What about speaking in tongues?
Some today claim that in order to express that a person is ‘born again’ as a Christian, that there should be an accompanying demonstration of God’s power. And so they claim that ‘speaking in tongues’ is that miraculous demonstration. Is this modern phenomenon the same as what we read in the Book of Acts or the writings of the Apostle Paul? Or is our modern experience different?
The word Tongues – in connection with the miraculous gift – is used 25 times in the New Testament: Once in Mk.16:17; Four times in the book of Acts (2:4, 11; 10:46; 19:6) and twenty time by Paul in 1 Cor.12-14.
Miraculous Tongues were foreign languages spoken in praise or thanksgiving to God. The Greek word which Paul used was γλωσσa (glossa), which simply meant tongue; language; or utterance. It was “the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations” (Thayer 118). W.E. Vine says that it is “the supernatural gift of speaking in another language without its having been learnt” (1154).
Two things are clear. Firstly the speaker exalted God. On the day of Pentecost we are told that the people who had gathered were saying “we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” (Acts 2:11). On a later occasion, when Peter was sent to preach to a pagan named Cornelius and his family, both Peter and those who were with him were likewise astonished because “they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God” (Acts 10:46). Secondly, Tongues were not a way to preach the gospel in another language. There is no evidence of the gospel being preached using the gift of tongues.
So, why was this miraculous gift of Tongues given in New Testament times? I would suggest two reasons are given by the Holy Spirit in His word.
Tongues were given for the sake of unbelievers. In 1 Cor.14:21-22 Paul writes, “In the Law it is written, “BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME,” says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.” We can go further, in saying that this gift was given not for the sake of any unbeliever, but particularly for unbelieving Jews. In Acts 2:4-16 the purpose of speaking in tongues was to persuade those Jews gathered there that the apostles spoke for God. Tongues were given to show unbelievers, especially Jews at that time, that God was speaking (1 Cor.14:21-22). God had prophesied beforehand about his plans (Isaiah 28:11-12), Paul says in the passage in first Corinthians that some would still refuse to listen to God, even if He did something miraculous.
A second reason the Holy Spirit gives for this gift is because Tongues were associated with new revelation. God was revealing something new, and Tongues was one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit given to confirm the spoken word. Hebrews 2:3-4 states this plainly; “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” And so once that revelation had been completed, the need for tongues would naturally cease. Paul states as much; “Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away” (1 Cor.13:8-10). Vine notes “there is no evidence of the continuance of this gift after Apostolic times, nor indeed in the later times of the Apostles themselves; this provides confirmation of the fulfillment in this way of 1 Cor.13:8, that ‘knowledge’ in the sense of knowledge received by immediate supernatural power (cp. 14:6). The completion of the Holy Scriptures has proved the churches with all that is necessary for individual and collective guidance, instruction and edification” (1155). The word “perfect” (used here in 1 Cor.13:10), mean “the completed thing” and is used 18 times in New Testament and never refers to the Second Coming or heaven. And “Done away” (in 1Cor.13:8, 10) is used again in 1 Cor.15:24, 26 where the same Greek word is translated “abolished” or “destroyed”. So the gift of Tongues was to be done away, destroyed or abolished in the same way as death. Logically therefore, if the prophetic gifts ever ceased, they ceased for all time. But history makes it clear that they did, at some point, cease.
Perhaps a very brief history of Tongues-speaking since the close of the New Testament may be helpful. Various groups throughout history have claimed to be able to speak ecstatically. From about 150 AD to 300 AD a group of Christians existed called Montanists after their leader and founder Montanus who believed he was a prophet of God sent to reform the church. Their message was spread mostly by two women prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla. And they believed that their prophecies were more important than the revealed word of God (i.e. the New Testament). In about 1650-1700 a group know as The Cevennol Prophets from Cevennes in southern France arose. They were a rabidly anti-Catholic sect who used armed force to spread their message. At the same time Jansenists, Catholic loyalists claimed to speak in tongues. From 1730-1820 a group known as the Shakers arose in North America. The founder, Mother Ann Lee regarded herself as the female equivalent of Jesus, and claimed to speak in 72 languages. They spoke in tongues during their worship. And in 1810-1850 Edward Irving and his followers in Scotland claimed tongues and prophecy. Their prophecies contradicted one another, and they taught many false doctrines, even creating 12 modern apostles.
Speaking in Tongues is part of a new modern movement which can be traced almost to the hour back to Bethel College, Topeka, Kansas, USA by Charles Fox Parham on January 1, 1901. “Parham had for years been impressed with the possibility that glossolalia [speaking in tongues] might be restored in the form of foreign language facility granted to missionaries who would no longer have to take time for normal language studies.” (Vinson Synan, quoted in John F. MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos, p.33 Zondervan 1992). His students were given the task of studying the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Their conclusion was that every occasion was accompanied by speaking in other tongues. Agnes Ozman, a 30 year old student at the college was the first to speak in tongues, followed by others on that day. For over fifty years however, it was confined to denominations such as Assemblies of God, Foursquare Gospel Churches, and the United Pentecostal Church. But in 1959 it spread across the denominational divides when the Charismatic Movement was started in Van Nuys, California, USA by Dennis Bennett, rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in 1959. The Charismatic Movement is multi-denominational, encompassing every Protestant group and Catholics.
People might think, “Why be so negative about the tongues movement?” Is being pro-truth negative? Is seeking after God's approval as it is found in the pages of the New Testament negative? Jn.8:31-32.
People might think, “There is no harm in what they are doing.” Is it harmless to mislead others? Is it harmless to say this is a Biblical movement when the Bible and History say that it stopped in the first century? Proverbs 30:6 teaches, “Do not add to His words or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.”
People might think, “If it is so wrong, why is it so popular?” Popularity should never be mistaken for approval from God. The pages of the Bible are full of ‘popular’ heresies, and broad is the way that leads to destruction” Mt.7:13-23.
The Bible record shows that the gift of tongues was the ability to speak in FOREIGN languages without prior learning. Today’s experience is not the same. Today’s "Tongues" is a learned experience, not a gift. Today’s "Tongues" is a used as a sign for believers, contrary to its purpose in the Bible. Today’s "Tongues" is not a language of any sort. The gift of Tongues in the Bible was part of a series of gifts given by the Holy Spirit in order to confirm the Revealed word of God. That Revelation is now complete and the purpose of the gifts is therefore complete. We do not need the miraculous gift today, we have the gift of the Divine word.
