Christians, Do you believe in speaking in tongues?

Question

I heard that not all Christians do, so I was just wondering if you do or not if you're a Christian. I do and can, so if you don't believe then why? Thanks :)

No, I am not pentecostal, I am non-denominational. It's the Holy Spirit in you, and anyone can speak it as long as you believe in God and have a relationship with him. I'm 14, and no it is not fake gibberish. There's no point in trying to change anyone's mind about it thought is there? But is you have any questions about it then you can e-mail me. :)

I addressed this question to Christians for a reason, so I would know what other Christians thought about it. And if you don't believe in it then there's no point of posting anything because I'm not changing my mind about it. Just wanted to let you know.

Answer 1

i am a true christian. first of all, do you know what you are saying when you speak in tongues, no, it is jibberish that nobody can understand, neither yourself nor others. In the first century, when Christians ‘spoke in tongues,’ what they said had meaning to people who knew those languages or an interpretor was present. Acts 2:4, 8) ‘It was a practical means to spread the good news on an international scale in a short time.today there is a organized preaching work where its members directly speak these languages to people all over the world preaching the good news of God's Kingdom and its coming blessings.speaking in tongues was for the upbuilding of the congregation and the spreading of the good news of God's Kingdom. many religions claim to be able to speak in tongues because Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would "guidehis disciples into all the truth.’ (John 16:13) Do the members of each of these religions believe that the others who also “speak in tongues” have been guided into “all the truth”? How could that be, since they are not all in agreement? What spirit is making it possible for them to “speak in tongues”?

A joint statement by the Fountain Trust and the Church of England Evangelical Council admitted: “We are also aware that a similar phenomenon can occur under occult/demonic influence.” (Gospel and Spirit, April 1977, published by the Fountain Trust and the Church of England Evangelical Council, p. 12)The book Religious Movements in Contemporary America (edited by Irving I. Zaretsky and Mark P. Leone, quoting L. P. Gerlach) reports that in Haiti ‘speaking in tongues’ is characteristic of both Pentecostal and Voodoo religions.—(Princeton, N.J.; 1974), p. 693; see also 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10.

1 Cor. 14:5: “Now I would like for all of you to speak in tongues, but I prefer that you prophesy. Indeed, he that prophesies is greater than he that speaks in tongues, unless, in fact, he translates, that the congregation may receive upbuilding.”

1 John 4:1: “Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God.” (See also Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Corinthians 11:14, 15.)

1 Cor. 13:1, 8: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a sounding piece of brass or a clashing cymbal. Love never fails. But whether there are gifts of prophesying, they will be done away with; whether there are tongues, they will cease.”

so your "ability" to speak in tongues does not originate with the true God, because this gift has been done away with. what is giving you this "ability" are demons.

Answer 2

I am a believer, and the tongues spoken today in many pentecostal churches are not the Biblical form of tongues. The tongues spoken in Acts and spoken about by Paul, are diverse languages, not some secret language or Heavenly language. Paul is very explicit in I Cor. 14 that tongues or any gift of the spirit was to be used to edify the entire body, speaking a secret language that nobody understands is not edifying to anyone, Paul wrote against this sort of thing. He also stated that when someone does speak in tongues, there is to be an interpreter there.

Answer 3

Acts 2:8 says it is a language that was understood by humans. Sorry to burst your bubble, but modern tongues is jibberish and the same phenomon is practised in non Christian religions.

I am 54 old enough to be your granpa and i have spent time in those types of churches and have even experienced it, so i am speaking form experience. You are Pentecostal, your church just doesn't want to use that term . i know because I have been to those non denominational non Pentecostal, Pentecostal churches. It is a play on words the old bait and switch routine.


May you grow up with reason and logic as your guide.

Answer 4

As always, religion explains using superstition phenomena that has perfectly good natural explanations.

Linguistics

The syllables that make up instances of glossolalia typically appear to be unpatterned reorganizations of phonemes from the primary language of the person uttering the syllables; thus, the glossolalia of people from Russia, the United Kingdom, and Brazil all sound quite different from each other, but vaguely resemble the Russian, English, and Portuguese languages, respectively. Many linguists generally regard most glossolalia as lacking any identifiable semantics, syntax, or morphology.[13] Glossolalia has even been postulated as an explanation for the Voynich manuscript.

