Speaking in Tongues

By Ronald W. Leigh, Ph.D.

April 2, 2015
Copyright © 1969, 2015 Ronald W. Leigh
Bible quotations are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.

A.  Approach

What determines this doctrine (or any other doctrine)?  Our experience?  Other "prophets"?  No!  We seek only a Spirit-led interpretation of the Bible.  The wide variety of experiences among different individuals and the difficulty we have interpreting our own experiences make personal experience a very shaky basis for doctrine.

Also, note these warnings regarding false prophets:

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.  (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)

Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD.  (Jeremiah 29:8-9)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  (1 John 4:1)

B.  The word tongue

The Greek word for "tongue" used most often throughout the relevant New Testament passages is glōssa (γλωσσα), which simply means either the physical tongue or a particular spoken language.

Another word, glossolalia, is often used in books and articles to refer to speaking in tongues.  It combines glōssa with laleō (λαλεω, talk or speak).  This combined word is not found in the New Testament, but the two words glōssa and laleō are found in close proximity in 1 Corinthians 14:5, 39;  Acts 2:4;  and other locations.  Very often glossolalia is used to refer to ecstatic, non-rational speech, but we will not assign it that meaning until we examine the nature of tongues in the New Testament, which we do below.

C.  Key passages

Acts	1 Corinthians
2:1-14 — An historical account of the use of the miraculous gift of tongues for evangelism. 10:44-48 — Gentiles at Cornelius' house receive Peter's gospel message and speak in tongues. 19:1-6 — Paul informs disciples at Ephesus about baptism and Christ. They are baptized and speak in tongues.	12:4-11, 27-31 — Various individual spiritual gifts listed. 13:8-13 — The temporary aspect of certain spiritual gifts. 14 (entire chapter) — Paul's corrective instruction regarding the Corinthians' abuse of tongues in a church meeting.

D.  Linguistic situation

What was the linguistic situation in New Testament times?

In Palestine and East, Aramaic served as the trade language, while each nation had its own particular language.  In Palestine and West, Greek and Latin served as trade languages, while again each nation had its own particular language.

Thus, in Jerusalem, which is the setting of Acts 2, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic were commonly used.  These three languages were used on the sign fastened to Jesus' cross.

Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. (John 19:20)

In Paul's time Corinth was a large and wealthy city, perhaps half a million people, and the capital of the Roman province of Achaia (Greece).  Greek was the language which most of the people used in common.  Paul's letters to them were written in Greek.  Also, since Corinth was very cosmopolitan, many people with various mother-tongues lived and worked side by side.

The church of Jesus Christ consolidates people from different ethnic lines.

… we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks …  (1 Corinthians 12:13)

In a sense, ethnic differences are ignored.

There is neither Jew nor Greek …  (Galatians 3:28)

Thus, it is reasonable to assume that the Corinthian church was made up of people with various backgrounds and various mother tongues, reflecting the cosmopolitan flavor of the city as a whole.  Many, probably most, of them also had the ability to communicate in the trade language, Greek.

E.  Two categories of tongues

What are tongues?  For purposes of discussion we will lump the various notions of the nature of tongues into two main categories.

Category 1 ORDINARY  HUMAN  LANGUAGE	Category 2 EXTRAORDINARY  LANGUAGE
Public Communication (primarily between one person and another person) Examples: Aramaic Greek Latin English French Spanish Portuguese	Private Communication (primarily between a person and God) Examples: private speech (thought only) heavenly speech language of angels ecstatic speech non-rational speech emotive gibberish speech uttered during a trance

Obviously, the languages listed in Category 1, besides being used for public communication, can also be used for private communication with God since God understands all human languages.  Similarly, the types of speech listed in Category 2 can become public if someone in the group can interpret what is said and convey the message to others in a Category 1 language.  Nevertheless, we will work with these two categories of tongues in the following discussion.

