PREACHER AIN'T DONE 'TIL THE SNAKES ARE BACK IN THE BOX

1. Preamble

Mark 16:17-18, the King James version:

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.

Verses 9-20 of chapter 16, which deal with the resurrection of Jesus, are missing from the oldest manuscripts (handwritten Bibles, before the art of printing came along). The language and style of this part of the Gospel of Mark differs from the language and style of the rest of the Gospel, and the verses form a summary of what is written in the other three biblical Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles. The verses were probably added during the 10th century. Without these verses the end of the gospel is abrupt, and one cannot tell if there was once another ending that has been lost or if the gospel was meant to end as abruptly as they do without these closing verses. From these verses in the end of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Bible, people in the eastern United States have gotten the inspiration to catch venomous snakes in the wild, have these snakes as part of their ceremonies and thus risk the health of both animals and congregation members. It also happens that people drink poison during church services, but it is never snake venom. Often it is diluted strychnine, but battery acid also occurs. There are reports of believers dying after drinking strychnine during a church service, but this is not a common occurrence. In addition to snakes and poison, people speak in tongues, practice laying on of hands and holding an open flame against their own skin during these services.

Photo: cgrape, Pixabay.

Photos: Friends and family to Cody Coots. Published with permission from Cody. The snake seen in this picture is a Northern cottonmouth, Agkistrodon piscivorus. Below you can see Cody holding a flame to his hand.

Surprisingly few people get bitten during church service, a fact that is commonly attributed to some kind of trickery on the part of serpent handlers. Research suggests that a person's chance of being bitten is rather low, especially if they only handle venomous snakes occasionally. Venomous snakes are often calmer than we give them credit for, and they can become accustomed to being held and thus less likely to bite. Other researchers disagree with this explanation, suggesting that the common practice of crowding multiple snakes in a single box leaves the animals stressed which in turn weakens the immune system. This leads to sickness and parasiteoutbreaks leaving the snakes listless, unable to muster up the energy to strike. There is some evidence for this line of thought. A group of snakes confiscated from a church in Tennessee were so sick that Michael Ogle, a curator of herpetology at the Knoxville Zoo, was forced to have them put down rather than risk the rest of the zoo's collection.

The counterargument is that most of them are freshly caught before every service and released soon afterward. Handling sick snakes would be like handling non-venomous snakes, and that would defeat the purpose. The point is to have enough faith in God to take up something wild, untamed and unpredictable.

However acclimated to humans a snake might be, it is never truly tame. The more often a person handles venomous snakes, the greater the chances for a bite. In my view, sooner or later you have had a venomous snake in your hand one time too many.

Fortunately, bites aren't necessarily fatal. Toxin is metabolically expensive for a snake to produce and the main purpose for the venom besides defense is subduing prey. Snakes rather often give humans dry bites, warning nips that inject none or very little of their precious venom. A full bite from some vipers being used under ceremony, like the Eastern copperhead, is easily survivable. Contrary to popular belief, it is impossible to become immune to snake venom. Instead, successive bites often lead to worsening allergic reactions. [1]

The Pentecostal practitioners are aware of the risks. There's a constant repetition in recorded interviews: "Don't take up a serpent if you don't feel the Spirit. Don't handle for show. There's death in that box and you open it at your peril. "

At the same time, they embrace the risk. A common misunderstanding is that those who practice the faith do not believe they will get bitten by the snakes and that they see death as proof of a lack of faith and a one-way ticket to purgatory. This is not true. Having obeyed God's will by dealing with a venomous snake is said to be an assurance of entering his kingdom.

Life and death rest entirely in God's hands. They believe that whatever happens while handling the snakes is His will. Sometimes He holds back the snake. Sometimes He calls them to Heaven by letting the snake bite. It's not something they expect the rest of the world to understand, and it is something that I can't understand. I believe that the "don't handle for show" part was probably a bit overlooked when some pastors became celebrities via reality TV a few years ago.

Pastor Jamie Coots received an almost world-famous snake bite in 2014. Coots was bitten by a Timber rattlesnake on his right hand during service in his church "Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus name church" in Middlesboro, Kentucky. After the bite, Coots dropped the snakes but picked them up and continued the ceremony. After the service, he was driven home, despite his health condition. When paramedics arrived, they were not allowed to give him medical treatment as it was not compatible with his faith.

Jamie Coots died in his home. Later in the book you can read more, both about Coots and about Timber rattlesnakes.

Churches do not deny anyone the opportunity to seek medical care if they are bitten. Even though, according to many practitioners, this is against their faith to seek care. It is according to them up to God to decide the fate of the bitten person, not the medical staff. However, they do not criticize anyone who seeks treatment, and they always offer to send for medical help.

Photo: Usman_Khaleel, Pixabay. Timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus. This species is quite common in Appalachia.

The phenomenon of rattlesnakes during church service has always fascinated me. It seems to me to be both a chaotic and life- threatening environment in these churches during service. Two years prior to this book, I wrote the book "Snake church" which, despite its English title, is a book in Swedish. The book had the same subject as this book, but with a slightly greater focus on the snakes than on religion. After the book was released, I posted a copy to the pastor who contributed and let me interview him. We kept in touch, and he suggested that I should write the book in English. Here we are now, this is the English version. My idea was not only to translate the Swedish version, but I also wanted to add a little and explore the subject a bit more. The idea was that this time I would focus a little bit more on the church and the belief, while the book will also be about the snake species that occur in these churches. I hope you find the topic as exciting as I do!

Handling venomous snakes in church is not exactly a big city phenomenon, it happens in small congregations in rural areas of Appalachia. The members of the congregations often know each other, and it happens that the pastorate is passed down within the family. The idea is that this book will try to balance between telling the story behind these religious rites and telling the story about the American vipers that are sometimes included in the services. I discuss the rituals, some important people in the world of religious snake-handling practices and the venomous snakes involved. We must also ask ourselves what consequences the practice has for snakes and humans.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain.

Counties included in the cultural definition of Appalachia.

My view.

Before we go further in the book and try to tell the story of this belief and the snakes that are part of the practice, I want to write a couple of short lines about my view on the matter.

I have a small collection of venomous snakes at home, but I choose never to handle these without a snake hook or a similar tool. My belief is that everyone who practices free handling venomous snakes sooner or later has done it one too many times. Venomous snakes must be treated with respect and caution, and accidents can still happen.

Photo: Rickard Ljunggren. Some of my snake hooks. In the background you can see some of my terrariums. All terrariums have a small warning sign with information about the species living in them. If I was to get bitten, I pull the sign off and take it with me to the hospital. It's an extra precaution in case I can't speak properly after a bite.

I am not a believer myself and I find it a bit difficult to accept this literal belief that the book's practitioners have, but my goal with the book is to treat the subject respectfully. On my mother's side, I come from a religious family, but the importance of Christianity in the family has gradually faded. The role of the church has decreased with each generation, we have followed the secularization that has taken place in Swedish society, but we have perhaps been a generation after the great mass who have made the same journey. I am baptized, confirmed and I was...