Speaking in tongues?

Question

Anyone really believe that the speaking in tongues means anything? Just read some articles published by an eminent professor which say that even though the person may be having some kind of experience, it is down to the electrical activity of certain little-studied parts of the brain. It feels real at the time, but so does a dream.

Anyone got experience of it?

Answer 1

Speaking in tongues is such a gift!!!

Thanks for that neat gift of mindless babble!!

Answer 2

Speaking in tongues comes from the spirit of the person under the influence of the holy spirit who overshadows the person's spirit.

Of course, the spirit and the soul are connected in the physical body.... the soul being body, mind, and emotions.....so the soul can be inlfuenced (electrical activity) by the spirit

however, the source of the activity is the spirit, not the brain. No one can get their brain to do this...the brain may be affected by it though.

Yes , i speak and pray in tongues for about 2 hours a day. Sometimes, I have gone longer than that. I have an active prayer life. This is a gift which is given to those for service, intercession and prayer. It is meant to be a protected prayer language to avoid attack by dark spiritual forces, which can hear prayers and form plans against what they hear. It is also a humble experience, because one is usually kept from the interpretation, to show the person there is so much they do not know, that God does. In the prayer, the holy spirit helps the person pray perfectly in God's will so that the prayers will be answered.

there are times when the interpretation is made known, maybe in part or completely. This is for the edification of the person. i am aware of what certain words mean when i pray...i hope in time, that more meaning comes to me.

it is not a dream, and is done consciously.... although the person is not controlling the words spoken.

your professor will not understand or accept anything i just said. it will be beyond him.

Answer 3

Why speak in Tongues? I've spoken in Tongues and interpreted 18 years So why is it a good thing ? When we are Children our Spirits Cup is full..as we get older it empties very easily (How? we give it away) and Vampires come and take it. Yes they literally put a Straw in your Spirit's Cup and drink your Spirit life out, now when you Speak in Tongues your Spirit Tap open's and Fill's your Cup on a regular basis. Churches that say no to Tongues are saying no to Having their Spirit's Cup filled. That's one of the functions of Speaking in Tongues.

Answer 4

I believe that God does give people the power to speak in tongues. In Acts, as a sign of the holy spirit having descended on them, the disciples began to 'speak with other tongues.'
I Corinthians 12 explains that the Holy Spirit gives unto some to work miracles, some to prophecy, and some the interpretations of tongues.
I think that speaking in tongues would be a personal experience for the person, because I Corinthians 14 states 'for he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men, but unto God.'
One thing that I definitely don't believe is that your not saved if you don't speak in tongues. There's no where in the bible that says that.
Hope that helps.

Answer 5

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 by the religious journal Pastoral Psychology 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.

During this study, researchers observed significant cerebral blood flow changes among individuals while exercising glossolalia, concluding that the observed changes were consistent with some of the described aspects of glossolalia. Further, the researchers odserved no changes in any language areas, suggesting that glossolalia is not associated with usual language function.[15]

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 6

A stream of consciousness mystic will speak in tongues at the drop of a hat. Sometimes even a psychic will start doing it if the message is meant to reach the subconscious and not the thinking personality. Speaking in tongues is excellent for subliminal messages. But all of this stuff is fairly subtle. I have never done the speaking in tongues thing, but I have babbled some rather abstruse strange stuff to someone and it has made perfect sense to him, just like this has.

Answer 7

Objectively we have ecstatic prophets from the time of Miriam circa 1500 b.c., a phenomenal social upheaval at Pentecost involving 3k, and my personal utilization as a faith healer.
vs. 1 professor. I'll match my doctorate and experience against his.
Of course it shows electrical activity in the brain - the brain works by chemistry and electricity, without such the mouth couldn't even utter anything.

Answer 8

yes its the spirits trying to get out or trying to say some thing, and its not just a Christian thing it happens in other religions to, devil worshipper can go into fits and start rambling on i seen it one time when they held my friend down, he had been reading the necronomacon, and other other books on the occult including taro cards, he wore a pentagram around his neck he claimed that it would protect him from the evil spirits he was wrong, when they went to remove the pentagram he started speaking and shouting in a language i did not under stand and that i never want to here again, in a Pentecostal church i went to one time ,my girl friend made me go, a few people started speaking in tongues, and it was very interesting they still sounded a little crazy but it did not frighten me as bad as when the demons were trying to communicate. they told me only the preacher can understand what is being said. pretty convenient i know. i would recommend people going and checking it out its kind of cool. and yes its real there are spirits and they do try to communicate with us, and they use dedicated holy men to help them, and the evil side does the same thing.

Answer 9

That's a YES I have I used to go to the London healing mission a lot it got closed down but re opened in hammersmith its now called the christian healing mission and I have been to K T that's Pentecostal wear they all go down under the Holy spirit and laugh and cry or just lie there resting in the Lord. the RC has one as well in the side hall of the Westminster cathedral Friday nights. for those in the know it works but not if you don't believe in God or have no faith for worldly people its a nonsenses and the Bible says so

Answer 10

yeah, it's real.
if led by the Spirit, Christians can talk to each other and summon righteous powers and principalities to assist.
most powerful when used as a weapon or tool to heal the sick or those in some way hurting.
I have seen at close range some of the effects of the Spirit.
fantastic and real.
if the nutty professor hasn't tasted it, he cannot say.
end case. good night.

Answer 11

Speaking in tongues is a gift and is people speaking from the spirit.