An Old Post...

I found this research from a blog from high school.... thought I'd start my blog with this:

So an interesting topic has come up in my life that I never gave much thought to, but I should have: this topic is, in fact, the biblical response to speaking in tongues. You may think, "Wait, isn't speaking in tongues from the Bible?" Yes. But is it clear what we should be doing today? Is it clear that it is in fact, still a beneficial practice? Well, allow me to share my arguments that have been presented to me and my justifications/arguments. I am trying to provide some information I researched from a few sources (as cited if you want to go back and read more). I have quotes from those sources, quotes from the Bible, some of my own in here...I hope to establish a comfortable environment where brothers and sisters in Christ can express their thoughts and views on this delicate topic. I am eager to learn what others have to say and why they believe. So on with the research:

On the "For" speaking in tongues today front we have:
From "Why Tongues?" by Kenneth Hagin

Ten Reasons Why Every Believer Should Speak In Tongues

1. Tongues--the Initial Sign
2. Tongues For Spiritual Edification
3. Tongues Remind us of The Spirit's Indwelling Presence
4. Praying in Tongues is Praying in Line With God's Perfect Will
5. Praying in Tongues Stimulates Faith
6. Speaking in Tongues, A Means of Keeping Free from Worldly Contamination
7. Praying in Tongues Enables Us to Pray for the Unknown
8. Praying in Tongues Gives Spiritual Refreshing
9. Tongues for Giving Thanks
10. Speaking in Tongues Brings the Tongue under Subjection

At first glance, already a few of these "reasons" cause me to raise an eyebrow. But no decision made yet: I digress.

On the opposing view:
From "Speaking in Tongues" by Lehman Strauss

I do not deny Paul's comments in I Corinthians 14:22, “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not . . . ” No miracle or sign in the Bible is performed without a divine purpose. What is the divine purpose for speaking in tongues today? That is what I'm hoping to find...or see there is none, one or the other.

The Mistakes about Speaking in Tongues

1. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is synonymous with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
2. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is an evidence of being filled with the Spirit.
3. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is the fruit of the Spirit.
4. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is an evidence of one's faith.
5. It is a mistake to seek the gift of speaking in tongues.
6. It is a mistake for a woman to speak in tongues.
7. It is a mistake to assume that the sign-gifts are given to believers today.

These are all very interesting "mistakes" going completely against the justifications of speaking in tongues. Now to go into both sides into more detail.

Again, starting with the "for" speaking in tongues. Back to expounding on the "Top Ten."

1. The Initial Sign: Acts 2:4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." This is the sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Peter came to Cornelius' house and they were all amazed of the Holy Ghost's outpouring on the Gentiles. How did they know they received the Holy Ghost? Acts 10:46 says, "For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God." This is what was the convincing piece that the Gentiles had the same gift as the Jews.
2. Tongues for Spiritual Edification: I Corinthians 14:4, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself." Paul encouraged the practice of speaking in tongues. It was much like the charge of a battery for the believer.
3. Tongues Remind us of The Spirit's Indwelling Presence: John 14:16-17, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth in you, and shall be in you."
4. Praying in Tongues is Praying in Line with God's Perfect Will: Romans 8:26-27, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Speaking in tongues keeps the selfishness out of prayer.
5. Praying in Tongues Stimulates Faith: it makes us trust God more fully.
6. Speaking in Tongues, A Means of Keeping Free From Worldly Contamination: I Corinthians 14:28, "But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
7. Praying in Tongues Enables Us to Pray For the Unknown: We can pray for things we have not thought of.
8. Praying in Tongues Gives Spiritual Refreshing: A "vacation" from the same old monotonous prayer of yesterday.
9. Tongues for Giving Thanks: In the presence of the unlearned, pray in your own tongue. When Paul prayed in tongues (I Cor. 14:17) it says "Thou givest thanks well."
10. Speaking in Tongues Brings the Tongue Under Subjection: Yielding the tongue to the Holy Spirit is yielding your tongue to God.

