Lesson 1.33: Speaking In Tongues

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LESSON 1.33: SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Loved one, "Ah-sha-la-la-lo-looh-ma-onwah! Ah-sha-sha-sha-lam-al-aloahhh! Holimoth-Holif-Awthaw. Cras-cran-cran-crash!" This is a sample of modern glossolalia. These are actual sounds uttered by individuals who claimed to be speaking a heavenly language. They believed that they, and the Christians in Corinth, were speaking the tongues of angels.

Others believe that the tongues spoken by Christians in Corinth were actual human languages. This view holds that certain disciples in Corinth were empowered by the Spirit to speak languages they had never studied and were thus able to preach to "foreigners" without facing a language barrier. Which of these two views is correct?

How Common Was Tongue-Speaking?

The New Testament was written by eight inspired writers (if, indeed, Paul wrote Hebrews): Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, and Jude. Paul is the only one of the eight who discussed the gift of tongues at length. Luke mentioned the gift of tongues briefly in Acts 2, 10, and 19. Mark mentioned it briefly in Mark 16:17. None of the other five New Testament writers had anything to say about tongues.

Twenty-seven churches are mentioned by name in the New Testament. Seven of them received letters from the apostle Paul. Paul said nothing about tongues in his letters to Rome, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, or Thessalonica. Neither did he mention it in his letters to Timothy, Titus, or Philemon. The only time Paul mentioned the gift of tongues was in his letter to the Corinthians.

It is strange that so little is said about tongues in the scriptures if the gift of tongues was an essential part of the Christian experience and was to be perpetuated in the church in every age.

Let us go back to the Bible to see what the scriptures have to say. There are only five groups of scriptures that refer to the gift of tongues.

First: Mark 16:17

Standing on the Mount of Olives with his apostles, Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues . . ." (Mark 16:15-17).

Jesus promised that signs would accompany the preaching in order to confirm the word (Mark 16:20; Acts 14:3). One of the signs was speaking in "new tongues" (verse 17). The Greek word translated "new" is "kainais," which means "different" or "foreign." Inspired men would speak various languages as they went forth preaching.

Second: Acts 2

In previous lessons, we have traced the events of Pentecost. The apostles were together in one place when the Holy Spirit came upon them with the sound of a rushing mighty wind and with tongues that looked like fire. "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues" (Acts 2:4).

We do not know what the apostles said in tongues. Their words are not recorded. We do, however, know what languages they spoke. In addition to Aramaic, they spoke the languages of the Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the residents of Mesopotamia. They spoke the tongues of Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete, and Arabia (Acts 2:9-10). The people heard them in their own language. The word that is translated "language" in Acts 2:8 is "dialekto," from which we get our word, "dialect."

The tongues at Pentecost were signs that God had raised Jesus from death and that Jesus was now sitting at the right hand of God. Tongues provided convincing evidence that the apostles' message was from God and that God had opened the doors of his kingdom to believing Jews.

Third: Acts 10:46

The third reference to tongue-speaking is found in Acts 10:46. Peter was preaching to Cornelius and his household when the Holy Spirit fell on them as he had fallen on the apostles at the beginning (Acts 11:15). Peter and the six Jewish Christians who were with him were astonished because "they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God" (Acts 10:46).

In this case, the gift of tongues was a sign that God had "granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18).

What kind of languages did Cornelius and his household speak? There is no way of knowing. We only know that Cornelius and his group received "the same gift" that the apostles had received "at the beginning" (Acts 11:15, 17). Since the apostles spoke foreign tongues on the day of Pentecost, it is reasonable to assume that Cornelius and his household spoke foreign languages also.

Fourth: Acts 19:6

When Paul came to Ephesus on his third missionary tour, he found twelve disciples who had been baptized with John's baptism. Paul taught them the way of the Lord and baptized them into Christ. When he placed his hands on them, "the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).

What kind of tongues did these twelve Ephesians speak? Goodspeed's translation reads, "And they spoke in foreign tongues." Beck translates it, "And they started to talk in other languages and to speak God's word." There is no reason to believe that the tongues spoken by these Ephesian disciples were different from the tongues spoken by Cornelius and the apostles. They were foreign languages.

Fifth: 1 Corinthians 12 Through 14

This brings us to the fifth and final group of references to tongue speaking in the New Testament. Since we have already examined 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, let us go directly to chapter 14.

In the middle of his discussion on tongues, Paul says, "Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me" (14:9-11).

In other words, don't waste your breath speaking foreign languages in the assembly. Nothing good is accomplished unless people in the audience can understand what is being said. Only God can understand it. Therefore, "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" (14:27-28). Don't disrupt the worship of the church. Don't cause confusion. All things must be done decently and in order (14:40)

How About The Greek Verb "Lalein"?

