What does it mean when people 'speak in tongues'?

Answer 1

Depends on which denomination you belong to.

Some believe God grants men the power to speak in other languages to spread his word.

Others believe speaking in tongues is a language that no man understands.

I believe the former. The latter seems more satanic than divine.

Answer 2

It means that they speak legibly in a tongue that they never had never learned to speak before. Look at the Day of Pentecost in the New Testament. The people who received the gift of the Holy Ghost were heard by people of several different nationalities speaking in THEIR native tongues and couldn't understand how this was possible if the people in the Upper Room were all Galileans with no formal training. The Scripture says that ".....they began to speak AS THE SPIRIT GAVE THEM UTTEANCE." It is a manner of giving high praise to God, of receiving a special message from God (with an interpreter present) and for preaching the Word concerning a specific matter. (once again by interpretation) The Bible is very specific about interpretation of tongues being a part of tongues being spoken so that the message isn't misunderstood.

Answer 3

The apostles spoke in tongues on the day of pentecost. They were speaking the language of the other people in the area through the Holy Spirit. Nowadays, for some reason, people yell out crazy sounds in church and think they are speaking in tongues. Definitely not what it was meant to be. The Holy Spirit filled the apostles and gave them the ability to speak in languages they did not know, so that others would know Jesus. Plain and simple.

Answer 4

Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit in which a Christian begins to speak in a language that he himself/she herself might not understand but which is understood by the hearer(s).

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit first descended upon Christians to indwell them personally. The Christians began praising God in the native languages of the people around them, and this served as a sign to the people around them that something miraculous was happening -- at which point the Apostle Peter preached to the people, and 3000 of them converted to Christianity that very day.

Today, the gift of speaking in tongues is still given to some, but the claims to this gift have multiplied unreasonably, and the gift is sometimes exhibited in inappropriate contexts. The Bible is clear that speaking in tongues ought not to be done during church services unless there is someone capable of interpreting the language nearby (so that the interpreter can make known the message being preached in the foreign tongue). If no interpreter is available, a person with the gift is to pray silently in church so as not to sow confusion. The Bible is also clear that speaking in tongues is not, contrary to the teaching of some Protestant denominations, a gift given to all Christians universally, nor is the gift of tongues a prerequisite for any other gift of the Holy Spirit.

Answer 5

It is a gift of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians. It is primarily a prayer language used to allow the Holy Spirit to express to God things you cannot put into words, a way that your spirit can speak with the Holy Spirit of God.

1 Corinthians 14 says:

2 For those who speak in a tongue do not speak to other people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.

In the 2nd chapter of Acts it was the first sign that the Apostles had received the Holy Spirit and it was used as a sign to others there who could hear the Apostles speaking in languages that they did not know(praises to God)

Answer 6

There is two ways to speak in tongues. During the first Pentecost, it appears that the disciples all spoke in tongues in a manner that allowed every person listening to be able to understand them in their own language. Another way to speak in tongues is to speak what is known as the language of Heaven, it's a way of praying the perfect will of God. If your spirit is led to pray in this way, then obviously you must be praying the will of God. Could be that both ways are just one way of speaking in tongues, but with two uses.

Answer 7

It means speaking a different language, a spiritual language directed to God. After one too many i can "speak in tongues" too.

Answer 8

Mark 16:17
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

This is a tough question to answer and you will get all sorts of ans., but I believe that speaking in tongues was a gift given to the first century believers as a sign that God was TRULY with them & that the Kingdom had come in power on the day of Pentecost. AND not all the believers back then could speak in tongues b/c it was a gift given to some and not all. Now that we have the bible, we don't need that gift anymore.
Read the whole chapter of 1 Cor. 14 (I'm not putting the whole thing in here cause it's long, but it's good and it explains the gift more)
"Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified."

Answer 9

Speaking in tongues is "prayer language" that is prayed to God through the Holy Spirit. Satan can't understand it.

Answer 10

If you pray for it, you will recieve an alternate prayer langage. It is a real language of men or angles. It is powerfull when the person you are speaking to knows that language and knows you don't, but it is also a way of communicating what you really need to God