has covered snake handling
churches and is writing a book on the subject.[40]
"91 documented snake bite deaths" (2015) by Paul Williamson, professor of psychology at
Henderson State University and co-author of books with Ralph Hood.[41]

Another source indicates that 35 people died between 1936 and 1973.[23]

Hood also notes that the practice does not present a danger to observers. There is no documented case of a
non-handling member being bitten by a serpent handled by another believer.[42]

Media coverage
A number of films and television programs have been made about
religious snake handling.

Holy Ghost People is a 1967 documentary by Peter

Adair. It is about the service of a snake handling
Pentecostal community in Scrabble Creek, West
Virginia, United States. This documentary has entered
the public domain and is available at the Internet
Archive.
Heaven Come Down is a 2006 television documentary
Snake handling in the Holy Ghost
film about some unusual worship practices of some
People documentary
Pentecostal Christians in Appalachia, including snake
handling.
Snake Salvation is a 2013 series produced by the National Geographic Channel,
comprising 16 episodes in a reality television format.[43] The show featured two modern
snake-handling pastors and their congregations. The show's focus was on Jamie Coots,
who subsequently died of a snakebite. The other featured pastor was Andrew Hamblin,
 pastor of the Tabernacle Church of God in LaFollette, Tennessee. Hamblin, a protégé of
Coots, was worshiping at his mentor's church alongside Coots when the fatal snake bite
occurred in February 2014.[44]
Them That Follow is a Sundance Film Nominee about a small Church and community that
practices this religion. The film stars Walton Goggins.
Alabama Snake is a 2020 HBO documentary which focuses on the 1991 attempted murder
of Darlene Summerford by her husband, snake handling pastor Glenn Summerford.[45]

Known snake-handling churches

Alabama

Old Rock House Holiness Church, Section (sometimes "Old" is omitted or "Rock House"
written as a single word)[30][46][23]

Georgia

Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, Kingston[47]

New River Holiness Church, Enigma[48][49]
Wades Chapel, Cartersville[50]

Indiana

Highway Holiness Church of God, Fort Wayne (sometimes written as "Hi-Way")[37][51]

Kentucky

Church of Jesus Christ, Baxter[52]

Crockett Saylor Pentecostal Church, Crockett[53]
East London Holiness Church, London[54]
Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name, Middlesboro[34]
Mossie Simpson Pentecostal Church, Jenson[55]

North Carolina

Unnamed church, Marshall[56]

South Carolina

Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, Greenville[57]

Tennessee

Apostolic Church of God of the Lord Jesus, Greeneville[58]

Cobb Creek Church of God, Thomasville[59]
Edwina Church of God in Jesus Name, Del Rio[60]
Holiness Church of God in Jesus Name, Carson Springs[61]
House of Prayer in Jesus Name, Morristown[62]
 Tabernacle Church of God, LaFollette[63][64]

Virginia

Arthurs Chapel, Jonesville[65]

West Virginia

Church of the Lord Jesus, Jolo[66][67]

House of the Lord Jesus, Matoaka[68]
House of the Lord Jesus, Squire[69]

Notable deaths
The first report of a death from a serpent bite occurred in 1922 at the Church of God
Evangel.[31]
In 1955, George Went Hensley, the founder of modern snake handling in the Appalachian
Mountains, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in Altha,
Florida.[39][70][71]
In 1961, Columbia Chafin Hagerman died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a
service at the Church of the Lord Jesus, Jolo, West Virginia.[66][72]
In 1967, Jean Saylor, wife of a snake-handling preacher, died after being bitten by a
rattlesnake in Bell County, Kentucky.[53]
In 1982, Rev John Holbrook died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service in
Oceana, WV.[73][74][75][76][77]
In 1983, Mack Ray Wolford died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at
the Lord Jesus Temple in Mile Branch, near Iaeger, West Virginia.[75][77][78][79]
In 1995, Melinda Brown of Parrottsville, Tennessee, died after being bitten by a timber
rattlesnake during a service at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro,
Kentucky.[33][23][56][80][81]
In 1995, Kale Saylor (husband of Jean), a Pentecostal preacher, died after being bitten by a
rattlesnake during a service at Crockett Saylor Pentecostal Church in Crockett, Kentucky.[53]
In 1997, Daril Colins died after being bitten by a snake during a service in Bell County,
Kentucky.[53]
In 1998, John Wayne "Punkin" Brown (husband of Melinda), a snake-handling evangelist,
died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the Rock House Holiness
Church in rural northeastern Alabama.[23][82]
In 2004, Dwayne Long, a Pentecostal pastor, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a
service in Jonesville, Virginia.[83][84][85]
In 2006, Linda Long died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at East
London Holiness Church, London, Kentucky.[54][86][87][88]
In 2012, Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford (son of Mack), a Pentecostal pastor, died after being
bitten by a timber rattlesnake while officiating at an outdoor service at Panther Wildlife
Management Area, West Virginia.[79][89]
In 2014, Jamie Coots died after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake during a service at the
Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, Kentucky.[44][81] Coots starred in the
TV series Snake Salvation and his death was widely reported.[90]
 In 2015, John Brock died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a service at Mossie
Simpson Pentecostal Church in Jenson, Kentucky.[55][91]

