Mark 16 -- Literal?

[jehovah Nissi]

Jesus said it for a reason right...what else could it mean?

I don't think using Mark 16:18 to witness for Christ is foolish or presumptuous. It would be an extremely compelling reason--perhaps the MOST compelling for skeptics--to accept the truth of the Bible. It could save countless souls.

Also, Mark 16:18 doesn't come with a disclaimer. It explicitly says if a believer drinks poison, they'll survive. Period. Either you read that plainly, or you don't.

I await responses by Leonard and others.

Didn't Jesus rebuke satin for trying to get Him to jump off a cliff to defy the laws of gravity???? satin even gave Him scripture (Matthew 4:6-7).

[Tehilah Ba'Aretz]

The context counts.

If Satan tries to kill you because you are a believer, you can count on God to be your protection. The required beginning point is that the person must be a believer. Jesus reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. He then told them to, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation."

We, as believers, should expect that signs and wonders will accompany us. If nobody is healed when you walk down the street, please do not try to force God to protect you from snakes and poison. If you are out in the streets and see other signs and wonders around you, please to not be afraid if somebody throws a snake at you nor hesitate to drink the water your enemy offers. If you go out and find your own snake, you need to be careful because it is clear that you are depending on your own ability to catch snakes rather than God's ability to protect you from an attack.

[Guest man]

Jesus said it for a reason right...what else could it mean?

I don't think using Mark 16:18 to witness for Christ is foolish or presumptuous. It would be an extremely compelling reason--perhaps the MOST compelling for skeptics--to accept the truth of the Bible. It could save countless souls.

Also, Mark 16:18 doesn't come with a disclaimer. It explicitly says if a believer drinks poison, they'll survive. Period. Either you read that plainly, or you don't.

I await responses by Leonard and others.

Didn't Jesus rebuke satin for trying to get Him to jump off a cliff to defy the laws of gravity???? satin even gave Him scripture (Matthew 4:6-7).

Exactly.

[redwing]

many years ago i unwittingly attended a church service in eastern kentucky. ( i was going through

a divorce an a couple of my co-workers invited me to go to there home town for a week of deer hunting.) i was invited to a wensday eveing church service.

to make a long story short they were snake handlers. after the service the pastor came to me and ask

what i though about the service. i told him i had to admire there faith in God, but i would not pick up a rattler. he then stated" if God came in here and told you to pick up the serpent, would you do it?"

my reply to the preacher, " if God told me to pick up the serpent i would. but he has'ent and i ain't"

it took a quart of moonshine to settle my nerves.

[Guest man]

17

[stevehut]

Lorax, all of those things came to pass in Acts, except the poison. And from what I've read, that may simply be a symbolic expression for persecution.

[Guest man]

Of course.

Really?

Why don't Believers drink poison as a way of witnessing?

It would pretty much be scientific proof of the Bible's truth! This is like the one thing that would get through to atheists.

Why doesn't someone do this?

The Church of God with Signs Following is the name applied to Pentecostal holiness churches that engage in the practice of snake handling and drinking poison in their religious worship services, based on Mark 16:17-18.

link

[EricH]

Most scholars do not believe that this was a part of the original mss.

[Smalcald]

Of course.

Really?

Why don't Believers drink poison as a way of witnessing?

It would pretty much be scientific proof of the Bible's truth! This is like the one thing that would get through to atheists.

Why doesn't someone do this?

I think people throughout history have and I think that they will in the future. People have been raised from the dead we know this from scripture and there have been numerous reports of this happening throughout Christian history and even isolated cases today. Certainly drinking poison and not dying or handling a poise ness snake would be no more extraordinary.

I don't think that you can decide when you want to do it though and this is the key. This is done by the Holy Spirit not by a human who is controlling the Spirit and this is where the churches which do these things get it wrong. But I find drinking poison no different from speaking in tongues, both are done through the Holy Spirit.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Most scholars do not believe that this was a part of the original mss.

It took til the bottom of page 2, but the truth finally came out. The earliest and most reliable versions of the Bible do not contain the final passages of Mark 16 (that is, verses 9-21). It's a later insertion to address the resurrection of Jesus. The author of Mark's gospel was originally content to view Jesus' life and death, until some later scholar got a little over-zealous in wanting all the gospels to agree on the resurrection and added in this passage about the resurrection.

Thanks for the voice of reason, EricH