Anyone have info on speaking in tongues?

Question

I'm trying to see all sides of the issue. I'm starting to believe they were for the first church times, to speak in other languages to confirm their faith and reach out to other cultures. I'm not sure if I believe in it now as a prayer language and etc...

Answer 1

Mumbo Jumbo

Answer 2

I am a minister and extremely frustrated with the way Pentecostal churches teach speaking in tongues or the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. They have fallen into the same fallacies and problems described by Paul that were practiced in the church at Corinth. The day of Pentecost was the day the Church of Jesus Christ was started and continues until today. Those that were there and later thousands more received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidence being speaking in tongues, or in a language that the receiver/speaker did not know. The church today abuses the gift in a way that Christ never intended. God is not the author of confusion and what they do is very confusing. Also, there is no mention anywhere in the Bible of a prayer language, another abuse the way it is taught. Paul said that he speaks in tongues(languages he did not know) more than any of them, and he said he prays in tongues, and he sings in tongues. Paul was the greatest apostle and he said that praying, singing, and speaking in tongues for him was normal, but he emphasized that he did not do it in church, but in his private time with the Lord or when the Holy Spirit directed as a witness to the lost or unbeliever. The Bible does say that knowledge, tongues, and prophecy(speaking God's word) would some day end when that which is perfect has come. The word perfect gender is nueter which means a thing not a person. Some say it is the Bible, but if that were true then we would have no more knowledge about God and the Word, and no more speaking God's Word(Prophecy), which of course has not ended, therefore tongues must also continue. What is this perfect thing? The return of Jesus because that event(a thing) will make it no longer necessary for knowledge, prophecy, or tongues. We will have Jesus who is the answer for everything. Amen

Answer 3

You're right about speaking in tongues being a sign to unbelievers such as on the day of Pentecost, those who were filled with the Holy Spirit spoke in languages unknown to themselves but known to those listening to them. But the gift has not passed away as some would say because the perfect has not yet come. That will be accomplished when Jesus returns, then the gift of tongues or glossolia will not be needed. The gift of speaking in tongues is still given today.
There are two forms of this gift. One is the gift for the edification of the church. This is when a person will speak a word from the Lord in tongues, this must be interpreted. This gift is a prophetic word to encourage the Church.
But the second gift is a private prayer language, used when a person is speaking to the Lord in prayer and worship, it is not usually used in public
Some people believe it is also the evidence of someone being "baptised in the Holy Spirit" or "filled with the Holy Spirit". This is the Pentecostal view.
Hope that helps clarify the issue for you God bless

Answer 4

To speak in an un-known tongue was given to us believers after Jesus was resurrected. The purpose was to pray to God without Satan's knowledge or understanding so Satan couldn't give an imitation or block the prayer. Satan's abilities are in a persons mind and that prayer language is from the heart. Plus divers kinds of tongue also charges the body and spirit with pure energy.

Answer 5

The process of 'rationalization' of idiotic religious beliefs is one that otherwise intelligent people engage so that they can accept ludicrous data as fact.

For example, it is no more likely that speaking in 'tongues' actually happend thousands of years ago than that it could have happened yesterday in Cleveland on the six o'clock news. Deep down inside you KNOW that; but after you convince yourself that holy mumbo-jumbo is and fairydust 'could' have taken place 'a long, long time ago' in a place 'far, far away' you tell yourself that you believe that it happened when the faith was established, but couldn't take place now.

Face it; there is nothing different about the 'first church times' than now, except that those people are all dead now and cannot be called for evidence.

Answer 6

I came from a charasmatic church that spoke in tongues.
It's so the one speaking, is speaking to God and not to men. Through the holy spirit are certain people blessed with such talents, just as some are blessed with the talent of prophesying so others may hear what the holy spirit is saying through them. It's very powerful and life-changing in those who come forward to accept Jesus as Lord in their life. Not many church families speak in tongues, unless you find a Holy Spirit, fire-breathing, Jesus loving, bible-believing, spirit changing house of God.
Don't let the world tell you it's not alive, because I've witnessed, seen, and felt within my life that it's real. Blessings :)

Answer 7

I am not into that but I do know when a person speaks in the unknown tongue, in church, someone else, in the church is supposed to be able to stand up and translate it into English.
Pops

Answer 8

To speak in tongues is not another known language, but a spiritual language between one's spirit and God. The person speaking in tongues does not know what he says, it is his spirit praying to or worshipping God. Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit to help us in our prayers and in worshipping our Father.

Answer 9

The first occurrence of speaking in tongues occurred on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-4. The apostles went out and shared the Gospel with the crowds, speaking to them in their own languages, “we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" (Acts 2:11). The Greek word translated "tongues" literally means "languages." Therefore, the gift of tongues is speaking in a language a person does not know in order to minister to someone who does speak that language. In 1 Corinthians chapters 12-14, where Paul discusses miraculous gifts, he comments that, “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?" (1 Corinthians 14:6). According to the Apostle Paul, and in agreement with the tongues described in Acts, speaking in tongues is valuable to the one hearing God’s message in his/her own language, but it is useless to everyone else – unless it is interpreted / translated.



A person with the gift of interpreting tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30) could understand what a tongues-speaker was saying even though he/she did not know the language that was being spoken. The tongues-interpreter would then communicate the message of the tongues-speaker to everyone else, so all could understand. “For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says” (1 Corinthians 14:13). Paul’s conclusion regarding un-interpreted tongues is powerful, “But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue" (1 Corinthians 14:19).



Is the gift of tongues for today? 1 Corinthians 13:8 mentions the gift of tongues ceasing, although it connects the ceasing with the arrival of the "perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:10. Some point to a difference in the language in prophecy and knowledge "ceasing" with tongues "being ceased" as evidence for tongues ceasing before the arrival of the "perfect." While possible, this is not explicitly clear from the text. Some also point to passages such as Isaiah 28:11 and Joel 2:28-29 as evidence that speaking in tongues was a sign of God's oncoming judgment. 1 Corinthians 14:22 describes tongues as a "sign to unbelievers." According to this argument, the gift of tongues was a warning to the Jews that God was going to judge Israel for rejecting Jesus Christ as Messiah. Therefore, when God did in fact judge Israel (with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70), the gift of tongues would no longer serve its intended purpose. While this view is possible, the primary purpose of tongues being fulfilled does not necessarily demand its cessation. Scripture does not conclusively assert that the gift of speaking in tongues has ceased.



At the same time, if the gift of speaking in tongues were active in the church today, it would be performed in agreement with Scripture. It would be a real and intelligible language (1 Corinthians 14:10). It would be for the purpose of communicating God's Word with a person of another language (Acts 2:6-12). It would be in agreement with the command that God gave through the Apostle Paul, "If anyone speaks in a tongue, two — or at the most three — should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God" (1 Corinthians 14:27-28). It would also be in submission to 1 Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”



God most definitely can give a person the gift of speaking in tongues to enable him/her to communicate with a person who speaks another language. The Holy Spirit is sovereign in the dispersion of the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:11). Just imagine how much more productive missionaries could be if they didn’t have to go to language school, and were instantly able to speak to people in their own language. However, God does not seem to be doing this. Tongues does not seem to occur today in the form it did in the New Testament despite the fact that it would be immensely useful. The vast majority of believers who claim to practice the gift of speaking in tongues do not do so in agreement with the Scriptures mentioned above. These facts lead to the conclusion that the gift of tongues has ceased, or is at least a rarity in God's plan for the church today.

Answer 10

Delusion, delusion and more delusion. Do you really believe that any intelligent God would choose to say anything important to such idiots. Would PLAIN SPEAKING be too difficult for the almighty being ?