What do you think about speaking in tongues?

Question

I have been going to church with my husband recently, and his church is charasmatic pentecostal. We have the same beliefs, i am not used to this kind of christian church. One of the big differences i see in this church is they believe in speaking in tongues. I dont think i believe in that. My husbands family feels strongly about it though. Can i still be a christian and not believe in it? I mean i believe it could happen and that it did but not so much anymore. But that doesnt make me a non-believer. What do you think?

Answer 1

Hi Heather T. The phenomena of speaking in tongues is something that is becoming more popular in churches today, their members say God is speaking through them in an unknown language and sending some sort of divine revelation, but the truth is, when God was done writing the New Testament He was finished sending Divine revelation. He teaches us this in Revelations 22:18:

"For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book."

Churches that teach God is still sending messages through tongues, visions or dreams are teaching a false gospel. I suggest you stay clear of them.

Answer 2

There is a difference between believing in the gift of tongues, and believing the ones that are incorrect. The Bible speaks about that gift, so you should believe. The problem is that this kind of churches, use this gift incorrectly, you need to read (1 Corinthians 14) very slow, so you can see the difference between Bible and church. I am a christian and I go to a pentecostal church too. But I believe the gift as described in the Bible are right.
They say that if you don't speak in tongues you don't have the Holy Spirit. that's not true. read: (John 20:22). (they didn't speak in tongues right away)
Also, this gift is not for everybody, read: (1 Corinthians 12:10)
Jesus didn't speak in tongues either.
If somebody speaks in tongues, there should be interpretation.
(1 Corinthians 14:27)

Some other people say that this gift is no longer in practice, they use (1 Corinthians 13:8)
But they are wrong too, because in that case, science should be over too.

I hope is not too complicated...

Answer 3

Speaking in tongues is 100% biblical. As I read this post I was saddened at the amount of people that don't read the word of God (bible). Speaking in tongues is so clearly outlined in the bible(See references below) The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a gift from God to his children. The bible says that if you're a child of God (Born Again) then you ask for the Holy Spirit and you get it and its that simple. Once you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:1-4 the evidence of receiving the gift is the ability to speak in tongues. If you're born again try it. It may not be what you think or may have seen. The bible also teaches us that there are different types of speaking tongues some for public use and some for private use. It goes deeper but I suggest that if you're interested in this topic read the scripture reference I listed below. Remember the New testament is written to believers - this means that what you read in the New Testament applies to any Christian in the world today. You have power and things available to you that you have no idea of. People swear they know about God and Christianity but they won't even read the written word of God. Speaking in tongues adds Dynamite (DUNAMIS) power to your Christian walk.

Scripture References:
John 14:16-17 - The Promise
Luke 24:49
Acts 2:38 - The Gift
Luke 11:9, 10 & 13 - Receive by asking
Acts 1:8 - Power
Acts 2:1-4 - Bible Evidence - speaking in tongues

Answer 4

I believe that when one takes the time to actually look at the portion of scripture that address "tongues" that one sees that it has to do with known languages that is spoken though not acquired thru natural means - which is the meaning of the word translated "tongues".

Getting that point across to someone though that is within such a group - not easy. They can come to understand such - but it will most def. be knowledge given them thru a working of the Holy Spirit.

Tongues are a sign for the unbeliever as seen within 1 Cor. 14:22:

1Co 14:22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to the ones believing _but_ to the unbelieving ones, but prophesy [is] not for the unbelieving ones _but_ for the ones believing. (Analytical-Literal Translation)

As one that has been around for more than a few years, I remember the abuse and the form that it can take when such a teaching gets within the hands of some.

Not sure if you are old enough to remember when Oral Roberts spoke in 'tongues' and then gave what he claimed to be the 'inspired translation' - that people were to send him money so that he could build a hospital in Oklahoma because it was going to be a wonderful place where all sorts of wonderful things would be done, a beacon to the unsaved world? It closed. So much for that word that claimed that it would be a sign out to the unsaved world and draw them to Him for years to come.

This is just one such example. There are untold numbers that come to the same end result. They have books that you can buy that will list the ones that the author has found. But what does such prove? It proves that there are some that really do not have a good understanding of the scriptures that present themselves as if they do.

I am writing from personal experience. I not only used to go to a "Charismatic" type congregation - I was on staff for close to 10 YEARS. Not in a small congregation - but one that was on TV across the nation and world. It took a real confrontation with what the reality of what I was seeing with my eyes to confront many issues - one of them being the teaching on tongues. Trust me - it was not easy for me when I left. But that is another story.

If you need help on this topic, I can point you in the direction of where I came from. I don't have all the answers. All I can do is to tell you what I found and how I found it.

Hope that this at least gives you some insight into that particular teaching.

Answer 5

According to the Bible, speaking in tongues is perfect prayer. That's all. Nothing more. If you don't speak in tongues, it's no biggie.

