Can anyone explain to us the phenomena of 'Speaking in Tongues' ? (Isaac, Jacob)
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As a complete outsider of this, (since my childhood church did not have this phenomena) my understanding of it is that, it is the Holy Spirit filling the person and causing them to express themselves in sounds without any limitation.
Someone looking at this phenomena for the first time might think it is just a babble of sound, but is there any meaning in it for others?
What is the point of it?
What can be gained from a Speaking in Tongues event?
What can the person doing the Speaking expect from the other members of the church?
Is it a special even which is talked about in the church for weeks afterwards? Does it make a kind-of celebrity?
In the bible NT, Those who spoke in tongues were speaking foreign languages. Not mumbo jumbo as some try to say is right.
- The Holy Spirit's Gift Of "Tongues Of Men And Angels"
Is Included In The Prophetic Gifting. Prophetic Messages From God.
The Tongues Of Angels Is "The Unknown Tongue",
Which Needs The Holy Spirit's Interpretation Gift.
Or The Interpretation Of Can Be Prayed For By The Person Speaking It.
The Tongues Of Angels Is For Edifying One's Self In The Spirit Also.
The Tongues Of Men Is For Those Of Other Known Languages Of Men.
Whom They Will Tell You What The Spirit Said In Their Own Language.
During my stint as a kid in the Assemblies of God we usually had the same few guys doing the tongues routine at the end of services. And usually it was the same few guys who did the interpretations.
As 15 year olds we named them...
There was the "Cota Papaya" guy.
The "Hobabakonda" guy.
The "Shemdeladogga" dude.
And so on.
Usually the interpretations would be a spin off of some scripture(s)...
Something like "Oh, lamb of God who saved us from the sins of the world... Come to us and fill our hearts with your joy."
Stuff like that.
What I hated is that it took a full hour for the service... a good 20-30 or minutes for the alter call and the people coming forward... and then another 20 minutes or so for these guys to do their tongues and interpretations.
My previously charismatic Lutheran parents left that AG church and continued to look for something that suited them better as former Lutherans. And we never did encounter another routine quite like the AG had with all that stuff.
Assembly of God, that's funny. That was the poisonous denomination of choice for the majority of my family. They lived and breathed it. It's so sad to me now, that all of my relatives were so indoctrinated and minds shut tighter than a virgin's legs. Ok, I could have left that part out. I just couldn't think of any other comparison.
I see why you use humor and sarcasm like I do. Folks here see it as irreverence and blasphemy and I say....how can you blaspheme something that doesn't exist? Or, I should say "I don't believe" that there is a god. I get tired of having to clarify things around here.
At least your family had the good sense to leave that insanity behind. I'm glad for you.
The seminal study on it was done in the early 70's. Speakers in various countries were recorded over 5 years.
One key feature of glossalalia is that the speaker always uses phonemes / sounds known to the speaker in whatever their native language is. The sounds are used haphazardly but with cadence and accents and pauses that sound language-like.
"Samples of glossolalia shows a lack of consistency needed for meaningful comparison or translation. It also is not used to communicate between fellow glossolalia speakers."
Assembly of God, that's funny. That was the poisonous denomination of choice for the majority of my family. They lived and breathed it. It's so sad to me now, that all of my relatives were so indoctrinated and minds shut tighter than a virgin's legs. Ok, I could have left that part out. I just couldn't think of any other comparison.
I see why you use humor and sarcasm like I do. Folks here see it as irreverence and blasphemy and I say....how can you blaspheme something that doesn't exist? Or, I should say "I don't believe" that there is a god. I get tired of having to clarify things around here.
At least your family had the good sense to leave that insanity behind. I'm glad for you.
Eddie Gein's comment brought back memories of long ago. Almost a decade of my formative years our parents went to an AG Pentecostal church it was much the same. It had a 'production' aura to it all. I took it in stride and honored my mother and father, but I'd ask my older brother why we didn't start singing Three Dog Night's, Shambala, The Beatles Ob la di, Ob la da And then my sister who was into The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wimoweh song in high school we thought, hey, we've got Three Dog Night , The Beatles and The Tokens in church this is cool...
The funniest 'deliverer' was the pastor's father in law who would go on long wandering 'messages' spoken in the tone of an angry fire and brimstone god. His line was "Shan ta bah kahn dee aye". Never could come up with a consistent meaning to it as it seemed to apply to whatever one wanted it to mean for the interpreter.
1 Corinthians 7
Now for the matters you wrote about:
This church had sent two letters to Paul after it was founded, and in Paul's absence they made all these rules and they believed a lot of false doctriine and sent two letters to Paul where he is continously quoting them and then rebuking them.
Give you an example, Paul quotes and then suddenly says," What in the world are you people taliking about? Did this truth come to you and nobody else?
1 Corintjians 14
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at most three, should speak in turn, and someone must interpret. 28But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God.
29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is seated, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.d
34Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.
WHAT? Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
They made doctrine of tongues but it goes wrong from chapter 7 where Paul begins adressing their letter and its impossible to tell where he is quoting or rebuking and from chapter 7 to the end of the book, its challenging and impossible to separate all the quotes.
I spoke in tongues for over 30 years but not any more. Tongues were used as proof of God where God spoke in every man's language on Sinai amongst a mixed congregation at Pentecost. God's language was seen as fire and the people begged Moses to never let God speak to them again.
On another Pentecost disciples were seen with tongues above their head so God would not terrify all the people, and everyone was amazed because they all heard in their own language.
Tongues merely came out as English but was heard in Spanish kind of deal. Today's tongues can lead to serious power, especially singing in tongues, but you have to believe in them.
I can say that speaking in tongues brought me a lot of comfort and strength when I believed my spirit spoke to God, well, meditation in that way can be benificial and extreemly powerful, I just no longer believe in them, no offense to people who do.
Eddie Gein's comment brought back memories of long ago. Almost a decade of my formative years our parents went to an AG Pentecostal church it was much the same. It had a 'production' aura to it all. I took it in stride and honored my mother and father, but I'd ask my older brother why we didn't start singing Three Dog Night's, Shambala, The Beatles Ob la di, Ob la da And then my sister who was into The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wimoweh song in high school we thought, hey, we've got Three Dog Night , The Beatles and The Tokens in church this is cool...
The funniest 'deliverer' was the pastor's father in law who would go on long wandering 'messages' spoken in the tone of an angry fire and brimstone god. His line was "Shan ta bah kahn dee aye". Never could come up with a consistent meaning to it as it seemed to apply to whatever one wanted it to mean for the interpreter.
You poor thing. 10 years gone, wasted on 'babble'. I have so many stories to tell, actually I shared a couple in this thread somewhere. My Uncle was an AG Pastor in RI, he yelled, jumped up and down, paced the pulpit, and randomly spoke in tongues. Sound familiar? The weird thing is that my immediate family did not speak in tongues. Extended family did, but I never heard my grandparents or parents trying on the gibberish for size.
LOL love the music references, if only. I have hymns emblazoned on my brain, I find myself humming them until I realize what I am humming. Yikes. "Shan ta bah kahn dee aye" to you, too. I think that translates to 'I need to tie my shoe".
1 Corinthians 7
Now for the matters you wrote about:
This church had sent two letters to Paul after it was founded, and in Paul's absence they made all these rules and they believed a lot of false doctriine and sent two letters to Paul where he is continously quoting them and then rebuking them.
Give you an example, Paul quotes and then suddenly says," What in the world are you people taliking about? Did this truth come to you and nobody else?
1 Corintjians 14
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at most three, should speak in turn, and someone must interpret. 28But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God.
29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is seated, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints.d
34Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.
WHAT? Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
They made doctrine of tongues but it goes wrong from chapter 7 where Paul begins adressing their letter and its impossible to tell where he is quoting or rebuking and from chapter 7 to the end of the book, its challenging and impossible to separate all the quotes.
I spoke in tongues for over 30 years but not any more. Tongues were used as proof of God where God spoke in every man's language on Sinai amongst a mixed congregation at Pentecost. God's language was seen as fire and the people begged Moses to never let God speak to them again.
On another Pentecost disciples were seen with tongues above their head so God would not terrify all the people, and everyone was amazed because they all heard in their own language.
Tongues merely came out as English but was heard in Spanish kind of deal. Today's tongues can lead to serious power, especially singing in tongues, but you have to believe in them.
I can say that speaking in tongues brought me a lot of comfort and strength when I believed my spirit spoke to God, well, meditation in that way can be benificial and extreemly powerful, I just no longer believe in them, no offense to people who do.
Interesting post, I could have posted this 12 years ago when I was a Christian. There is great confusion amongst Christians concerning what the scriptures say about speaking in tongues. Even then, I always believed it was 'horse hockey', as EDNurse put it.
Of course, I don't believe any of it now, but having biblical knowledge hasn't hurt me. Doesn't mean I believe any of it, it's just the kind of knowledge that is not very useful to an atheist but can be useful in a debate.
You probably feel more centered and at peace with meditation, rather than having your peace stolen by unnecessary, antiquated practices like speaking in tongues. Shhhhh, I'm meditating.
Now don't tell me that THIS ^ hasn't made you a believer . . .
There are no words. That would be an insult to words. All I could say was "Leela". That's my one forced speaking in tongues word.
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And then my sister who was into The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Wimoweh song in high school we thought, hey, we've got Three Dog Night , The Beatles and The Tokens in church this is cool...
There are no words. That would be an insult to words. All I could say was "Leela". That's my one forced speaking in tongues word.
