Serpent Handling: Toward a Cognitive Account – Honoring the Scholarship of Ralph W. Hood Jr.

The ritual handling of serpents remains an unnoticed cultural form for the explanatory aims and theoretical insights desired by cognitive scientists of religion. In the current article, we introduce the Hood and Williams archives at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that contains data culled from Hood’s 40-plus year career of studying serpent handlers. The archives contain hundreds of hours of interviews and recordings of speaking in tongues, handling fire, drinking poison, and taking up serpents by different congregants and congregations. The archive remains a rich but untapped source of data for building, testing, and refining cognitive theories of ritual in general, and serpent handling in specific. We connect Hood’s work to current cognitive theories and engage critically with research on the social functions of ritual. Finally, we discuss several further reasons to pay more attention to SHS communities and practices in cognitive theories of ritual.

Serpent Handling: Toward a Cognitive Account-honoring the scholarship of Ralph W

The ritual handling of serpents remains an unnoticed cultural form for the explanatory aims and theoretical insights desired by cognitive scientists of religion. In the current article, we introduce the Hood and Williams archives at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga that contains data culled from Hood’s 40-plus year career of studying serpent handlers. The archives contain hundreds of hours of interviews and recordings of speaking in tongues, handling fire, drinking poison, and taking up serpents by different congregants and congregations. The archive remains a rich but untapped source of data for building, testing, and refining cognitive theories of ritual in general,and serpent handling in specific. We connect Hood’s work to current cognitive theories and engage critically with research on the social functions of ritual. Finally, we discuss several further reasons to pay more attention to SHS communities and practices in cognitive theories of ritual.

The Meaning of Speaking in Tongues: A Practical Strategy for the 21st Century Church

The meaning of speaking in tongues portrays a language that challenges the church in its interpretation in matters of spiritual gifts from God. This article focuses on the Old and New Testament perspectives on tongues; tongues reveal God’s judgment, promises, fulfilment and its negative usages such as selfishness, jealousy, and discouragement. This is mostly for those who do not speak the language. On its positive side it looks at it as an initial sign of baptism in the spirit in which the Pentecostals and charismatic movements put their emphasis on the faith and practice. As it follows its usage in prayer, thanksgiving, truth, praise to God, the edification of the individual and prophecy to the entire church. Church history provides the understanding of the use of tongues particularly in reference to early church fathers, such as Eusebius, Irenaeus, Dean Ferrar, Chrysostom Bishop of Constantinople, and Augustine of Hippo and briefly on the reformation period. It concludes by proposing the practical strategies for discovering the gift of tongues, through workshops on spiritual gifts, small group discussions, gift discovery group and its application in the church and individual.

Analisis Perbandingan Gramatikal-Historis Bahasa Lidah dalam 1 Korintus dan Kisah Para Rasul

Glossolalia is currently a relevant topic. There is much controversy and debate about the practice of speaking in tongues. This paper will conduct a comparative analysis of tongues in 1 Corinthians and Acts. The practice referred to is specifically whether the Bible allows simultaneous speaking in tongues based on both books. Also regarding the speaking in tongues, whether it must be understood by others or is it necessary for someone to interpret it. This situation also occurs in the current context. Believers in some churches when in a worship (singing or praying) together speaking in tongues and without interpretation. The author finds that there are significant differences regarding the practice of speaking in tongues as instructed by Paul in 1 Corinthians and the story of speaking in tongues as written by Luke in Acts. In fact, there is an interpretive vacuum that contemporary interpreters must fill. The author uses a comparative method and a grammatical-historical hermeneutic approach to the biblical text.