The main scripture used to support the practice is Mark 16:17-18, which has Jesus saying:
"And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."
The practice was popularized by the Rev. George Went Hensley in the early 20th century. Hensley claimed to have survived over 400 snake bites in his career. He died in 1955 from a snake bite received during a church service in Florida.
The practice continues to this day in some 40 small churches, and devotees believe all five of the signs mentioned in the above scripture from the gospel of Mark should be evident in a believer's life. They occasionally drink poison, usually strychnine, during church services in accordance with the fourth sign.
Several snake-handler deaths from bites have been reported in the media in recent years. I saw a TV news story in 1998 of a snake-handling evangelist who died after being bitten during a church service in Alabama. His wife had died three years earlier from a snake bite in Kentucky. In 2012 a pastor died from a rattlesnake bite in West Virginia, and his father had died similarly in 1983. [source]
As bizarre as this practice may seem to outsiders, it may have ancient roots that pre-date Christianity. According to comparative religion scholar Acharya S, in certain ancient temples of goddesses, serpents were evidently used to induce prophetic and hallucinatory trances by their venom. And in the Mysteries of the god Bacchus, officers handled serpents and raised them above their heads in a ritualistic tradition that dates back at least 4,000 years. [source]
Here's a video of a CNN news report on snake-handling churches.
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