In popular culture
In the 1992 film Guncrazy, Billy Drago plays a small-town preacher who utilizes live snakes
in his sermons.
In 2013, during the fourth season of FX's Justified, actor Joseph Mazzello played Preacher
Billy,[92] a fearless snake handler, who hosted tent revivals in Harlan County, Kentucky.[92]
Gospel singer Wendy Bagwell's song "Here Come the Rattlesnakes" describes his Gospel
band, Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters, performing in a small, remote Kentucky church that
practiced rattlesnake handling.[93][94]
In the third episode of the fourth season of The Simpsons, "Homer the Heretic", Homer
invites bartender Moe Szyslak to join his religion, to which Moe replies: "Sorry, Homer. I was
born a snake handler, and I'll die a snake handler." whilst revealing hands covered in bites,
bruises and adhesive bandages.[95]
In the ninth episode of the seventh season of The X Files, "Signs and Wonders ," Scully and
Mulder investigate the death of a young man who used to be a member of a serpent-
handling church.[96]
In the fifth episode of the third season of The Righteous Gemstones Peter Montgomery is
shown using this practice in the church where he preaches.
In the podcast, Alabama Astronauts, songwriter, artist, Abe Partridge and Houston Chronicle
podcast producer, Ferrill Gibbs, search for undocumented music found in the churches
services of serpent handlers and chronicle the subculture's history in a series of episodic
field-notes.

See also
Serpent symbolism

Notes
a. Hill, Hood, and Williamson 2005, p. 117: In 1914, the Church of God had around 4,000
members. By 1922, it had grown to 23,000 members. Hill, Hood, and Williamson speculate
that the Church of God disavowed snake handling in an attempt to draw more middle-class
Christians to their denomination.

References
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Poirier, Paul-Hubert (eds.). L'Évangile selon Thomas et les textes de Nag Hammadi:
Colloque International. Presses Université Laval, p. 804.
3. Encyclopedia of American Religions gives the year as 1909; the Encyclopedia of Religion in
the South gives it as 1913.
4. Kimbrough (2002), p. 191.
5. Hood and Williamson (2008), p. 37.
 6. Hood and Williamson (2008), p. 38.
7. Hill, Hood, and Williamson (2005), p. 118.
8. Hood and Williamson (2008), p. 41.
9. Hood and Williamson (2008), p. 39.
10. Hood and Williamson (2008), p. 47.
11. Burton (1993), p. 42.
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Bibliography
Books

Bultmann, Rudolf (1963). The History of the Synoptic Tradition. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Burton, Thomas G. (1993). Serpent-handling Believers (https://archive.org/details/serpentha
ndlingb00burt). Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 978-0-87049-
788-9.
Duin, Julia C. (2017). In the House of the Serpent Handler: A Story of Faith and Fleeting
Fame in the Age of Social Media. Knoxville, Tennessee: University of Tennessee Press.
ISBN 978-1-62190-375-8.
Hill, Peter C.; Hood, Ralph W.; Williamson, William Paul (2005). The Psychology of
Religious Fundamentalism. New York, New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 978-1-59385-150-7.
Hood, Ralph W.; Williamson, William Paul (2008). Them That Believe: The Power and
Meaning of the Christian Serpent-handling Tradition. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California:
University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25587-6.
Kimbrough, David L. (2002). Taking Up Serpents: Snake Handlers of Eastern Kentucky.
Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-798-8.
Leonard, Bill J. (1999). "The Bible and Serpent Handling". In Williams, Peter W. (ed.).
Perspectives on American Religion and Culture (https://archive.org/details/perspectivesona
m0000unse_d2w1). Malden, Massachusetts: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-57718-118-7.
Dennis Covington: Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Salvation in Southern
Appalachia: New York: Penguin: 1996.
Fred Brown and Jeanne MacDonald: The Serpent Handlers: Three Families and Their
Faith: Winston-Salem: J.F.Blair: 2000.
Weston La Barre: They shall take up serpents: The psychology of the Southern Snake
Handling Cult: University of Minnesota Press: 1962.
Jim Morrow and Ralph Hood: Handling Serpents: Pastor Jimmy Morrow's Narrative History
of his Appalachian Jesus' Name Tradition: Macon: Mercer University Press: 2005.
Pond, Lauren. 2017. Test of Faith: Signs, Serpents, Salvation. Duke University Press.

Articles

Hood, Ralph W.; Williamson, William Paul (December 2004). "Differential Maintenance and
Growth of Religious Organizations Based upon High-Cost Behaviors: Serpent Handling
within the Church of God". Review of Religious Research. 46 (2): 150–68.
doi:10.2307/3512230 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3512230). JSTOR 3512230 (https://www.j
stor.org/stable/3512230).
Stephen Kane: "Ritual Possession in a Southern Appalachian Religious Sect" The Journal
of American Folklore: 27:348 (October–December 1974): 293–302.
 Paul Williamson and Ralph Hood Jr: "Differential Maintenance and Growth of Religious
Organisations Based on High-Cost Behaviours: Serpent Handling with the Church of God"
Review of Religious Research: 46:2 (December 2004): 150–168.
Paul W. Williamson and Howard R. Pollo: "The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent
Handling: A Rationale and Thematic Study of Extemporaneous Sermons" Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion: 38:2 (June 1999): 203–218.

External links
Washington Post photo gallery (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-west-virgini
a-pastor-pays-the-price-for-his-faith/2012/05/31/gJQAawRl5U_gallery.html)
University of Virginia article on serpent handlers (https://web.archive.org/web/20050825211
529/http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/Snakes.html)
Vice Magazine interview with Andrew Hamblin (https://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/snake-han
dling-pentecostal)
Taking Up Serpents (http://www.coastnews.com/bizarre/serpents/serpents.htm) - by Andrea
Perkins
Chattanooga Times Free Press article on snake handlers (http://projects.timesfreepress.co
m/2014/02/02/serpents/index.html)
MA thesis on Appalachian snake handling (https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/wcu/f/Williams2013.pdf)
Ralph W. Hood and W. Paul Williamson Holiness Churches of Appalachia Recordings and
Interviews (https://digital-collections.library.utc.edu/digital/collection/p16877coll2)

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