Them That Believe: The Power and Meaning of the Christian Serpent-Handling Tradition

by Ralph W. Hood Jr., W. Paul Williamson

Although outlawed in many states, serpent handling remains an active religious practice―and one that is far more stereotyped than understood. Ralph W. Hood, Jr. and W. Paul Williamson have spent fifteen years touring serpent-handling churches in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia, conducting scores of interviews with serpent handlers, and witnessing hundreds of serpent-handling services. In this illuminating book they present the most in-depth, comprehensive study of serpent handling to date. Them That Believe not only explores facets of this religious practice―including handling, preaching, and the near-death experiences of individuals who were bitten but survived―but also provides a rich analysis of this phenomenon from historical, social, religious, and psychological perspectives.

Genres: History, Religion, Nonfiction

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Jacob Hudgins]

The authors worked hard to be objective on a controversial topic, but they crossed over from objective to sympathetic to downright apologetic. I was very interested in an academic approach to this topic, but half the book was simply rehashing what other scholars have said about Pentecostalism. The authors almost never advocated any viewpoints of their own or even conclusions based on their extensive research…the only memorable ones were criticisms of laws banning snake handling. They alluded several times to the drinking of strychnine but left that topic completely untouched. The textual questions about Mark 16–particularly the way modern manuscript understandings render it dubious—were unaddressed. I had just hoped for a more thorough—and less defensive—treatment.

[Judy Owens]

A serious and fair-minded exposition on this often misunderstood and sensationalized religious practice.

[Zoe]

While not my favourite book I had to read for my study, it was still insightful. It read kinda slow and very detached from the practice, but I fear I was spoiled with the previous books being written by either someone born or involved with the faith, or the author converted to the religion-- or at least handled snakes quite often. This was probably the most academic text I had to read, so it's not my favourite.

[Angela Yeager]

Very interesting subject! The author teaches at UTC.