Everything about The Church Of God With Signs Following totally explained
The
Church of God with Signs Following is the name applied to
Pentecostal holiness churches that engage in the practice of
snake handling and drinking poison in their religious worship services, based on
Mark 16:17-18.
» And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they'll speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shan't hurt them; they'll lay hands on the sick, and they'll recover. - Mark 16:17-18,
King James Bible.
History
The practice of snake-handling first appeared in American Christianity around 1910
1 associated with the ministry of
George Went Hensley of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern
Tennessee. Hensley was a minister of the
Church of God of Richard Spurling-Ambrose J. Tomlinson origin. In the
1920s, the Church of God repudiated the practice of snake-handling, and Hensley and his followers formed a separate body. 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. Snake Handling eventually crossed the borders into Canada into the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. In 2004, a handful of Canadians also got a "revelation from God" about snake-handling as a 'correct' doctrine.
Worship
The practice usually consists of a worship service with singing, praying,
speaking in tongues and preaching. The front of the meetinghouse, 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. As the service crescendoes, those who feel "anointed" approach the front and begin to pick up the snakes, usually raising them into the air and sometimes allowing the snakes to crawl on their bodies. The snakes are considered incarnations of demons, and handling the snakes demonstrates one's power over them. Members are not required to handle the snakes. Some "believers" will also engage in drinking poison (most commonly
strychnine) at this time.
Over sixty cases of death as the result of
snakebites in religious worship services have been documented in the
United States. If a handler is bitten, it's generally interpreted as a lack of faith or failure to follow the leadership of the Spirit. But individual incidents may actually be understood in a variety of ways. Bitten believers usually don't seek medical help, but look to the Lord for their healing. Beginning in
1936, six southeastern states outlawed snake-handling. George Hensley died in
Florida in
1955 from a poisonous snakebite.
In other areas of belief, the Church of God with Signs Following holds doctrines and practices similar to related Church of God and oneness bodies. They maintain a strict teaching of "holiness", "Holy Ghost Baptism", "divine healing", water
baptism, and
footwashing. They also stress Romans 16:16 - "Salute another with an Holy Kiss."
Number of adherents
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 goes as far as to cross the border into Western Canada in 2004 to
Lethbridge and
Edmonton, Alberta. Each church body is independent and autonomous, and the denominational name isn't consistent in all areas, although it's almost always some variation of the name "Church of God" (Trinitarian) or "Church of Jesus" (Non-Trinitarian).
Scriptural Interpretations
The distinctive practice of these churches is variously known as serpent-handling, snake-handling, and taking up serpents. Many people consider snake-handling to be a part of uneducated
folk religion, however, churches who practice snake handling claim their scriptural mandate from the gospel of Mark 16:9-20. Curiously,
this passage is arguably a later addition to Mark, and is footnoted as such in most well known translations of the Bible. Even those denominations who affirm this passage as canonical don't interpret the passage as a call to handle serpents; they regard snake handling as the grave error of "tempting God"
(External Link
) and the passage as a statement of signs demonstrating Paul's apostleship (cf. Acts 28:3-6).
Legality
The practice of handling snakes has been made illegal in a number of
states. In
Tennessee, it's illegal to display any venomous reptile in a manner that endangers anyone.
Alabama has a similar statute. In
Kentucky, it's illegal to display any
reptile at a religious ceremony. Prosecutions, however, are rare.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Church Of God With Signs Following'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://church_of_god_with_signs_following.totallyexplained.com">Church of God with Signs Following Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
