How else do you explain the gift of tongues but divine presence!?

Question

I attended this youth camp when i was 13, and there was this girl who upon coming back into the gathering room after being baptized with the Holy Spirit, started to speak in tongues in the finale of our praise and worship.

Now, it was unlike any other tongues that i've heard. Some other types of tongues make me doubt, but hers really felt genuine and hard to fake. It was not like babbling as i heard other people do. It sounded like she was speaking rapidly in Chinese, then Italian, then sort of Latin and Arabic. But it was so fast and she was so sweaty.

She was the type of girl who is unassuming and reserved. To help you picture her out, she's like a shy country girl. How could a shy country girl sweat profusely and speak rapidly for 3 minutes, other than the presence of the Holy Spirit? And it was a Catholic event too! Does that say that evangelical Christians who discredit Catholic practices are wrong? Or does that simply say that God just looks into the heart of people...

...w/o regard to religion?

Or can you have any scientific explanation to the phenomenon of tongues?

I know she spoke Chinese coz i heard her say "Thank you" in Chinese. She was behind me and i was very scared. I want to ask her now about it but i don't know where to find her.

For those who said she was pretending, she was not. I'm sure about it.

She was a middle-aged Filipina (Filipino woman) around 25 years old at that time. Thank you for those of you who knew something about this. For the others, please be aware of your ignorance.

I only understood the "Thank you" part. Her manner of speaking changed around every 10 seconds.

Answer 1

The Bible says that the gift of tongues is given by the Holy Spirit.

This gift was especially important for the early church because the gospel had to be communicated to the world.

The first time Christians received such gift was during the Pentecost, a period when thousands of people from around the world gathered in Jerusalem.

It was necessary for these people to hear the Gospel in their own languages. In Acts 2:5-15 you get a clear report of how the gift of tongues was used. "...they were bewildered because each one heard his own language spoken... How is that each of us can hear them in his own native language?"

As you can see from these verses, when the early Christians spoke in tongues, they actually spoke existing, foreign languages that they had never spoken before.

They were speaking in tongues with a PURPOSE, because other people (the foreigners) could understand them.

Cleary speaking in tongues denotes the ability of speaking in foreign languages. It is as gift just like prophesing, preaching, managing, etc.

God choses the right people and the right occasions to apply such gifts. Therefore, you don't have to be worried whether or not you speak in tongues. After all, don't all the people around you speak the same language as you? Why would you want to say things people cannot understand?

Look what Paul says in I Corinthians 14:8 and 9 - "...if the trumped-call is not clear who will be prepared for battle? In the same way, if what you say in tongues yields no precise meaning, how can anyone tell what is being said? You will be talking to empty air."

Please, feel free to contact me to ask me more questions. my e-mail is [e-mail]

Answer 2

I have grown up in a Pentecostal family, and I have seen lots of things explained as being "of the Holy Spirit" which were obviously not. Now, I believe in the gift of tongues (the New Testament is riddled with references to it, the most notable being the description of Pentecost in Acts). However, most of what I have seen in my church is simply the emotional babbling of people who think that because they feel good, they must be being influenced by the Holy Spirit to speak in "tongues."

Being a linguistics enthusiast (and having made several languages of my own including phonology, grammar, etc.), I find it pretty easy to pick out who is babbling and who's actually speaking a language. 99% of the people I hear speaking "tongues" are simply babbling. Now, I don't think that they're faking it; I think they're just feeling emotional high from being in the presence of God during a worship service.

Scripturally, "tongues" is the supernatural speaking in another natural language unknown to the one speaking. This is why, in Acts, all those listening to the believers at Pentecost heard their native tongues being spoken, no matter which corner of the globe they were from. Paul references speaking "with the tongues of men and of angels" in I Corinthians 13, but I have not seen any other place where the tongue in question is identified as anything other than a natural tongue. Thus, "tongues" should, in theory, be naturally translatable.

A good rule of thumb to follow (and we enforce this in my church) in that all tongues must be accompanied with a translation given of God to a different person than the one who spoke the tongue. This (in theory) ensures that the person is neither babbling nor making it up. In practice, people may give a translation of simple babbling for the same reason the babbler babbles: to get attention or because they are simply emotionally involved in the moment. Therefore, always listen to make sure the translation corresponds to the tongue (e.g., if the tongue given repeats a phrase or word over and over, it should be repeated in the translation, too, otherwise they do not correspond).

Answer 3

You "felt" she was speaking in Chinese, Latin, etc. How? Sorry, I'm a college graduate and even I could be fooled by someone speaking with the correct syntax but using made up words, it would just be nonsense, "but I wouldn't know that."