Don't worry, you're still a Christian. My wife grew up being a Methodist and had no idea what speaking in tongues was until I told her about my faith (non-denominational Christianity, based on Biblical research).

It is a rare thing for me to speak in tongues, and it's mainly due to fear. I suspect that deep down, everyone, that's either new to Christianity, or have never been exposed to speaking in tongues, has that same fear. Fear is a difficult thing to overcome. Alot of it has to do with practice, which I don't do alot of. Even though I don't practice as much as I should, I still think of myself as a Christian. So I wouldn't worry about it.

If a church won't accept you because you're not comfortable, or you do not believe in speaking in tongues, then that church is wrong.

Answer 6

Most christian denominations believe as you do. Only a small minority believe that modern people can perform the miracle of speaking in tongues, and of those that do, not all believe that you have to speak in tongues, or perform any other miracle, to be a good Christian.

Try the following web-page, and click on "Sign Gifts". I believe that most Christians would agree with what the Reverend Lon Solomon says about the gift of tongues.

Answer 7

Go with what the Bible tells you. Speaking in tongues is only ONE of many gifts God gives you.

But speaking in tongues is only good when there is someone who can understand and translate. Paul says this.

Otherwise, do not let it affect your faith and worship. I do not speak in tongues, nor do I have the gift of discernment, but I have other gifts. Pray that the Word of God gets out, but realize that God blesses you with other things and Speaking in Tongues is ONLY ONE of the gifts God grants.

Miracles do happen, however, when a person speaks in a tongue in a church, and there is a message for somebody on the other side of that same church who knows exactly what that person is saying. This actually happened once when my AG church joined services with the CMA (a nonpentecostal church) at the CMA's church. During the worship part of the service, somebody from the AG stood up and spoke in tongues. My pastor (AG) was distressed because he did not have discernment and was convinced this would put the CMA people off and the two congregations would never be friends.

But then during the offering, a CMA member went to the back where Matt (the AG-Assembly of God-pastor) was standing. The CMA pastor was alerted and went to the back. The CMA member translated the message. The CMA guy says it just hit him like a brick in the head as to what that guy was saying: That God was in the congregation and was deeply pleased by the joining of the two congregations. One AG member spoke in tongues, the CMA member who had never spoken in tongues and never heard the message before translated.

Other gifts include prophecy, healing, evangelism, wisdom, discernment, etc.

I encourage you to continue to go, even if you cannot speak in tongues. You will see miracles and things happen that the Bible refers to.

Answer 8

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.[12] Glossolalia has even been postulated as an explanation for the Voynich manuscript.[citation needed]

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.[13]

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. One of the study's authors is a practicioner of glossolalia and a born-again Christian herself. The study concluded 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 observed no changes in any language areas, suggesting that glossolalia is not associated with usual language function.[14]

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 9

I think it has to do with your knowledge of tongues. When you read the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, everyone in the Upper Room spoke in tongues, however, these tongues were different languages not unknown utterances. When you look at tongues spoken during a church service or personal prayers...etc, you are talking about something that is still Biblical, however, entirely different...This is known as that "Heavenly Language" or "Unknown Tongues"...This happens when the Holy Spirit takes you to a place where you are speaking directly to GOD.

What I would suggest is talking to a minister or someone who has a good knowledge of tongues before you make a final decision...That's like saying that I know that Jesus is in the Bible and that HE is referred to as the Son of GOD, but I don't believe in it. Whatever is in the Word of GOD is true and Vailid...He is not a man that he should lie....Check up on that...but, overall, that doesn't make you a non-believer you have repented, confessed and believe...

Hope that helps,
Tha Revolution

Answer 10

I don't think that makes you a non-believer. If you notice the Bible's description of speaking in tongues on the day on Pentecost, everybody understood what was said in their native language. Which to me says that it's a gift that displays itself in known languages, or at least someone else in the room will know what they're saying. I don't believe it's the babbling that you'll see in some places.

In fact, I think the gift of tongues most often comes in a quieter form of people being able to learn languages miraculously fast to be able to share the gospel. For example, there's a saying in China that the only people who can learn Chinese are those who were raised speaking it, and the missionaries.

Answer 11

I believe that the gifts of The Holy Spirit are still in effect.
That they are misused is a fact.
Penticostals seem to make a real big deal about the gift of tongues. I am not saying that the gift is no good, I am saying that it is misused.
I don't think that the gift should be used in a church assenbly. It should be used in a private way. You are by the way speaking to God when it is used. 1 Cor. the 12th. chapter speaks of the gift.
The 14th. chapter tells of it's use.
1 Cor 14:2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
1 Cor 14:4 One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.
1 Cor 14:9 So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.

I speak in tongues. I do not use the gift in public. I feel that God gave me the gift to communicate with Him.

That is the way I feel about it.