Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice in which some believe it to be a

divine language Divine language, the language of the gods, or, in monotheism, the language of God (or angels), is the concept of a mystical or divine proto-language, which predates and supersedes human speech. Abrahamic traditions In Judaism and Christianit ...

unknown to the speaker."Glossolalian", ''A Dictionary of Psychology''. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009
Oxford Reference Online
Retrieved 5 August 2011. Glossolalia is practiced in

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movementcharismatic Christianity, as well as in other religions. Sometimes a distinction is made between "glossolalia" and "xenolalia" or " xenoglossy", which specifically relates to the belief that the language being spoken is a natural language previously unknown to the speaker.

Etymology

''Glossolalia'' is a borrowing of the grc-gre, γλωσσολαλία, glossolalía, which is a compound of the grc-gre, γλῶσσα, glossa, links=no, meaning "tongue" or "language" and grc-gre, λαλέω, laleō, links=no, "to speak, talk, chat, prattle, or to make a sound". The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the New Testament in the books of Acts and First Corinthians. In Acts 2, the followers of Christ receive the Holy Spirit and speak in the languages of at least fifteen countries or ethnic groups. The exact phrase ''speaking in tongues'' has been used at least since the translation of the New Testament into

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

in the Wycliffe Bible in the 14th century. Frederic Farrar first used the word ''glossolalia'' in 1879.

Linguistics

In 1972, William J. Samarin, a linguist from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, published a thorough assessment of Pentecostal glossolalia that became a classic work on its linguistic characteristics. His assessment was based on a large sample of glossolalia recorded in public and private Christian meetings in Italy, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Canada, and the United States over the course of five years; his wide range of subjects included the Puerto Ricans of the Bronx, the snake handlers of the Appalachians and the spiritual Christians from Russia in Los Angeles (''Pryguny, Dukh-i-zhizniki''). Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels found in a language known to the speaker:

It is verbal behaviour that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels ... in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically ... with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.

lossolaliaconsists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.

That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others.

Felicitas Goodman Felicitas D. Goodman (January 30, 1914 in Budapest, Hungary – March 30, 2005 in Columbus, Ohio, USA) was an American linguist and anthropologist. She was a highly regarded expert in linguistics and anthropology and researched and explored Ec ...

, a psychological anthropologist and linguist, also found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language. These findings were confirmed by Kavan (2004). Samarin found that the resemblance to human language was merely on the surface and so concluded that glossolalia is "only a facade of language". He reached this conclusion because the syllable string did not form words, the stream of speech was not internally organized, and – most importantly of all – there was no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Humans use language to communicate but glossolalia does not. Therefore, he concluded that glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives". On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead". Felicitas Goodman studied a number of Pentecostal communities in the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico; these included English-, Spanish- and Mayan-speaking groups. She compared what she found with recordings of non-Christian rituals from Africa, Borneo, Indonesia and Japan. She took into account both the segmental structure (such as sounds, syllables, phrases) and the supra-segmental elements (rhythm, accent, intonation) and concluded that there was no distinction between what was practised by the Pentecostal Protestants and the followers of other religions.

History

Classical antiquity

It was a commonplace idea within the Ancient world that divine beings spoke languages different from human languages, and historians of religion have identified references to

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

speech in Greco-Roman literature that resemble glossolalia, sometimes explained as angelic or

. An example is the account in the Testament of Job, a non-canonical elaboration of the Book of Job, where the daughters of Job are described as being given sashes enabling them to speak and sing in angelic languages. According to Dale B. Martin, glossolalia was accorded high status in the ancient world due to its association with the divine.

Alexander of Abonoteichus Alexander of Abonoteichus ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Ἀβωνοτειχίτης ''Aléxandros ho Abōnoteichítēs''), also called Alexander the Paphlagonian ( CE), was a Greek mystic and oracle, and the founder of the Glycon cult that br ...

may have exhibited glossolalia during his episodes of prophetic ecstasy. Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus linked glossolalia to

prophecy In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or p ...

, writing that prophecy was divine spirit possession that "emits words which are not understood by those that utter them; for they pronounce them, as it is said, with an insane mouth (''mainomenό stomati'') and are wholly subservient, and entirely yield themselves to the energy of the predominating God". In his writings on

early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...