Similarly, back to the "against" view:

In I Corinthians, Paul was not writing the Corinthians to inform them of their spiritual gifts. They were fully aware of their spiritual gifts, rather, they were ignorant of how to use the gifts God gave them. Thus, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant" (I Cor. 12:1).

1. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is synonymous with the baptism of the Holy Spirit: All saved people are baptised in the Holy Spirit; however, not all baptised people are going to speak in tongues. It is crucial not to confuse the baptism of the Spirit with the command to be “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). All believers share equally in this position in Christ and thus share equally in union with Him. There is only one experience of baptism by the Holy Spirit but there can be many experiences of being filled with Spirit. Paul said that not all of the Corinthian Christians spoke in tongues (I Corinthians 14: 5), and yet he stated clearly that all had been baptized with the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:13).

2. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is an evidence of being filled with the Spirit: Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to speak in tongues. However, we are commanded to be filled with the spirit. The two are not one in the same. But how can we know if we are filled with the Spirit? In the Bible we are command to be filled with the Spirit, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:18-21). Three things are mentioned as evidence of being Spirit-filled; a joyful heart, a thankful heart and a submissive heart. Nothing is said about speaking in tongues. Christlikeness is the manifestation of being filled with the Spirit. I fail to see where the Bible tells us that our Lord ever spoke in tongues.

3. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is the fruit of the Spirit: The fruit of the Spirit results from being filled with the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is detailed for us in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” None of the sign-gifts are included in this nine-fold cluster of fruit. In Ephesians and Galatians, where the fullness and fruit of the Spirit are discussed tongues-speaking is not mentioned once. Moreover, in the list of gifts mentioned by Paul, gifts that the ascended Lord bestowed upon His Church, the sign gifts are omitted. “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (Ephesians 4:11). All Christians should be filled with the Spirit and all are to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, but not every Christian has all the gifts. Spirituality does not depend on speaking in tongues. God’s goal for every child of His is to be Spirit-controlled, not necessitating speaking in tongues. No Christian need ever feel that he is lacking in spirituality because he has not spoken in tongues.


4. It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is an evidence of one’s faith: To the contrary, the persons who seek signs and sign-gifts show their lack of faith. It is a sin for any Christian to seek for signs before he will believe God’s Word. As previously referenced in the Bible, "tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” (I Corinthians 14: 22). The Christians at Corinth were showing that they were weak in faith, and possibly some who identified themselves with the believer had never been saved. The person who seeks any sign, whether it be speaking in tongues or any other sign-gift, is either a babe in Christ or an unbeliever. Thomas is an illustration of a disciple weak in faith who would not believe without seeing.


5. It is a mistake to seek the gift of speaking in tongues: It is clear that not all in the church at Corinth spoke in tongues. The Apostle says, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit . . . 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” (I Corinthians 12:4-11). Note that the gifts were given “as He (the Holy Spirit) will,” not as we will, “as it hath pleased Him” (vs. 18), not us. Not one of us is capable of choosing his own gift. The Spirit will not give a gift according to our desire and the way we pray. It would have been a mistake for the Corinthians to seek the gift of tongues because it is the least of all the gifts. Where the gifts are listed twice in I Corinthians 12, in each instance tongues and their interpretation are placed last (verses 8-11 and 28-30). Note the careful wording in the latter passage: “First . . . secondarily . . . thirdly . . . after that . . . ” The least to be desired comes at the bottom of the list, the scale being according to importance and usefulness. The minor place of tongues is further stressed in I Corinthians 14:1, 5, 6, 19. The modern cult of tongues would have you believe that this gift is the only one that really counts and that every Christian ought to have it. The Corinthians erred in overemphasizing the gift of tongues as the most coveted gift of all. To them tongues was the prestige gift, hence its misuse and abuse at Corinth.

