Why can't I ask about churches that handle rattlesnakes?

Question

The question was pulled. Sorry I said they were off beat. I have the utmost respect for anyone brave enuf to pick up a rattlesnake and drink poison. They gotta have faith and you gotta like that. I was wondering how mainstream Christianity interprets Mark 16:17;18?

no, not my particular beliefs.

mmd
what a horrible picture
I love dogs

Answer 1

Many things happen to people when they become Christians. Jesus was just giving one example of the power of faith.

You might notice that Jesus (in this verse) was talking to his disciples, about a time 2000 years ago. Then and there, some of the people of that area needed miracles for a reference point to base their faith. Today some Christians and most agnostics need Science as a reference point as to whether or not to have faith.

You might also notice that Jesus did not require the lifting of snakes and the drinking of poison. He was just predicting that such things would happen. (And, as you have remarked, his predictions were right. Some people do just that.)

I personally see no problem with a person choosing to take risks, or endangering their lives, or testing their faith.

However, we (as Christians) must always have one thing we must always remember:

Harmony is harmony.

Disharmony is always a sin against God.

With that in mind, we can really be open-minded. And, hopefully be able to understand some of the difficult parts of the Bible.

(Lest we never forget the Holy Spirit.)

Added:
"Sionarra" tells a good story. It would be believable if the scripture actually said anything close to his conclusion. He has used modern ethics to understand ancient customs. (I often make that same mistake) In this case I used an original Greek Bible translation of a few of the words. "Signs" were miracles with an ethical purpose. Jesus was not condemning, he was simply pointing out that some people would react that way. Even the word believe in the original Bible meant past tense "believed". It wasn't a test to see if they were Christians. It was those that had sometime in the near future had accepted Jesus as the saviour (Messiah) and simply wanted so strongly to show others how wonderful it was to be a Christian. (We see this on this chat group a lot. Christians, especially new Christians, are so happy they want to share Jesus with the whole world, sometimes they get so energetic about it, they seem weird to the Atheists on the chat group. -- "God love em!"

Answer 2

Mostly we interpret it in context with His whole directive.

The thrust of this passage is a command to teach everyone the Good News about Christ's death and resurrection being man's redemption from the slavery of sin and death.

That particular sentence is merely one example by which you might know whether or not the one who's teaching you is teaching you according to Christ's teaching. It's an example, NOT a command to do so just to prove your bona fides.

Aside: it's not just rattlesnakes they use. It's a variety of poisonous snakes, indigenous to eastern Tennessee, which is where these sects mostly congregate.

Aside #2: There are terrible deaths suffered by their members every single year. And of course, in accordance with their teachings, those deaths are prima facie evidence that the deceased was lacking in faith. PIFFLE! What they lacked was good sense due to the atrophication of the brains God gave them!

Answer 3

Who said you couldn´t? To be brief, Jesus said "They shall take up serpents" as one of the signs of those who believe! But , wait a minute! When the Devil took Him up to a high place and said, "Cast yourself down, for it is written 'He shall give his angels charge over thee lest thou dash thy foot against a stone' "

Jesus was basically saying "Back off Buddy, Don´t try to hand me that line, for "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God!" If Jesus, who did tons of miracles, didn´t have the "faith" to jump off a cliff for NO OTHER REASON than to show off His faith, then I don´t recommend we do it either, by picking up some snake to try to show off how "spiritual" we are, to some congregation who don´t matter that much, if they allow such practices.

Paul did shake off a venomous snake unharmed, as he was gathering wood to make a fire for people who had just survived being shipwrecked in a winter storm. But he was gathering wood, NOT SNAKES! Leave the snakes alone, and if you have faith, go and do something useful like Mother Teresa, or David Livingstone, or Dwight L. Moody. Wanna know about faith, read Hebrews 11! The life of faith is FUN, the life of faith COUNTS! It is not about walking on nails!

Answer 4

I asked about those verses last night: Are you a REAL Christian?
Take the Strychnine Challenge: Mark16:17-18
17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18They 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.

If you get sick, just have your Pastor,Minister,Priest,etc., put his hands on you.

Answer 5

Seems like a legitimate question to me.

Though, I have to say, I am a little creeped out by the whole snakehandling issue.

But, to each their own.

Answer 6

exciting question, yet i do no longer understand if there is any evidence for it. i grew to become into raised in a pentecostal Christian church, with each and every of the "holy curler" stuff, yet with out the snake-dealing with. Later I left Christianity and grew to grow to be an atheist for years; then nonetheless later, I got here homestead to pagan religions. i'm Wiccan, yet my customer deity is Dionysos, so i've got examine lots with regard to the relationship of the serpents to Dionysos and his followers. He grew to become into defined as "bull-horned and crowned with serpents" and his devotees the bacchantes have been frequently shown as dancing with serpents wrapped around them, in ecstatic trance. I do think of there is a few similarity there, with the ecstatic religious trance of pentecostals; yet i do no longer understand if there is any direct historic connection. by skill of ways, serpents are very person-friendly in pagan religions frequently; snakes or serpents have been additionally linked with Demeter and Persephone, and Apollo and Asclepius, and Hermes/Mercury, etc. however the particular prepare of dancing with snakes as an ecstatic ritual seems to be a special expression of that. and that i think it happens no longer purely in the cult of Bacchus/Dionysos and likewise "holy curler" Christianity, yet in addition in Afro-Caribbean religions like Santeria and Candomble and Palo Mayomba, the place the worshipper is "possessed" by skill of their deity. i think of they generally take care of snakes together as in an ecstatic trance, too. yet another available concept i've got heard is that some styles of serpent venom would be used in low doses to create altered states of understanding; very like the infamous "toad licking." (do no longer attempt the two of those issues at homestead, regardless of the undeniable fact that.) .

Answer 7

How very tribal.