, the Greek philosopher Celsus includes an account of Christian glossolalia. Celsus describes prophecies made by several Christians in Palestine and Phoenicia of which he writes, "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent, and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover: for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes". References to speaking in tongues by the

Church fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

are rare. Except for Irenaeus' 2nd-century reference to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages "through the Spirit", and Tertullian's reference in 207 AD to the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues being encountered in his day, there are no other known first-hand accounts of glossolalia, and very few second-hand accounts among their writings.

1100 to 1900

* 12th century –

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through t ...

explained that speaking tongues be no longer present because there be greater miracles – the transformed lives of believers. * 12th century – Hildegard of Bingen is said to have possessed the gift of visions and prophecy and to have been able to speak and write in Latin without having learned the language. * 1265 –

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Order, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino, Italy, Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest who was an influential List of Catholic philo ...

wrote about the gift of tongues in the New Testament, which he understood to be an ability to speak every language, given for the purposes of missionary work. He explained that Christ did not have this gift because his mission was to the Jews, "nor does each one of the faithful now speak save in one tongue"; for "no one speaks in the tongues of all nations, because the Church herself already speaks the languages of all nations". * 15th century – The Moravians are referred to by detractors as having spoken in tongues. John Roche, a contemporary critic, claimed that the Moravians "commonly broke into some disconnected Jargon, which they often passed upon the vulgar, 'as the exuberant and resistless Evacuations of the Spirit'". * 17th century – The French Prophets: The Camisards also spoke sometimes in languages that were unknown: "Several persons of both Sexes", James Du Bois of Montpellier recalled, "I have heard in their Extasies pronounce certain words, which seem'd to the Standers-by, to be some Foreign Language". These utterances were sometimes accompanied by the gift of interpretation exercised, in Du Bois' experience, by the same person who had spoken in tongues. * 17th century – Early

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, such as Edward Burrough, make mention of tongues-speaking in their meetings: "We spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us". * 1817 – In Germany,

Gustav von Below Gustav Ernst Anton Wilhelm Ewald von Below (18 July 1790 – 19 November 1843) was the son of Livonian born Prussian hauptmann Karl Gustav von Below (1759–1840

, an aristocratic officer of the Prussian Guard, and his brothers, founded a religious movement based on their estates in Pomerania, which may have included speaking in tongues. * 19th century –

Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale the second son of Ga ...

and the Catholic Apostolic Church. Edward Irving, a minister in the Church of Scotland, writes of a woman who would "speak at great length, and with superhuman strength, in an unknown tongue, to the great astonishment of all who heard, and to her own great edification and enjoyment in God". Irving further stated that "tongues are a great instrument for personal edification, however mysterious it may seem to us". * 19th century – The history of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...

(LDS Church), contains extensive references to the practice of speaking in tongues by

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as chu ...

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, h ...

and many others.

Sidney Rigdon Sidney Rigdon (February 19, 1793 – July 14, 1876) was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement. Biography Early life Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793. He w ...

had disagreements with Alexander Campbell regarding speaking in tongues, and later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Speaking in tongues was recorded in contemporary sources, both hostile and sympathetic to Mormonism, by at least 1830. The practice was soon widespread amongst Mormons, with many rank and file church members believing they were speaking the

language of Adam The Adamic language, according to Jewish tradition (as recorded in the ''midrashim'') and some Christians, is the language spoken by Adam (and possibly Eve) in the Garden of Eden. It is variously interpreted as either the language used by God ...

; some of the hostility towards Mormons stemmed from those of other faiths regarding speaking in tongues unfavorably, especially when practiced by children. At the 1836 dedication of the Kirtland Temple the dedicatory prayer asked that God grant them the gift of tongues and at the end of the service

spoke in tongues, another elder interpreted it and then gave his own exhortation in tongues. Many other worship experiences in the Kirtland Temple prior to and after the dedication included references to people speaking and interpreting tongues. In describing the beliefs of the church in the

Wentworth letter The "Wentworth letter" was a letter written in 1842 by Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith to "Long" John Wentworth, editor and proprietor of the ''Chicago Democrat''. It outlined the history of the Latter Day Saint movement up to that t ...

