Snake Handlers in the Attic

Around 1910, George Went Hensley, a young preacher in the Church of God, started the practice of snake handling. Using Mark 16 as his text he started preaching that Jesus wanted his followers to pick up serpents as a sign of their belief. In the 1920's the church condemned the practice of snake handling, and Hensley left to found the Church of God with Signs Following. Surprisingly enough, George Went Hensley died in 1955, after being bit by a rattle snake.

What caused this practice? I don't know. I think that the church, particularly the Pentecostal church, has a history of attracting people from the fringes of society, and the outskirts of sanity. A pastor I know used to always say that "the brighter the light, the more bugs you attract." I do not deny this is true, but I think it is irresponsible to simply say that if crazy people are attracted to our doctrine that must make it right. Bugs are also attracted to crap.

Snake handling is an extreme example of what happens with a strict adherence to a literal interpretation of the Bible. This is nothing new, of course. Origen, in the third century, is said to have castrated himself based upon the scripture found in Matthew 19:12. I know many people who claim to be fundamentalists, but I don't know a single person who has taken this scripture as a literal commandment. I don’t even know of very many people who take Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek, or pray for one’s enemies literally. I do, however, know an awful lot of people who insist on a literal interpretation of the Book of Revelation! On a side note, I've always thought it was funny that fundamentalist believers are the least likely to believe in transubstantiation. I mean, didn't Jesus say, "This is my body?" What happened to "God said it, I believe it, and that settles it?"

When I am studying scripture, I find it easy to lose sight of the larger narrative if I am not careful. We all do this to a degree, but without care we can turn our small interpretation into a doctrine that becomes counterintuitive to the big picture. We then lose our sense of balance, lose sight of the full gospel that our Full Gospel churches claim to preach. All of a sudden the focus is on hell, or tongues, or blessing, or divine favor, or maybe even the handling of snakes.

I think there are a lot of instances in the church today where we have misused God's word to create doctrines that are dangerous. Some claim to be able to control God through the use of tithes and offerings. Some claim that America is God's favored nation and that we as Christians are supposed to pass legislation to make non-Christians act right. Some preach that we need to work harder, live better, to earn our way into heaven. There are a lot of false teachings out there, and each and every one, eventually, is as deadly as a snake-bite.