A reader passed along a story from the Huffington Post religion section, Raising The Dead: Evangelical Christians Want To Practice Resurrections. The reader even suggested, I think tongue in cheek, issuing these folks Geiger counters and pieces of linen cloth so they could experiment on creating an image.
I followed the links from HuffPo to the source: Barry Duke, writing in Freethinker, “The Voice of Atheism Since 1881.” He posted the article, Evangelical Christians want access to more corpses … to hone their ‘raising the dead’ skills
TYLER Johnson runs a ministry called the Dead Raising Team in the US. He claims to have brought 11 people back to life. He says he even persuaded the authorities in his state to issue him with an official photocard which lets him through police lines at car accident sites.
Johnson, according to this BBC report, appears in a new documentary film called Deadraisers, which follows enthusiasts as they trail round hospitals and mortuaries trying to bring people back to life.
I’m actually going to post this. It must be a slow news day.
Mark 16:15-18; “15 He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
I had heard about extreme snake handling sects in some parts of USA, but there’s nothing in Mark’s text which says that believers will be empowered to raise the dead back to life. Why can’t they just accept that the person’s time has come? The futile human quest for earthly immortality! The mythical Fountain of Youth!
It has been a Slow News Day!
One of them just died in Kentucky.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/kentucky-snake-handler-death-doesnt-shake-belief
These guys could potentially be recussitating people, they certainly are not resurrecting anyone.But until they have independent documentation of their claims, keep the tin foil handy.
John Green, Thanks for the link to the snake story which I read with great interest. Apparently there’s been about 91 recorded deaths from serpent handling in USA, and it’s presently about 5 per year. What I found fascinating is the way such deaths are rationalized, e.g. “He must have held the snake too long for egotistical reasons after the spirit had left him!” The deaths don’t discourage other practitioners, who seem to be ‘getting back on the horse after the rider’s been tossed off’ to allay their fear. Other rationalisations: “God must have decided his time was up!”. “God’s still God” etc.
But I wonder how well they’ve read the scriptures, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, “Thou shall not put the Lord God to the test!”
There are no snakes in Ireland, nor in New Zealand, several varieties in Australia, I’m sure none of them are on two legs!