Christian snake handling religions, is there a Greek connection?

Question

Is this a carry over from some long forgotten mystery of Bacchus or Ophiuchus fertility cult of antiquity, where participants are ignorant of the complicated and long lost meaning of these mysteries?

Answer 1

probalby not,

many of those developed among mountain people who were pretty much secluded.

some might have come from that, but mostly it was the "immediate" gratification that "protection from the lord" would grant from handling "dangerous" animals.

however, a more logical explanation shows us that these were not just animals plucked from the wild at random, they were snakes kept by the preists and religious leaders of the cult and thus essentially used to human contact- of course its still a snake, but its not like they plucked a burmese python or cobra from the wild and threw it in a cage and played with it that night.  it was fed, kept and essentially a "semi-pet" although I would stop short of calling it "tame". so the animal's natural "fear" of humans and seeing humans as a threat (thus causing it to bite, because we are certainly not prey animals to them) would be lessened by constant contact with humans.

EDIT: wow- h**l must have frozen over after labor day- I actually thumbs upped fireball....

yes, pastafarianism has a h**l- its called chucky cheese.

Answer 2

No. It comes from the words of Christ before He ascended into Heaven, stating the signs believers would be able to do. Not necessarily HAVE to do, but would be able to do.

This is NOT a command, though some believe it to be.

Common sense alone tells a person that to pick up a venomous snake is a dangerous thing...by doing so, who are they trying to prove the reality of their faith to?

Why put yourself into a position like this when you do not really have to?

Answer 3

The snake was considered a sacred animal under the protection of Apollo.  There were entire temples dedicated to their care and worship, handled by priestesses.  I don't know of any open ceremonies where worshipers handled snakes, but it is possible I suppose.  Early Christianity  borrowed (stole) many ideas, symbology and rituals from the various pagan religions of the times.

Answer 4

Interesting question, but I don't know if there's any evidence for it.

I was raised in a pentecostal Christian church, with all the "holy roller" stuff, but without the snake-handling.

Later I left Christianity and became an atheist for years; then still later, I came home to pagan religions. I'm Wiccan, but my patron deity is Dionysos, so I've read a lot about the connection of the serpents to Dionysos and his followers. He was described as "bull-horned and crowned with serpents" and his devotees the bacchantes were often shown as dancing with serpents wrapped around them, in ecstatic trance. I do think there is some similarity there, with the ecstatic religious trance of pentecostals; but I don't know if there's any direct historical connection.

By the way, serpents are very common in pagan religions in general; snakes or serpents were also connected with Demeter and Persephone, and Apollo and Asclepius, and Hermes/Mercury, etc.

But the specific practice of dancing with snakes as an ecstatic ritual seems to be a unique expression of that. And I believe it occurs not only in the cult of Bacchus/Dionysos and also "holy roller" Christianity, but also in Afro-Caribbean religions like Santeria and Candomble and Palo Mayomba, where the worshipper is "possessed" by their deity. I think they often handle snakes while in an ecstatic trance, too.

Another possible idea I've heard is that some kinds of serpent venom can be used in low doses to create altered states of consciousness; much like the infamous "toad l*****g." (Don't try either of those things at home, though.)

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Answer 5

no but its dangerous and stupid imo......

Answer 6

Nothing so grand as a mythological connection.

I got this from the web.  It answers your questions.

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The practice of snake handling in church began in the early 1900s in the southeast corner of Tennessee. [it is reported that there were similar movements in the 1700s] In fact, it is not very far from where I live. George Hensley is believed to be the founder of the snake handler movement.

According to Gordon Melton (author), George was preaching in a Church of God early in the 1900's on the book of Mark Chapter 16 which states 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

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18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;

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they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

The congregation then dumped a box of live rattlesnakes onto the church floor. The preacher, nonplussed, picked up the snakes and kept right on preaching. The snake handling church was born.

Today, men and women are totally repulsed [probably they are sensibly cautions] by snakes. When someone sees a snake, they want to kill it '[not me - live and let live!].

When Moses led his people out of Egypt and were wandering in the wilderness, they began to complain about God's provision which angered God. God put "fiery serpents" (poisonous snakes) in their midst and many died from the snakebites (See Numbers Chapter 21). The people repented (changed their mind about their complaining) and confessed to Moses they had sinned and asked for forgiveness. God instructed Moses to put a serpent on a pole and if anyone looked at the serpent, they would not be harmed by the snakes. This was God's way of previewing Christ being put on a pole and if anyone looked to Him they would not be harmed by the snakebite of sin.

John 3:14 states And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, How many Israelites perished because they refused to look at the serpent on the pole? How many today die a spiritual death because they refuse to look at Christ lifted on a pole?

The book of Revelation refers to the Devil and Satan as a serpent. Rev 12:9 states So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Since snakes are serpents and serpents represent Satan and evil, then the point of a snake handling service is that Satan can not harm you if you have faith in God.

George Hensley, the original snake handler, died of a snakebite in 1955!

. . .

What did Jesus mean when he said, "They shall take up serpents and drink poison and it will not hurt them"?

. . .

In Acts 28:3-5 we read But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. How is this different from the snake handling of today? God's divine protection was over Paul and the new converts.

Paul did not intentionally grab a poisonous snake. One bit him when he was gathering firewood. The snake's poison had no effect and this actually fulfilled the prophecy of Jesus when He said "They shall take up serpents and no harm will befall them".

So what's wrong with drinking a little poison during church and letting rattlesnakes slither all over you?

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I hope this is helpful to you.

QUILL

Answer 7

This is not of God and don't say Christian. It's because of these peoples ignorance that they do this. God does not tempt us. The tempter is Satan. He has twisted the minds of these snake handlers and turn the truth into a lie. Do not get swept up in this type of so called religion.