Also, consider 1 Corinthians 13:8-11, "Love never fails. But whether there are gifts of phrophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially 10. but when that which is complete arrives, that which is partial will be done away with. 11. When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe, but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a babe."

What this means is: The full New Testament was not yet complete, in fact, the author of this letter was in the process of writing it when he sent the letter to the congregation. However, by the Council of Nicea, all the books had been put together, all the "breaks with the Jews" had been done, and Christianity was "complete" and on its own as a "Bride of Christ." No longer was she an infant that had to be led by the Apostles and other worthy Elder brothers. God's word was now here to answer any QUESTIONS that might come up about "what to do in the congregation."

Answer 4

1. only god know hearts and only He judges
2. 1 Corinthians 14:5,6,9,13,19,23,26,27,28,33 God does grant the gift of speaking in tongues to some but there are rules associated with this gift. God is not the author of confusion. If she did not have an interpreter. She should have kept silent. More than likely this was not the work of God. I once had a friend from an obscure African tribe who spoke a very obscure dialect. He went into one of these meetings with people "speaking" in tongues and happened to understand them. They were praising Satan and saying all sorts of wonderful things about him. Read the above chapter for validation. Often Satan's best deceptions are mixed with some truth.

Answer 5

Speaking in tongues is not a gift from God. It was a gift to the disciples of Jesus Christ. They were given the gift of speaking in tongues, so they could preach the word of God in many different languages. When the disciples died,so did the gift. So if the gift of tongues were given to the disciples to preach the word of God to others, why is it ,the people who speak in tongues now-a-days just do it in prayer? How do I know? Because the disciples also were gave the gift to cure the sick and raise the dead. Has anyone since Jesus' disciples done that? And you can ask the tongue speaker what they were saying and most are clueless. Satan too can perform miracles. And lead you astray. That's what he does best. He is the Father of all lies. I have been to the churches where they speak in tongues and something is just not right.

Answer 6

Key words in your description was 'sounded like'. Fact is she was probably babbling nonsense but it 'sounded like' some type of language. I have also heard people speak in tongues and it seems lame to say the least. Think about this...let's say it was a divine event, some message god wanted the person to convey. Why would god have this message given in some language no one understands? The very premise makes the entire thing laughable.

Answer 7

...but is the gift of tongues still necessary?

If you look at the Bible passage, the gift of tongues was used by God to aspread His teachings among the nations of men who did not speak the same language.

Now take a look at the period after Jesus rose from the dead and went back to the father... was the gift of tongues ever mentioned again?

After the Holy Spirit came down on those disciples so that they could speak the language/tongue of other nations and communicate with other men, it didn't become necessary anymore.

Peace.

Answer 8

LOL no offense, but this is my belief on the gift of tongues:
When ever the bible mentions the gift of tongues it emphasizes that it must benefit someone else's salvation, they speak another language from earth, and they don't need a translator. I believe this multiligual gift, like any other gift should be in use to honor God by speading the gospel for others who speak another language. If it isn't then it's in the enemy's hands. God isn't the author of confusion. From your story, this gift has been used correctly in my beliefs. It's nice to see people get religiously excited, but never lose your reasoning, that's what I always say.

Answer 9

I have several beliefs about the gift of tongues. I believe primarily, it happens when you can communicate with someone who does not speak your language or you theirs by simply talking normally. (Example, I speak English and don't speak Russian. I speak to someone in English and they hear me in Russian and vice versa.) I believe second, that a few--very few can honestly speak the pure language spoken in the Garden of Eden. I believe third that of all the gifts of the Spirit, it is the one can be imitated the easiest and tha it is abused. Fourth, I think receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost as your companion and guide is something totally different than speaking in tongues. I have witnessed too many people in the community where I grew up think they were not saved because they could not speak in tongues. I thought they were honestly more Christ like than those professing to speak in tongues.

Answer 10

I know. I have seen this happen so many times, and I know of one account of when a Caucasian friend of Nora Lam (a Chinese evangelist who was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for her beliefs) spoke into tounges during a church meeting. Even though the Caucasian (spelling?) woman didn't know a word of Chinese, she was speaking in tongues and Nora Lam understood her to be saying "Go to Shanghai, Guizhou, (other Chinese cities) and preach there."
For the rest of you who don't believe it, look it up and find out for yourself.

I do believe in the power of the tongues. Forget what any naysayers tell you- it's real, and there is no "scientific explanation" for it, only divine presence.