I’ll take my salvation without the snakes, please
(RNS) If there were such a thing as “spiritual hazard pay” for columnists, I would be submitting a claim after watching the first two episodes of the new National Geographic series “Snake Salvation.”
View ArticleSerpent handler-TV star has a new cause: religious liberty
(RNS) Tennessee wildlife regulations allow zoos to keep venomous snakes, but there is no provision for churches to have them. The Rev. Andrew Hamblin, co-star of the National Geographic series "Snake...
View Article‘Snake Salvation’ pastor won’t be charged with violating Tenn. law
(RNS) A grand jury decided not to indict the Rev. Andrew Hamblin, star of the National Geographic television series “Snake Salvation," on charges of violating a state ban on possessing venomous snakes.
View ArticleJamie Coots, co-star of ‘Snake Salvation,’ dies of a snakebite
(RNS) Coots, whose father is also a serpent-handling preacher, was a legendary figure among a small group of Pentecostal believers who practiced the so-called “signs of the gospel” found in Mark 16;...
View ArticleCOMMENTARY: Jamie Coots’ snake theology was not that crazy
(RNS) To most people, a few biblical passages are a crazy justification to handle deadly serpents. But I evaluate these kinds of claims through Weiss’ Law of Religious Relativism: Any religion is, by...
View ArticleJamie Coots’s death and what we don’t understand about snake handling
Jamie Coots, a southern pastor, died Saturday as the result of a snake bite sustained during a church service. What do we not understand about why sane people handle snakes in the name of God?
View ArticlePope will visit Sweden for Reformation anniversary
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Francis' Oct. 31 visit will launch commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Also Monday, the pontiff asked forgiveness for the sins Catholics committed...
View ArticleFreak show or spiritual test? Book explores world of snake handlers
(RNS) — Author Julia Duin focuses on a new breed of snake-handling preachers — young and adept at using social media to attract attention. The post Freak show or spiritual test? Book explores world of...
View Article