Christianity Today describes snake-handling Pentecostalism as a growing “Appalachian” tradition that “began in 1910” when an illiterate Tennessee preacher tried to literally apply Mark 16:18: "They will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them..." But history tells otherwise. Independent, unaffiliated Pentecostal congregations have also come and gone in Kansas through the years. One small group was involved in handling serpents, a practice based on Mark 16:18. "The True Followers of Christ" handled poisonous snakes in June, 1909. The Kansas group settled in Langdon, thirty miles east of Hutchinson, and made interesting copy for The Topeka Capital in 1909. Their "prophet" and spokesperson John Meyers had taken a large rattlesnake to a gathering, passed it among sixteen people, and then set it down to roam freely. Three people were bit at that time, and one disappeared. The True Followers were forbidden to hold meetings in public buildings; at that point they disappear from the public record. From the public record. The Pentecostal Movement—a Kansas Original A Scholarly Work at Kansas State University by Jean Gelbart, pp. 22–23 The True Followers are said to have left a spectral trail that according to believers can be felt palpably and seen literally whenever and wherever Governor Brownback enters the presence of a believer. christianitytoday/gleanings/2013/september/snake-salvation-serpent-handling-pentecostal-history.html
Posted on: Sun, 22 Sep 2013 17:00:44 +0000
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