Question about snake handlers

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cornbread_r2 said:
As I understand it, these people handle snakes to tangibly demonstrate their conviction and faith in God and his written word too. I’m not about to join their church or anything, but I just find it odd when people who have their own unique religious practices denigrate others for theirs.
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I don’t typically denigrate another’s beliefs or religion, at least I try not to. I just don’t understand the purpose of playing around with snakes and testing our Lord. Sounds like they’re working for a network and trying to increase ratings and revenues. I’m suspicious of any supposedly miraculous things I see on TV. I’m much more impressed when people are doing mission work and actually helping the poor, feeding them, and spreading the word. I doubt Pope Francis ever played around with snakes. If you are impressed with that sort of thing by all means go for it. To be honest even if I believed it was miraculous I still wouldn’t join their church. I hate snakes, serpents, alligators, and all other creepy crawly things.
 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling

Here’s a pretty good exposition of the basic information. As you can see, their publicity greatly outweighs their actual impact.

According to the article, the practice was actually introduced in the denomination that I grew up in (Church of God/Cleveland TN). However, when I first became aware of the practice in the '50s, “orthodox” CoG pastors had nothing but scorn for snake-handlers.
 
mikekle said:
Speaking inn tongues is something I left out by accident in my OP, that is something I cannot explain and have never heard an argument that debunks it,
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It’s called glossolalia. Easy for anyone to do. Nothing supernatural about it.

In the years I spent in a Pentecostal church that promoted “speaking in tongues,” I never heard anyone speak a real, known language, just babble.
 
What truly amazes me is that no one has considered how strange our idea of the Eucharist must sound to them. Certainly, the body and blood of Christ in the Host is a larger miracle that not getting bitten by a snake.
 
Bonnie said:
It’s called glossolalia. Easy for anyone to do. Nothing supernatural about it.

In the years I spent in a Pentecostal church that promoted “speaking in tongues,” I never heard anyone speak a real, known language, just babble.
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I am a trained polyglot, and my experience coincides with yours.
 
DaveBj said:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_handling

Here’s a pretty good exposition of the basic information. As you can see, their publicity greatly outweighs their actual impact.

According to the article, the practice was actually introduced in the denomination that I grew up in (Church of God/Cleveland TN). However, when I first became aware of the practice in the '50s, “orthodox” CoG pastors had nothing but scorn for snake-handlers.
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Interesting, usually when the leader of a certain group has scorn for what another group is doing, it is because they are jealous of them, and/or they know they are right.
 
mikekle said:
Interesting, usually when the leader of a certain group has scorn for what another group is doing, it is because they are jealous of them, and/or they know they are right.
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Not at all. It’s just that mainstream Pentecostals get accused of being ignorant, poor, backwards, theologically uneducated, and cult-like enough by ourselves that we can sometimes get impatient with fringe groups that amplify those stereotypes and invite controversy that we don’t want or need.

Jealously has nothing to do with it. The Church of God (Cleveland, TN) is simply reacting to a schismatic group the way any church reacts to a schismatic group (especially a schismatic group that is on the fringes of accepted religious practice).
 
Deana83 said:
Probably a stupid question. Here goes: What is a polyglot?
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From the roots: poly = many and glot = toungue.

It either means they speak a lot of languages or else they have several toungue s apiece .😉
 
JHow said:
From the roots: poly = many and glot = toungue.

It either means they speak a lot of languages or else they have several toungue s apiece .😉
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Is that really an answer or are you jerking my chain?
 
Deana83 said:
Is that really an answer or are you jerking my chain?
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Which is why I think everyone ought to have a good dictionary and know how to use it. A good dictionary will give you the etymology of the word, as well as meaning and usage. You’ll never have to ask that question again!

Words are fun. My husband and I enjoy looking up the etymology of words when we’re uncertain of the meaning. We also enjoy word games like Upwords. A fun Internet resource is A Word A Day - today’s word is “shibboleth.”

Looking over this post has me wondering - does this mean husband and I are nerds? 😃
 
Bonnie said:
Which is why I think everyone ought to have a good dictionary and know how to use it. A good dictionary will give you the etymology of the word, as well as meaning and usage. You’ll never have to ask that question again!

Words are fun. My husband and I enjoy looking up the etymology of words when we’re uncertain of the meaning. We also enjoy word games like Upwords. A fun Internet resource is A Word A Day - today’s word is “shibboleth.”

Looking over this post has me wondering - does this mean husband and I are nerds? 😃
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Sorry about calling you a “he” earlier. I:blush:
 
I like the ‘do not test God’ comment.

But I think this is a case of magician though. I’m sure they are prepping the situation to minimize risk.

To be fair, I haven’t seen the show. It’s also not in the plans.
 
The TV program itself is just another rural exploitation reality show. It doesn’t matter if the subject matter is God, duck decoys, catfishing by hand, hunting alligators, the point of all these shows is to show “how crazy and backward” rural people are. :mad:

If you want more information about snake-handling churches in Appalachia, read Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington. He gets to know these folks as people, away from cameras, and presents a balanced picture of the members themselves and the denomination.
 
Bonnie said:
It’s called glossolalia. Easy for anyone to do. Nothing supernatural about it.

In the years I spent in a Pentecostal church that promoted “speaking in tongues,” I never heard anyone speak a real, known language, just babble.
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Well, surely they know the difference from actually ‘speaking in tongues’ and just babbling non-words? If they are not actually speaking in another language, then they are NOT speaking in tongues, so why would they claim they can do this, when it is so easily debunked? Any person who is fluent is foreign languages could tell them if it was actually a language or just babble, and if its just babble, then the holy spirit and/or God has nothing to do with it, although the enemy may be involved…making them THINK they are speaking in tongues.
 
mikekle said:
Well, surely they know the difference from actually ‘speaking in tongues’ and just babbling non-words? If they are not actually speaking in another language, then they are NOT speaking in tongues, so why would they claim they can do this, when it is so easily debunked? Any person who is fluent is foreign languages could tell them if it was actually a language or just babble, and if its just babble, then the holy spirit and/or God has nothing to do with it, although the enemy may be involved…making them THINK they are speaking in tongues.
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Simple . . . you need to know the biblical definition of “speaking in tongues.” 1 Corinthians 14:2,

“For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.”

Once you understand that, its easy to understand why someone might think they are speaking in tongues even when they know they are not speaking an intelligible foreign language.
 
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