(1842), Joseph Smith identified a belief of the "gift of tongues" and "interpretation of tongues". The practice of glossolalia by the Latter-day Saints was widespread but after an initial burst of enthusiastic growth circa 1830–34, seems to have been somewhat more restrained than in many other contemporary religious movements. Young, Smith, and numerous other early leaders frequently cautioned against the public exercise of glossolalia unless there be someone who could exercise the corresponding spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues, so that listeners could be edified by what had been said. Although the

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into sev ...

s believe that speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues is alive and well in the Church, modern Mormons are much more likely to point to the way in which LDS missionaries are trained and learn foreign languages quickly, and are able to communicate rapidly on their missions, as evidence of the manifestation of this gift. This interpretation stems from a 1900 General Conference sermon by

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was the nephew of Joseph Smith, the founde ...

which discouraged glossolalia; subsequent leaders echoed this recommendation for about a decade afterwards and subsequently the practice had largely died out amongst Mormons by the 1930s and '40s.

20th century

During the 20th century, glossolalia primarily became associated with Pentecostalism and the later

charismatic movement The charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream Christian denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of sp ...

. Preachers in the Holiness Movement preachers Charles Parham and William Seymour are credited as co-founders of the movement. Parham and Seymour taught that "baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues". It was Parham who formulated the doctrine of "initial evidence". After studying the Bible, Parham came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence that one had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit. In 1900, Parham opened

Bethel Bible College Bethel Bible College or Bethel Gospel School was a Bible college founded in 1900 by Charles Parham in Topeka, Kansas, United States. The school is credited with starting the Pentecostal movement due to a series of fasting days that ended in what w ...

in Topeka, Kansas, America, where he taught initial evidence, a Charismatic belief about how to initiate the practice. During a service on 1 January 1901, a student named

Agnes Ozman Agnes Ozman (1870–1937) was a student at Charles Fox Parham's Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas. Ozman was considered as the first to speak in tongues in the pentecostal revival when she was 30 years old in 1901 (Cook 2008). However, h ...

asked for prayer and the

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism '' semikhah'' ( he, סמיכה, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal m ...

to specifically ask God to fill her with the Holy Spirit. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, in the first hours of the 20th century. Parham followed within the next few days. Parham called his new movement the apostolic faith. In 1905, he moved to Houston and opened a Bible school there. One of his students was William Seymour, an African-American preacher. In 1906, Seymour traveled to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

where his preaching ignited the Azusa Street Revival. This revival is considered the birth of the global Pentecostal movement. According to the first issue of William Seymour's newsletter, ''The Apostolic Faith'', from 1906: Parham and his early followers believed that speaking in tongues was xenoglossia, and some followers traveled to foreign countries and tried to use the gift to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking people. From the time of the Azusa Street revival and among early participants in the Pentecostal movement, there were many accounts of individuals hearing their own languages spoken 'in tongues'. The majority of Pentecostals and Charismatics consider speaking in tongues to primarily be divine, or the "language of angels", rather than human languages. In the years following the Azusa Street revival Pentecostals who went to the mission field found that they were unable to speak in the language of the local inhabitants at will when they spoke in tongues in strange lands. The revival at Azusa Street lasted until around 1915. From it grew many new Pentecostal churches as people visited the services in Los Angeles and took their newfound beliefs to communities around the United States and abroad. During the 20th century, glossolalia became an important part of the identity of these religious groups. During the 1960s, the

within the mainline Protestant churches and among charismatic Roman Catholics adopted some Pentecostal beliefs, and the practice of glossolalia spread to other Christian denominations. The discussion regarding tongues has permeated many branches of Protestantism, particularly since the widespread charismatic movement in the 1960s. Many books have been published either defending or attacking the practice.

Christianity

Theological explanations

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

, a supernatural explanation for glossolalia is advocated by some and rejected by others. Proponents of each viewpoint use the biblical writings and historical arguments to support their positions. * Glossolalists could, apart from those practicing glossolalia, also mean all those Christians who believe that the Pentecostal/charismatic glossolalia practiced today is the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. They believe that it is a miraculous

charism A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of th ...

or spiritual gift. Glossolalists claim that these tongues can be both real, unlearned languages (i.e., xenoglossia) as well as a "language of the spirit", a "heavenly language", or perhaps the language of angels. * Cessationists believe that all the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to occur early in Christian history, and therefore that the speaking in tongues as practiced by Charismatic Christians is the learned utterance of non-linguistic syllables. According to this belief, it is neither xenoglossia nor miraculous, but rather taught behavior, possibly self-induced. These believe that what the New Testament described as "speaking in tongues" was xenoglossia, a miraculous spiritual gift through which the speaker could communicate in natural languages not previously studied. *A third position claims that glossolalia does exist, but it is a form of

prelest Prelest (from rus, пре́лесть, r=prélestʹ, p=ˈprʲelʲɪsʲtʲ, a=Ru-прелесть.ogg, itself from russian: лесть, lit=charm, seduction, cajolery, translit=lestʹ, ; grc-x-byzant, πλάνη, lit=wandering astray; fallacy, tran ...

