Speaking in Tongues?

2011-08-13

This brief essay will discuss what speaking in a tongue is, and will juxtapose the Biblical evidence with the thought of what “speaking in tongues” means.

What is a Tongue?

Here is an example of what a tongue is from the Old Testament, in Genesis 10:5: “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” The usage of “tongue” here seems to refer to a language, since the Tower of Babel narrative follows this distribution of nations. A ‘tongue’ in the Old Testament is speech in general or a language, when it is not referring to the actual body part. Now let us consider the New Testament.

Consider Acts 2:1-13: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”

When these people spoke in other “tongues,” this is explicitly defined by enumerating foreign languages. It is clear that these people, by the power of the Holy Ghost, spoke in previously unlearned languages in order to broadcast the Gospel to this diverse audience. These were no ecstatic utterances; the disciples were speaking different languages and preaching so that many could be saved. The multitude was not amazed at anything miraculous in Acts 2:6, since the wind and the fiery tongues had already past by the time they got there. They were amazed that a bunch of uneducated Galilean fishermen and their friends were all speaking in languages they were not likely to know.

Elsewhere in Acts, people speak with other “tongues” two other times. The first is when Cornelius’ household gets saved in 10:46, and the second is when John’s disciples hear that Jesus was the one of whom John preached, in 19:6. Now the common interpretation is that these people spoke miraculously in other tongues, which were either ecstatic utterances or real languages they did not know. Let us take a step back, and let us look more realistically as to what this means.

In Acts 10:1, it states that Cornelius was a centurion of the Italian band, which means that he was a Gentile. He was not a native Jew. These disciples of John were apparently native to Ephesus according to Acts 19:1. These perhaps were Jewish people, but they were not native to Judea. If Jewish, they were of the Diaspora that returned to Ephesus after the death of John. All of these people were praising God in their native languages. There was nothing supernatural about the language itself; it was the Spirit of God that spoke through them in their regular languages. Using the basic definition of a tongue, they praised God in languages that were native to them.

First Corinthians 14

I will discuss portions of 1 Corinthians 14 that deals with “tongues.” Please notice how things make perfect sense when I am talking about a multicultural church that had many languages rather than a bunch of people itching to speak gibberish.

In the first three verses, the Bible says that prophesy is preferred over speaking in another tongue. Let us first define the verb ‘to prophesy’: “to preach.” In this context, it is obvious that this is not predicting the future; it is preaching unto edification, exhortation, and comfort. In the immediate context of this chapter, it is preaching in the common language of the people, most likely the Greek language which was the lingua franca of the day.

A preacher who speaks in a foreign language in a room filled with people who speak a different language does no good for that audience. An interpreter is needed for them to be edified. Even if it was something said in prayer or song (vv. 13-14), it is important to know what is being said in order to be edified. The Bible states that an interpreter is necessary because “how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?” (14:16).

Verse 32 states that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.” This is contrary to what we see in the charismatic movement, which involves being slain in the spirit, uncontrollable laughter, and the like. Losing control of one’s self is not what was intended in the meetings of believers.

To summarize, there is no “angelic” language; speaking in another tongue involves a real language by a real speaker. Acts 2 was a specific instance where people miraculously spoke other real languages they did not know in order to preach the gospel to people of many different languages in a given setting. That is not the norm; in Corinth, chaos characterized their meetings, with people jumping up and speaking any language without any interpreter. This is useless, and if there is a time where someone who speaks only a foreign language is preaching in a church, an interpreter is necessary, or he ought not to preach.

Speaking in a Tongue as a Spiritual Gift

First Corinthians 12:4-11: “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”

Tongues and interpretations are spiritual gifts. One may argue that if this is not some kind of power of speaking and/or interpreting languages that were previously unlearned, then how can these be “spiritual” gifts? The plain reality is that those who learn foreign languages exceptionally well in order to communicate cross-culturally or translate the Bible are desperately needed in today’s world, since many people in various cultures do not know anything about Jesus or the Bible.

Final Thoughts on Tongues

When you think of tongues in the Bible, you should always be thinking about real languages. Forget about what you see in today’s churches. Let me be clear about a final point: if what is referred to as “speaking in tongues” today is legitimate, then why are they speaking in unknown languages in the churches, causing confusion in the congregation? They could take these alleged God-given abilities, and go to the ends of the earth where Christ has not been yet named, and preach to them in those languages. There are literally a few thousand languages without the Bible, and people who speak such languages know little or nothing about Christ; WHY are these people not using their abilities to help lost people at the ends of the earth? WHY are missionaries spending years learning languages to preach the gospel and translate the Bible when these charismatics could get to MILLIONS first before they die? Why? Because they are not speaking real languages, and they are not saying anything that could help a single person anywhere.