Is Today's Practice the Biblical Gift?
Millions of Christians around the world speak in tongues, and many describe it as one of the most meaningful parts of their walk with God. It is practiced as a private prayer language, sometimes as a message in a church service, and often as the evidence that a believer has received the baptism of the Spirit. The question here is not whether those believers are sincere. Many plainly are. The question is whether what is practiced today is the gift the Bible describes.
In Tongues in Scripture we saw that biblical tongues were real human languages, given as a sign and, when interpreted, to build up the church, under strict rules of order. This study compares modern practice with that standard, looks at what students of language have found, and asks how believers should test any spiritual experience.
Fluent, language-like speech made up of syllables that belong to no known language, practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic settings as prayer, as praise, or as a message to be interpreted.
This study is written with care for brothers and sisters who have spoken in tongues sincerely, wanting more of God. Nothing here questions your love for Christ. It asks you, like the Bereans, to compare an experience with the Scriptures (Acts 17:11), and to rest your assurance on Christ and His Word rather than on any experience.
Is the speaking in tongues practiced today the same gift the Spirit gave in Acts and at Corinth?
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For Deeper Study
- Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of PentecostalismAmazon William J. SamarinA linguist's study of recorded glossolalia, concluding that it is not a language. A technical, not a theological, work.
- The Modern Tongues MovementAmazon Robert G. GromackiA Baptist scholar's evaluation of modern tongues in the light of the biblical gift.
- Charismatic ChaosAmazon John MacArthurAn examination of charismatic teaching and experience, including tongues, measured by Scripture.
- Charismatic ConfusionAmazon Ernest PickeringA Baptist pastor's short, careful examination of charismatic teaching.
- Strange FireAmazon John MacArthurA 2013 critique of the charismatic movement, with a chapter on modern tongues.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Tongues in Scripture
The tongues of the Bible were real human languages, given by the Spirit as a sign to unbelieving Israel and, when interpreted, to build up the church, under clear rules that put understanding first.
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