, not the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. It believes glossolalia is part of a mediumistic technique where practitioners are manifesting genuine spiritual power, but this power is not necessarily of the Holy Spirit. * A fourth position conceivably exists, which believes the practice of "glossolalia" to be a folk practice and different from the legitimate New Testament spiritual gift of speaking/interpreting real languages. It is therefore not out of a belief that "miracles have ceased" (i.e., cessationism) that causes this group to discredit the supernatural origins of particular modern expressions of "glossolalia", but it is rather out of a belief that glossolalists have misunderstood Scripture and wrongly attributed to the Holy Spirit something that may be explained naturalistically.

Biblical practice

There are five places in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

where speaking in tongues is referred to explicitly: * Mark 16:17, which records the instructions of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

to the

apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

, including his description that "they will speak with new tongues" as a sign that would follow "them that believe" in him. * Acts 2, which describes an occurrence of speaking in tongues in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

at Pentecost, though with various interpretations. Specifically, "every man ''heard them'' speak in his own language" and wondered "how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" * Acts 10:46, when the household of Cornelius in Caesarea spoke in tongues, and those present compared it to the speaking in tongues that occurred at Pentecost. * Acts 19:6, when a group of approximately a dozen men spoke in tongues in Ephesus as they received the Holy Spirit while the apostle Paul laid his hands upon them. * 1 Cor 12, 13, 14, where Paul discusses speaking in "various kinds of tongues" as part of his wider discussion of the gifts of the Spirit; his remarks shed some light on his own speaking in tongues as well as how the gift of speaking in tongues was to be used in the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

. Other verses by inference may be considered to refer to "speaking in tongues", such as Isaiah 28:11, Romans 8:26 and Jude 20. The biblical account of Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and "divided tongues like fire" coming to rest on the

. The text further describes that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages". It goes on to say in verses 5–11 that when the Apostles spoke, each person in attendance "heard their own language being spoken". Therefore, the gift of speaking in tongues refers to the Apostles' speaking languages that the people listening heard as "them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God". Glossolalists and cessationists both recognize this as xenoglossia, a miraculous ability that marked their baptism in the Holy Spirit. Something similar (although perhaps not xenoglossia) took place on at least two subsequent occasions, in Caesarea and Ephesus. Glossolalists and cessationists generally agree that the primary purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues was to mark the Holy Spirit being poured out. At Pentecost the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sendin ...

declared that this gift, which was making some in the audience ridicule the disciples as drunks, be the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, which described that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh ( Acts 2:17). Despite these commonalities, there are significant variations in interpretation. * Universal. The traditional

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movementbaptized in the Holy Spirit, the distinctive mark of which is glossolalia. While most Protestants agree that baptism in the Holy Spirit is integral to being a Christian, others believe that it is not separable from

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

and no longer marked by glossolalia. Pentecostals appeal to the declaration of the

at Pentecost, that "the gift of the Holy Spirit" was "for you and for your children and for all who are far off" ( Acts 2:38–39). Cessationists reply that the gift of speaking in tongues was never for all ( 1 Cor 12:30). In response to those who say that the baptism in the Holy Spirit be not a separate experience from conversion, Pentecostals appeal to the question asked by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian believers "Have ye received the Holy Ghost ''since'' ye believed?" ( Acts 19:2). * One gift. Different aspects of speaking in tongues appear in Acts and 1 Corinthians, such that the Assemblies of God declare that the gift in Acts "is the same in essence as the gift of tongues" in 1 Corinthians "but different in purpose and use". They distinguish between (private) speech in tongues when receiving the gift of the Spirit, and (public) speech in tongues for the benefit of the church. Others assert that the gift in Acts was "not a different phenomenon" but the same gift being displayed under varying circumstances. The same description"speaking in tongues"is used in both Acts and 1 Corinthians, and in both cases the speech is in an unlearned language. * Direction. The New Testament describes tongues largely as speech addressed to God, but also as something that can potentially be interpreted into human language, thereby "edifying the hearers" ( 1 Cor 14:5, 13). At Pentecost and Caesarea the speakers were praising God ( Acts 2:11; 10:46). Paul referred to praying, singing praise, and giving thanks in tongues ( 1 Cor 14:14–17), as well as to the interpretation of tongues ( 1 Cor 14:5), and instructed those speaking in tongues to pray for the ability to interpret their tongues so that others could understand them ( 1 Cor 14:13). While some people limit speaking in tongues to speech addressed to God"prayer or praise", others claim that speaking in tongues be the revelation from God to the church, and when interpreted into human language by those embued with the gift of interpretation of tongues for the benefit of others present, may be considered equivalent to prophecy. * Music. Musical interludes of glossolalia are sometimes described as

