Dealing with Tongues *Articles*

Amazing Discoveries-Articles about Tongues

Pagan Practices:

Ecstatic language was a common form of worship in pagan temples.ⁱ It was well established in Ancient Byblos (1100 BC). Plato (429-347 BC) mentions it as a phenomenon in his time. He tells us that a person under divine possession received utterances and visions that the receiver did not understand.
These utterances were sometimes accompanied by physical healing of people present. Virgil (70-19 BC) tells us that the Sibylline priestess, when in prayer, united her spirit with the god Apollo and spoke in strange tongues.



Pentacost & the Early Church:
While Jesus was on Earth, He promised that the disciples would receive power from God to equip them for the work of the Gospel:

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues (Mark 16:17).

And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

The Greek word used here for “power” is dunamis, which means “strength, ability and skill.” This ability was to be used for a purpose, and they received it at Pentecost from the Holy Spirit. We read about this event in Acts 2:4-8:

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?

The Purpose of Pentecost

Through Pentecost, the people of God were empowered to preach the Gospel. The event transformed the disciples from fearful believers to true soldiers of Christ and they proclaimed the truth with power. Devout Jews of every nation were present when the gift of tongues was given to the disciples. Acts 2 reveals that 17 languages were represented in Jerusalem and all the people heard them speak in their own mother tongue (Greek idios dialektos), “wherein [they] were born.” This implies that beyond being able to speak the languages, the disciples were given the cultural sensitivity needed to be relevant and engaging.
This event was to bring about the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy where God promised that not only Israel would come into a covenant relationship with Him, but people of all nations that would obey Him and honor His Sabbaths and keep His covenant:

Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord GOD, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him (Isaiah 56:3-8).

The gift of tongues was clearly a gift of communication, intended to facilitate the spreading of the Gospel to those who had previously been excluded by the Jews.

The Early Church Period

After Pentecost, the concept of speaking in tongues was also present throughout the early Church period. Irenaeus (114-202 AD), in his work Against Heresies, speaks out against the abuse of the prophetic gift that often lead to violent emotions and loss of chastity. In early times, the gift of tongues was regarded as the ability to speak languages with which to communicate the Gospel. See what the apostle Paul had to say about spiritual gifts in his letter to the Corinthian Church
Even Origen (185-254 AD), writing of Paul's gift of tongues mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:18, clearly refers to the gift as the ability to speak a known language for the purpose of preaching the Gospel to others.

Modern Tongue-Speaking
The proponents of the Reformation believed that tongues were known languages. Luther referred to tongues as the ability to translate one known language into another known language. Calvin's study on tongues is also exhaustive and in line with the reformist view.ⁱ Wesley also believed that tongues were existing languages.

Modern tongues-speaking has its origin among the Irvingites (after Edward Irving, 1792-1834). During the civil war years, religious emotionalism was strong, and the "inner light of the Spirit" was considered to be the supreme standard, even over the Bible. However, the Bible clearly teaches that the Word is the standard of truth (John 17:17), and that the Spirit must be in harmony with the Word (Isaiah 8:20).
The Irvingites thought that the “age of law” had passed and the “age of the Spirit” had come. Faith became a matter of feeling, power, and enjoyment, and it was during this same time that various interpretations of the Gospel such as dispensationalism crept into the Church.
During those days, supernaturalism rose above logic. Preachers describe in their diaries how they would sing and dance and utter ecstatics while under the influence of the Spirit. George Tarter writes this:

I was taken in a most pleasant manner, and was forced to lie singing and whistling; and then to rise out of my bed between one and two o' clock for to dance; and so continued singing and dancing near upon two hours by the clock...and why I counted singing, is because I did (as being overpowered with joy) crie ha ha tall; toll lall derab la loll; la dero tall derall tall toll dero tall aroll atoll loll loll dero in such a way I did breake [sic] forth...I desired my brother that lay with me to lie upon me, and so he did, to try whether I should then shake, and I did tatter him up and down and shake so much, that he could not make me lie still...I shoke [sic] him as if he had been in a cradle.ⁱⁱ

While the Irvingites experienced glossolalia in England, the Mormons under Joseph Smith also spoke in tongues in the United States:

Father Smith would call upon some illiterate brother to rise and speak in tongues in the name of Jesus Christ. The order was given...Arise upon your feet, speak or make some sound, continue to make sounds of some kind, and the Lord will make a tongue or language of it.ⁱⁱⁱ

Mormon leader and American politician Brigham Young also spoke in tongues and interpreted his own messages.