Some scholars claim that the Greek verb, "lalein" (meaning "to speak") implies ecstatic utterances rather than languages. Paul uses this word in 1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 5, 6, and 16. But this claim does not hold up under scrutiny, for several reasons: (1) "Lalein" is used with reference to tongue-speaking in Acts 2:4 where it obviously refers to speaking human languages (Acts 2:5-12). (2) "Lalein" is used with reference to speaking "intelligent words" in 1 Corinthians 14:19. (3) It is also used with reference to the speech of prophets in 1 Corinthians 14:29. (4) Moreover, in 1 Corinthians 14:16 Paul uses the Greek verb "lego," meaning "I speak," with reference to speaking in tongues. "Lego" is the Greek verb that is regularly used for ordinary speech.

These word studies provide strong evidence that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 were languages with cognitive content.

Evidence From Linguists

D.A. Carson says that language specialists have recorded and analyzed thousands of samples of modern tongue-speaking, and they have concluded that "the patterns and structures that all known human language requires are simply not there" (Showing the Spirit, p. 83).

Moreover, tongue-speaking varies in different cultures. French and German tongue-speakers do not use the English "th" sound; and tongue speakers with an English background do not use sounds that are peculiar to French and German. Moreover, tongue-speakers use expressions learned from their coaches. Tongues spoken by one group differ from tongues spoken by another. If modern tongue-speakers were all inspired by the Spirit, their utterances would be identical, and they would not need coaches.

Linguists have also tested the interpreters of tongues. Whenever scholars and missionaries have spoken foreign languages unknown to the interpreters, there has been no correlation between the languages spoken and the interpretations given. The evidence against modern glossolalia is so strong and conclusive that honesty forces us to reject modern charismatic tongues as Biblically invalid.

Tongues And Evangelism

In Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4; Acts 10:46; and Acts 19:6, tongue speaking and evangelism are closely connected.

Even in 1 Corinthians 14, there is evidence that tongues facilitated evangelism. Paul said, "Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers" (14:22). That is to say, they were given for the purpose of leading unbelievers to Christ.

The gift of tongues enabled Christians in Corinth to go down to the market place or to the sea port and preach to unbelievers without having to learn new languages. If this was not the purpose of tongues, what did Paul mean when he said, "Tongues are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers"?

There are only four cases of tongue-speaking recorded in the New Testament. In all four cases, the people who spoke in tongues lived in cosmopolitan cities: (1) Jerusalem (Acts 2) where people from all parts of the world had gathered for the Feast of Pentecost; (2) Caesarea (Acts 10), seat of the Roman government in Palestine where Roman legions from all parts of the empire were stationed; (3) Ephesus (Acts 19) where people came from far and near to worship the goddess Artemis, and where traders from East and West met to do business; and (4) Corinth (1 Corinthians 12-14), a city built on an isthmus where two ports opened on two seas and where sailors from every port in the world gathered.

What could be more natural than to equip Christians in these cities with the ability to preach the gospel to people who were traveling through? What faster way could be found for spreading the gospel throughout the world?

Evidence from Church History

Irenaeus, a great church leader who lived within 100 years of the day of Pentecost, indicated that tongues were foreign languages used in conjunction with evangelism. In describing the events of Pentecost, he wrote, "The Spirit descended on the disciples . . . in order that all nations might be enabled to enter into life; wherefore they united in all languages in praising God." The apostles praised God in all languages so that all nations might be saved. Pentecost is an example of foreign tongues being used to facilitate evangelism.

Origen, who lived about sixty years later, wrote, "Through the grace of the Holy Spirit, he [Paul] had received the gift of speaking in the languages of all nations, as he himself also said, 'I speak in tongues more than you all.'" Origen quoted 1 Corinthians 14:16 as evidence that Paul spoke the languages of all nations. The meaning is clear. The tongues spoken by Christians in Corinth were human languages, and Paul spoke more languages than anyone else in Corinth.

When the evidence is collected, analyzed, and assimilated, it becomes clear that the tongues spoken in New Testament times were human languages and not ecstatic utterances. They were used in conjunction with evangelism.

Perhaps the primary lesson we should learn from this study is that God wants us to use our language skills, whatever they are, to spread the good news about Christ throughout the world. On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit used the audible sound of wind and the sight of tongues that looked like fire to attract an audience; and he inspired the apostles to speak different languages to open people's hearts to the gospel. Today, God has called us to use our tongues to share the good news about Christ with others.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise . . . He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Let us, therefore, use our language skills to share our faith with others.