singing in the Spirit Singing in the Spirit or singing in tongues, in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, is the act of worshiping through glossolalic song. The term is derived from the words of Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 14:15, "I will pray with my spirit, ...

. Some hold that singing in the Spirit is identified with singing in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:13–19, which they hold to be "spiritual or spirited singing", as opposed to "communicative or impactive singing" which Paul refers to as "singing with the understanding". * Sign for unbelievers ( 1 Cor 14:22). Some assume that tongues are "a sign for unbelievers that they might believe", and so advocate it as a means of evangelism. Others point out that Paul quotes Isaiah to show that "when God speaks to people in language they cannot understand, it is quite evidently a sign of God's judgment"; so if unbelievers are baffled by a church service they cannot understand because tongues are spoken without being interpreted, that is a "sign of God's attitude", "a sign of judgment". Some identify the tongues in Acts 2 as the primary example of tongues as signs for unbelievers. * Comprehension. Some say that speaking in tongues was "not understood by the speaker". Others assert that "the tongues-speaker normally understood his own foreign-language message". This last comment seems to have been made by someone confusing the "gift of tongues" with the "gift of the interpretation of tongues" , which is specified as a different gift in the New Testament, but one that can be given to a person who also has the gift of tongues. In that case, a person understands a message in tongues that he has previously spoken in an unknown language.

Pentecostal and charismatic practices

Baptism with the Holy Spirit is regarded by the Holiness Pentecostals (the oldest branch of Pentecostalism) as being the third work of grace, following the new birth ( first work of grace) and entire sanctification ( second work of grace). Holiness Pentecostals teach that this third work of grace is accompanied with glossolalia. Because Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs are not monolithic, there is not complete theological agreement on speaking in tongues. Generally, followers believe that speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift that can be manifested as either a human language or a heavenly supernatural language in three ways: * The "sign of tongues" refers to xenoglossia, wherein followers believe someone is speaking a language they have never learned. * The "gift of tongues" refers to a glossolalic utterance spoken by an individual and addressed to a congregation of, typically, other believers. * "Praying in the spirit" is typically used to refer to glossolalia as part of personal prayer. Many Pentecostals and charismatics quote Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14 which established guidelines on the public use of glossolalia in the church at Corinth although the exegesis of this passage and the extent to which these instructions are followed is a matter of academic debate. The gift of tongues is often referred to as a "message in tongues". Practitioners believe that this use of glossolalia requires an interpretation so that the gathered congregation can understand the message, which is accomplished by the interpretation of tongues. There are two schools of thought concerning the nature of a message in tongues: * One school of thought believes it is always directed ''to'' God as prayer, praise, or thanksgiving but is spoken in for the hearing and edification of the congregation. * The other school of thought believes that a message in tongues can be a prophetic utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit. In this case, the speaker delivers a message to the congregation on behalf of God. In addition to praying in the Spirit, many Pentecostal and charismatic churches practice what is known as

Interpretation of tongues

In Christian theology, the ''interpretation of tongues'' is one of the spiritual gifts listed in

1 Corinthians 12 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. This gift is used in conjunction with that of the gift of tonguesthe

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

ability to speak in a language (tongue) unknown to the speaker. The gift of interpretation is the supernatural enablement to express in an intelligible language an utterance spoken in an unknown tongue. This is not learned but imparted by the Holy Spirit; therefore, it should not be confused with the acquired skill of language interpretation. While

cessationist Cessationism versus continuationism involves a Christian theological dispute as to whether spiritual gifts remain available to the church, or whether their operation ceased with the Apostolic Age of the church (or soon thereafter). The cessation ...

