Snake Handling Pastor Dies Following Disputed Verses that Shouldn’t Even Be in the Bible at All

Last updated on: June 1, 2012 at 7:18 am by Tim Suttle

Snake Handling Pastor Dies Following Disputed Verses that Shouldn’t Even Be in the Bible at All 2012-06-01T07:18:00-06:00 Tim Suttle

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Washington Post has been running some articles by Lauren Pond, a photojournalist working on a project documenting Pentecostal snake handling practices. She became friends with the pastor Randy “Mack” Wolford who died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a worship service. The snake-handling Christians believe they are commanded to handle snakes and drink poison, and if bitten or in danger they are forbidden to ask for medical help, but to pray for healing instead. Pond’s recent article asks tough questions concerning whether or not it is ethical for a journalist to simply watch somebody die in order to document it, instead of getting involved and trying to help the person. Pond is asking the ethics question: should she have simply called 911 and gotten him help? As it was, she snapped pictures while the man died.

It’s a good question and I applaud Pond for asking it. I think biblical scholars need to be asking themselves a similar ethical question – pastors as well. Here’s why.

The practice of snake handling is based in large part on Mark 16:18 which reads, “They will pick up serpents with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” What most people don’t know is that these verses belong to a group of verses from Mark 16:9-20 which scholars now agree shouldn’t even be a part of the canon. The blame for this senseless death, and the many others just like it, lies with the interpretive community which closes its eyes to current scholarship regarding the ending of Mark.

The main problem stems from the fact that scholars who began to publish bibles in the Middle Ages had only a few older manuscripts from which to translate and produce their bibles. Most translators were working with copies of copies of copies that were not all that old in the first place. Over the years, as historians, scholars, and archaeologists have found older manuscripts, questions began to arise about the disputed verses. More than one alternate ending of Mark seem to exists. More importantly the oldest manuscripts that have been located and studied indicate that all of the alternate versions (anything after Mark 16:8), were tacked on at a much later date.

In a nerdy academic journal article, bible scholar Robert H. Stein gave three compelling reasons we should see Mark 16:9-20 as not part of the original gospel:

First: The oldest copies we have stop at Mark 16:8

The sheer number of high quality manuscripts, including the oldest manuscripts, we now have lack the disputed verses. (See: (Codexes X and B, itk [Codex Bobiensis], Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and the comments by Eusebius and Jerome that the majority of Greek manuscripts they we re familiar with lacked it – Robert H. Stein, Bulletin for Biblical Research 18.1 (2008) 79-98). Most of the oldest and best manuscripts end at 16:8.

Second, Copyists often add verses, seldom subtract; ancient Fathers ignore 16:9-20

Scholars believe that copyists over the years would never have omitted 16:9-20 if it was part of the original document. Copyists simply didn’t do this sort of thing. If the first manuscript included the disputed verses, then no ancient manuscript would exits without them. Yet, that is exactly what we have. It seems much more likely that a copyist added them at a later date when they were dissatisfied with the way it ends (the disciples don’t come off that well in Mark). Moreover, the ancient church fathers who commented on Mark seemed completely unaware of 16:9-20. They don’t comment on it, which seems very odd especially given the bit about snake handling.

Third, the language used is completely different from the rest of the book

The vocabulary used in Mark 16:9-20 is different from the rest of the book. It contains 18 terms which are not found anywhere else in Mark. They style of writing – grammar, syntax – doesn’t match the rest of the book, especially the first eight verses of chapter 16. More importantly, the theology of 16:9-20 does not fit with the rest of Mark. The way the gospel is written from start to finish demands that it end with the disciples fearing and not knowing what to do – unable to speak. This text was written by a different author, from a different region, at a different time.

I applaud this pastors integrity and faith, but I believe he died senselessly. Scholarly opinion today is that Mark ends at 16:8. The verses about snake handling shouldn’t even be in the scripture at all. Most versions of the bible you can purchase today will note this fact, and will printed the disputed verses as either a footnote, or in italics denoting that they are disputed.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 31, 2012

Pushing All Our Buttons: The Social Impact of the Remote Control

Next Post

June 4, 2012 Monday Morning Confessional

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion corruption Donald Trump elections Empire Entertainment Ezra Klein ideology Justice Lacan politics race Sports Ta-Nehisi Coates Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 March 2026 September 2025 March 2025 June 2024 January 2024 December 2023 May 2023 February 2023 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 March 2020 September 2019 July 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 August 2010 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the name "Israel" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

He struggles with God Father of a multitude Mountain of God The Lord provides