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YOUR QUESTION (No. 58)
Do you believe in
speaking in tongues?
Answer
Yes and no. Yes -- I believe it is a real phenomena. No -- I do not believe it to be inspired of the Holy Spirit. We find this information at this site: One historical note that may give direction to the tongues debate: Several varieties of mystery religion, for which Corinth was famous, were practiced there. Two of these mystery cults were those of Dionysus and Apollo. They had as their major focus the practice of religious ecstasy and glossolalia. One writer describes their ceremony:I believe it to be ecstatic utterance, psychically (not spiritually) induced. My faith is formed by Jesus, and he not once mentioned this phenomena. Had this been a real gift of the Holy Spirit, would not he have mentioned it as such? Some may cite Mark 16:17 as quoting Jesus on this subject. I believe Mark properly ends with verse 16:8, and all past that represents only the efforts of later scribes to give it an ending suitable to their religious practices -- or perhaps in support of Paul and his acceptance of 'tongues' as a valid spiritual gift. Have you noticed that, in the gospels, Jesus never 'excites the emotions' of his disciples, except the emotion of Joy on the part of those who benefited from his miracles? Following him requires a clear mind! The event of Pentecost appears not to have been glossolalia. The apostles spoke and men of many languages heard them in their own tongue. The Holy Spirit inspired them in this event so as to promote the rapid spread of the Word to many nations. That is my view. You can read more of what I believe by going to this page, where I have previously responded to a similar question on the topic of glossolalia. |