Christians believe that this miraculous

has ceased, Charismatic and

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestantism, Protestant Charismatic Christianity, Charismatic Christian movement church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

.Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, ''Foundations of Pentecostal Theology'', 1983, (Los Angeles: Foursquare Media, 2008), pp. 342–343. Much of what is known about this gift was recorded by St. Paul in

1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. In this chapter, Paul writes about the gift of proph ...

. In this passage, guidelines for the proper use of the gift of tongues were given. In order for the gift of tongues to be beneficial to the edification of the church, such supernatural utterances were to be interpreted into the language of the gathered Christians. If no one among the gathered Christians possessed the gift of interpretation, then the gift of tongues was not to be publicly exercised. Those possessing the gift of tongues were encouraged to pray for the ability to interpret.

Non-Christian practice

Other religious groups have been observed to practice some form of theopneustic glossolalia. It is perhaps most commonly in Paganism, Shamanism, and other mediumistic religious practices. In Japan, the God Light Association believed that glossolalia could cause adherents to recall past lives. Glossolalia has been postulated as an explanation for the Voynich manuscript. In the 19th century,

Spiritism Spiritism (French: ''spiritisme''; Portuguese: ''espiritismo'') is a spiritualist, religious, and philosophical doctrine established in France in the 1850s by the French teacher, educational writer, and translator Hippolyte Léon Denizard R ...

was developed by the work of

Allan Kardec Allan Kardec () is the pen name of the French educator, translator, and author Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail (; 3 October 1804 – 31 March 1869). He is the author of the five books known as the Spiritist Codification, and the founder of ...

, and the practice was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of xenoglossia.

Medical research

Glossolalia is classified as a non-neurogenic language disorder. Most people exhibiting glossolalia do not have a

neuropsychiatric disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

Neuroimaging Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Incr ...

of brain activity during glossolalia does not show activity in the language areas of the brain. In other words, it may be characterized by a specific brain activity (at Appendix A) and it can be a learned behaviour. A 1973 experimental study highlighted the existence of two basic types of glossolalia: a static form which tends to a somewhat coaction to repetitiveness and a more dynamic one which tends to free association of speech-like elements. A study done by the ''American Journal of Human Biology'' found that speaking in tongues is associated with both a reduction in circulatory cortisol, and enhancements in alpha-amylase enzyme activitytwo common biomarkers of stress reduction that can be measured in saliva. Several sociological studies report various social benefits of engaging in Pentecostal glossolalia, such as an increase in self-confidence. As of April 2021, further studies are needed to corroborate the 1980s view of glossolaly with more sensitive measures of outcome, by using the more recent techniques of neuroimaging.

Criticism

Speakers of glossolalia are capable of speaking in tongues on cue, contrary to the claim that it is a spontaneous event. Analysis of glossolalics reveals a pseudo-language that lacks consistent syntax, semantic meaning, usually rhythmic or poetic in nature and is similar to the speaker's native tongue. 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, although the meaning is usually translated by the leader involved, in line with and supportive of whatever message or teaching had been given that day, in some way giving divine legitimacy to what is said.

References

Bibliography

External links

* Gerlach, Joel C.
''"Glossolalia"''
(from a Confessional Lutheran perspective)
Video recorded during a Sunday Prayer Meeting
10 February 2008;

Cochin, India Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

; this prayer group functions under the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in India.
"Gift of Tongues"
T. Reilly. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 14. 1912.

by

John Salza John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, bible verses and the Catholic Church fathers on speaking in tongues
"Glossolalia"
bible411.com. (Cessationist perspective)
"Glossolalia as Foreign Language"
D. William Faupel. ''Wesleyan Theological Journal'' Vol. 31 No. 1 (Spring 1996): pp. 95–109. (Historical study of Pentecostal beliefs)
"Questions about Tongues"
Assemblies of God USA. (Pentecostal perspective)
"The Function of Tongue-Speaking for the Individual: A Psycho-Theological Model"
Daniel A. Tappeiner. ''Journal of American Scientific Affiliation''. Vol. 26. March 1974. pp. 29–32.

*
''Esperimenti di Glossolalia''
A case of glossolalia in theatre.
"Lalia"
Extreme episode of glossolalia captured in modern music. {{Authority control Constructed languages Language and mysticism Spiritual gifts Christian terminology Acts of the Apostles Pneumatology Christianity in Appalachia Charismatic and Pentecostal worship Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity