Can anyone explain to us the phenomena of 'Speaking in Tongues' ? (atheist, Holy Spirit)
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IMO what would identify an authentic and utilitarian use of the gift of tongues would be if you could suddenly acquire the ability to speak fluent Portuguese for the purpose of communicating the gospel to a person who only understands Portuguese.
I have never seen any accounts in the NT of this phenomenon that were just prattling for the sake of prattling, in some alleged heavenly language. In I Cor 13 it says "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am nothing" but this is clearly poetic license saying it doesn't matter how eloquently you speak if you don't do it with love; the topic is love, not glossalalia. It is terribly insufficient as the basis of some gift of heavenly speech.
Agreed 100%.
And the use of tongues is clearly regulated in Scripture. We see instructions in 1 Corinthians about the using them, including the use of an interpreter being required. The only time I've ever seen tongues used with an interpreter was when a woman stood up, rattled off something in the da-da-da-da-da-da typical babble, then she proceeded to "interpret" her own message. That's CLEARLY a misuse, according to Scripture.
In 30 years of being a Christian I can't say I've ever seen what seemed to be an authentic use of tongues. I have seen plenty of what appeared to be inauthentic expressions, and uses that would have been condemned by the apostles.
They claim that it is the miracle as seen in the book of Acts on Pentecost. The Spirit was poured out on people and they spoke in languages they did not know, or rather people heard them in their own language.
The modern day show of it tends to be just babble, as you pointed out. It's well-meaning people that want to see God move, but they are trying too hard, and they start babbling, attributing to God what he didn't do.
The way you start out this comment is exactly the way I am forever considering all these various versions of spirituality, or connection(s), communication(s) with a god or spirits or supreme beings.
"They claim..."
How any of us are supposed to acknowledge, appreciate or validate any such claims is beyond me. Who's claims are any better or different than the others when everyone claims their experiences are real? That question should make everyone think at least twice about all such claims. Certainly does me anyway. Not a one any better than the next all considered far as I can tell.
In 30 years of being a Christian I can't say I've ever seen what seemed to be an authentic use of tongues. I have seen plenty of what appeared to be inauthentic expressions, and uses that would have been condemned by the apostles.
An authentic use of tongues is people gifted and used by God to speak in different human languages in advancing the kingdom of God. It doesn't have to be miraculous.
The gift of tongues can be used by missionaries in different countries.
The gift of tongues can be used in translating Bibles.
The Spirit can use the gift as He desires - whether miraculously like in Acts 2, or through people who have an expertise in linguistics today.
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.
I mean...imagine if they'd actually have written down their teachings.....maybe in a collection of books. We'd maybe be able to consult it to see what they had to say.
I mean...imagine if they'd actually have written down their teachings.....maybe in a collection of books. We'd maybe be able to consult it to see what they had to say.
And imagine if they had evidence to back up their rather preposterous claims!
And imagine if they had evidence to back up their rather preposterous claims!
If such a thing were possible or required with regard to making such claims, there would be no such claims.
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