6. It is a mistake for a woman to speak in tongues: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak . . .” (I Cor. 14:34). The prohibition here has a direct relation to the problem with which the Apostle is dealing, namely, speaking in tongues. Earlier in the same Epistle he told the women how to dress when they prayed or prophesied in the church (11 :3-10), therefore he would not forbid them here in Chapter 14 that privilege which is countenanced in Chapter 11. The setting of I Corinthians 14:34 has reference primarily to women speaking in tongues. It is clear and unmistakable that speaking in tongues was a gift limited to men and is never to be exercised by women. Now he is not saying that women may not teach or testify or pray, but that they may not speak in tongues. Elsewhere Paul writes, “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (I Timothy 2: 12). She may teach women or children, but not men. If this admonition were heeded today much of the present tongues movement would be eliminated. Women are the worst offenders in the modern confusion of tongues. The purpose of this entire section on speaking in tongues is to curb the wrong use of the gift.

7. It is a mistake to assume that the sign-gifts are given to believers today: Now I am not arbitrarily closing the door on miracles. God does intervene in supernatural ways performing miracles when He chooses. The matter before us now is whether or not the Bible teaches that certain gifts were temporarily given. The evidence of God’s Word must be the final source of authority. Now I am not suggesting that there is no validity in experience or reason. I am quite sure that there are times when one’s reason and experience are correct and therefore reliable. Neither reason nor experience can be accepted as final authority. Someone will argue: “I have had the experience of speaking in tongues; I find this experience in the New Testament; therefore my experience is true.” Any trained Christian philosopher will tell you that such an argument is not valid because it makes experience the basis of truth, so if one does not experience all of the experiences he does not have all of the truth. True Christian philosophy moves from truth to experience, therefore any valid Christian experience must be determined by the right interpretation of Holy Scripture. Experience, which is related to our emotions, can be deceptive, but a correct interpretation of God’s Word can never deceive.

Is the gift of tongues a part of God’s program for the Church today? If it is, then we would be wrong if we closed our minds to it. If it is not, then we are wrong if we insist upon the exercise of tongues-speaking.

Back to I Corinthians 13. Now keep in mind the fact that the subject in Chapters 12-14 is spiritual gifts with the main emphasis on tongues, because tongues was the one gift that the Corinthians were abusing. Chapter 12 concludes with “tongues” (12:30) and Chapter 13 begins with “tongues” (13:1). Obviously from the behavior of the Corinthians they were lacking in the fruit of the Spirit, namely, love. And so in Chapter 13 the Apostle dwells upon the essential ingredient of love which supercedes the gifts, and without which the Christian is nothing at all.

Among the Corinthians there were quarreling and division, but the needed fruit of the Spirit, love, was missing, so Paul writes, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (or love), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” (13 :1). In Corinth the tongues-speaking amounted to so much noise because carnality had invaded their exercise of the gift. Even today there is a kind of spiritual prestige associated with tongues-speaking. For a Christian to show off any gift that God has given manifests pride that is lacking in love. Where love is lacking, the exercise of any gift is worthless.

On a personal note. I have not spoken in tongues. The past 20 years I have spoken to God in English and English alone. I believe He fully understands me and knows my heart. And where I am inadequate (in every aspect of my life, especially prayer) I believe He knows my heart and the Holy Spirit intercedes for me in ways I may not hear from my own lips. I know that God and God alone understands the crying out of my heart more than any language I could possibly speak.

A few things that scare me:

First, speaking in tongues can be self-induced. Second, speaking in tongues can be group-induced. Third, speaking in tongues can be satanically-induced. We do not necessarily know what "brings this on." If you do not know what you are saying, how could you pray to a righteous and holy God with words you do not know?

Still confused. Still debating back and forth in my head. This is my research, this is a taste of where I'm coming from. Please do not take any of this as an offense. I am not trying to attack...merely trying to work through this, and looking for your opinions (please back up with Scripture). This is merely a beginning! :)