Drawings of Serpent Handlers
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LINKS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY


LINKS

bulletBill Leonard, the Dean of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University on religious serpent handlers                     

bulletBeyond the Serpents, A Documentation of the Church of the Lord Jesus, Jolo, West Virginia.  Wonderful evocative photographs of serpent handlers by Chuck Conner.

bulletThis is a transcript of "They Shall Take Up Serpents" recorded in West Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia that premiered on November 30, 1992 on NPR's All Things Considered.      You can also listen to the recorded version.  

bulletTaking Up Serpents  An article from About.com written by an atheist.

bulletAn interesting discussion of the role serpents have played in East Indian culture and religion

 

bulletSnake Handlers, The Religious Movements page;  An overview of   religious serpent handlers in the United States with additional links, including a video bibliography.

bulletChristian Serpent Handlers of Modern Appalachia

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

bullet Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Religion in Southern Appalachia by Dennis Covington; Penguin Books 1995. 

Written by a reporter for the New York Times about his own experience with the Church of Jesus with Signs Following located in Scottsboro, Alabama. This book was a major inspiration for the drawings of Gary Monroe. This book is available at Amazon.com.

 

bullet Serpent Handling Believers; Thomas Burton; Knoxville: University Tennessee Press, 1993. This book is an excellent source on Snake handling. Burton gives a detailed description and study of the practice as well as a thorough discussion of the controversies surrounding snake handling. This book is available at Amazon.com.

 

bullet Hood, Ralph W. Jr. 1998; "When the Spirit Maims and Kills: Social Psychological Considerations of the History of Serpent Handling Sects and the Narrative of Handlers," International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 8(2), 71-96. 

The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion published two commentaries on this article in the same issue, namely "Routinization and Reality: Reflections on Serpents and the Spirit," International Journal for the Psychology of Religion; 8(2), 101-105; Margaret M. Poloma; and "Response to a Research Challenge," International Journal for the Psychology of Religion; Paul W. Williamson.8(2), 97-100. 

 

bullet Taking up the Serpents: Snake Handling Believers of Eastern Kentucky; David L. Kimborough; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1995. 

bullet"The Serpent Handlers, "Three Families and Their Faith" by Fred Brown and Jeanne McDonald