Snake Handling

• Regional: North America: United States: Regions: Appalachia: Society and Culture: Religion  (6)
• Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Denominations: Churches of God: Church of God - Cleveland, Tennessee  (159)
• Society: Religion and Spirituality: Christianity: Denominations: Pentecostalism  (1,531)

If God Was a Rattlesnake, Would You Pick it Up? - Review of the book 'Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia' and general discussion of the practice.

New Georgia Encyclopedia: Snake Handlers - Article on the practice, with photo and bibliography.

Serpent Handling at Jolo, West Virginia and the Legitimacy of the Marcan Appendix - Article by Howard Dorgan.

Snake Handlers and the Law - Information about laws applicable to religious snake handling in several Appalachian jurisdictions.

Snake Handling - Skeptics' analysis of the practice of snake handling, including the scriptural basis and an explanation of why participants are seldom bitten.

Snake Handling - Brief history of the practice and its theological basis, by Dr. R. Alan Streett.

Snake Handling Pentecostal Sects - Collection of news articles related to snake handling.

Snakebite Kills Preacher: Should Snake Handlers Be Subject to Prosecution? - Snakebite kills local preacher and the press asks, Should snake handlers be subject to prosecution?

Sound Portraits: John Brown, Jr., Serpent Handler - Radio documentary recording the words of a preacher who later died from a snake bite. Includes audio file and transcript.

Taking Up Serpents: A History of Snake Handling - Publisher's synopsis of a scholarly book about the practice, by David Kimbrough.

Wikipedia: Church of God with Signs Following - Article about the Pentecostal holiness churches which practice snake handling.

CBS News: Woman Dies After Snakebite In Church, Kentucky Woman Killed After Being Bitten During Serpent-Handling Service - Linda Long, 48, died after being bitten by a snake during a serpent-handling service at church in London, Kentucky. Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in the state. (November 7, 2006)

Snake Handlers Hang On in Appalachian Churches - Article by Brian Handwerk for National Geographic. (April 7, 2003)

Augusta Chronicle: Taking Up Serpents - Article about an incident in which a pastor was bitten and hospitalized also includes an overview of the Holiness snake-handling movement. (June 28, 1996)