Psychology

The first scientific study of glossolalia was done by psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin as part of his research into the linguistic behaviour of schizophrenic patients. In 1927, G.B. Cutten published his book Speaking with tongues; historically and psychologically considered, which was regarded a standard in medical literature for many years. Like Kraepelin, he linked glossolalia to schizophrenia and hysteria. In 1972, John Kildahl took a different psychological perspective in his book The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues. He stated that glossolalia was not necessarily a symptom of a mental illness and that glossolalists suffer less from stress. He did observe, however, that glossolalists tend to have more need of authority figures and appeared to have had more crises in their lives.

A 2003 statistical study concluded that, among the 991 male evangelical clergy sampled, glossolalia was associated with stable extraversion, and contrary to some theories, completely unrelated to psychopathology.[14]

Nicholas Spanos described glossolalia as an acquired ability, for which no real trance is needed (Glossolalia as Learned Behavior: An Experimental Demonstration, 1987). It is also known as a simplex communication.

Neuroscience

In 2006, at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers, under the direction of Andrew Newberg, MD, completed the world’s first brain-scan study of a group of Pentecostal Practitioners while they were speaking in tongues. The study found that while participants were exercising glossolalia, activity in the language centers of the brain actually decreased, while activity in the emotional centers of the brain increased.

New York Times wrote about the study, and it has been published in Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, Volume 148, Issue 1, 22 November 2006, Pages 67-71.

Answer 5

I don't. At least not now. Most Churches who practice this have these things in common. They are prosperity preachers. They are always looking for signs and wonders. A majority of their services are about healing, miracles, and Gods promises that all you need to do is claim. They also preach a lot on tithing and maybe thats why you have not gotten your miracle because you havn't given enough. As far as tongues, they do not do it in an orderly fashion as they were told to do. They do not have an interpreter which was required. Also they do that wierd slain in the spirit thing. Seems to me that Salvation is just not good enough for them. They seem to demand more.

Answer 6

First of all it had its purpose in the first century. The need to speak in tongues was to spread the gospel of Jesus. As you read the book of Acts you see that being accomplished. But Paul also said it is a gift and it would end. A Christian purpose is to make disciples. That is done by doing as Jesus did, going house to house, village to village. By referring to the Bible, we help others appreciate who God is, And the sacrifice Jesus did. There are many other gifts, but the real gift is the bible, and being able to preach. Act 10:42

Answer 7

It is my information that the present of tongues is given to facilitate instructing and different communications. Thus it could be expressed in (a) a facility in studying one more language; (b) transitority capability to talk and/or realize one more language (as at the day of Pentecost); or (c) the intermittent and advert hoc use of unknown languages to specific an major factor flawlessly. The apostle Paul used to be of the opinion that folks must no longer disrupt worship offerings with utterances supposedly given by means of the Spirit, principally if there's no one with the present of interpretation of tongues reward. Apparently the challenge used to be as dangerous in Christ's customary church as it's in these days. After all, if a person looks to be talking in an unknown language, how could we all know? He and the interpreter maybe cooperating to drag anything over on us.

Answer 8

I do, but i don't speak in tongues.
Speaking in tongues is mentioned in a few places in the Bible. Most notably in Acts 19:6
"...the Holy Ghost came on them ; and they spake with tongues..."
I guess that the question is, Is it really the operation of the Holy Spirit?
It isn't really a factor in most churches. And is (i'd imagine) discouraged as frivolous and disrupting. I guess all things have their place and time.

Answer 9

No I do not... not Biblicaly supported... at least as is practiced by those today.... today it is just self indused hystaria and or self hypnosis.... The Apostles, on the day The Church was commisioned were given the gift of tongues... but that was the gift of being able to speak in the different languages spoken in the world at that time... not some unknown tongue....it was needed by the Apostles, and other deciples for that matter, to be able to speak different languages as they were commissioned to go out and reach all the word.

Answer 10

Its taught in the bible that you need to test the spirit. Not every tongue speaking is from God.

Do you find yourselves more spiritually discerning after receiving the spirit? If not, something is wrong. Do you find yourselves more able to do good after receiving the spirit? If not, something is wrong.

I can speak in tongues, raise my hands without consciously moving them and my body moves forward (some 5 metres) towards the pulpit when I pray for around 15 minutes. I once tried praying in tongues with some guys (one of whom is a preacher and able to lay hands on people to make them fall back)and they can also speak in tongues. During the session, 2 of them cried, the 3rd one refused to talk to me again. When I finally caught up with them, they told me that they were terribly afraid and scooted off.

Do you know why? I wonder if they had the spirit of god, why were they afraid of me???