Based on the many articles and commentaries on the subject of speaking in tongues, it appears that Category 2 is the more popular conception of tongues.  As an example of a Category 2 understanding of tongues, consider Thayer's comment on one of the uses of the word glossa:

… the gift of men who, rapt in an ecstasy and no longer quite masters of their own reason and consciousness, pour forth their glowing spiritual emotions in strange utterances, rugged, dark, disconnected, quite unfitted to instruct or to influence the minds of others.  (Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, originally 1889, Zondervan printing 1972, p. 118)

Unfortunately, a good number of translations (and paraphrases) have added extra words in 1 Corinthians 14 (typically in verses 2, 4, and elsewhere).  For example:

• The King James Version reads "unknown tongue."  (Note, however, that "unknown" is in italics, indicating that it is not in the original Greek.)
• Similar to the KJV, Gerrit Verkuyl (The Berkeley Version of the New Testament) uses the phrase "(unknown) tongue."
• The Amplified New Testament uses the phrases "[unknown] tongue" and "[strange] tongue."
• Charles B. Williams' The New Testament uses the phrase "speaks in ecstacy."
• The New English Bible uses the phrase "the language of ecstacy."
• Good News for Modern Man (American Bible Society) uses the phrase "strange sounds."
• The Contemporary English Version uses the phrase "languages that others don't know."
• William Beck's The New Testament in the Language of Today uses the phrase "a strange language."
• The Message uses the phrases "private language of tongues" and "private 'prayer language'."

The use of such phrases gives the reader the false idea that the tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 are different than the tongues in Acts 2.  However, there is no textual basis for such added phrases.  They are all based on the interpretations of the persons making the translations or paraphrases; they are not in the original Greek.

In 1 Corinthians 12:10 we find the wording "different kinds of tongues" (which is faithful to the Greek text and appears in most translations).  The word "kinds" might appear to support the notion that, in addition to normal human languages (Category 1), God gives a different kind of tongues (Category 2) to some people.  However, the same word, genos (γενος, family, kind, or sort) appears in 14:10 where those different kinds are said to be "in the world" and "none of them is without meaning."  Clearly all those "kinds" in 14:10 are within the larger category of human languages, and probably the same is true of the "different kinds" mentioned in 12:10.

F.  The nature of tongues in Acts 2

Luke wrote the book of Acts around A.D. 63, or possibly later.  Acts 2 is Luke's record of the miraculous events on the day of Pentecost.  It is an historical account of the use of the miraculous gift of tongues. Obviously, in this passage the tongues were Category 1 – human foreign languages.

⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues [glossa] as the Spirit enabled them. ⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language [dialektos]. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language [dialektos]? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs – we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues [glossa]!"  (Acts 2:4-11)

Just reading this event in English makes it clear that human foreign languages are being described.  The phrase "as the Spirit enabled them" (verse 4) indicates that God miraculously gave the disciples this ability to speak in other languages.

In addition, in this passage Luke uses two Greek words interchangeably:  the word glōssa and the word dialektos (διαλεκτος, speech or language).  First, in verse 4, Luke uses glōssa, then in verses 6 and 8 he switches to dialektos, then in verse 11 he switches back to glōssa – all to describe the same phenomenon.  In each of its six occurrences in the New Testament, it is obvious that the word dialektos refers to the human language of a nation or region.  Thus, it is beyond doubt that the tongues described in Acts 2 were human foreign languages.

G.  The nature of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14 records Paul's corrective instruction regarding the Corinthians' abuse of tongues.  The nature of the tongues is not so obvious.  Scholars differ.  However, it is helpful to notice that there is no indication in this chapter that the speaking was miraculously enabled by God.  This means that the abuse implied in chapter 14 is in contrast to the proper use of Spirit-given tongues mentioned in chapter 12 and experienced in Acts 2.

What was happening in Corinth?  Typically, the various believers from different backgrounds were misusing their mother tongues – speaking without proper regard for the effect their speech had on others who did not understand their particular language.  Again, these "tongues" were in Category 1 – human foreign languages.  Consider the following reasons:

1.  The authors' use of glōssa

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians around A.D. 55 (before Luke wrote Acts).  Paul uses the Greek word glōssa without qualification – he makes no effort to specify a unique meaning.  That is, he did not qualify the nature of tongues by adding adjectives such as "unknown" or "ecstatic."

2.  Interchangeable Greek words

Just as Luke uses glōssa and dialektos interchangeably in Acts 2, Paul uses glōssa interchangeably with the word phonē (φωνη, voice, sound, or language) in 1 Corinthians 14.  First, in verse 6, Paul uses glōssa.  Then, after mentioning musical instruments, he uses phonē in verses 10 and 11, then switches back to glōssa in verse 13 – all to make a single point, the need for meaningful communication between human beings using "intelligible words" (verse 9).  Certainly, when Paul writes about tongues, he has in mind human foreign languages.

3.  The Assyrian link

In discussing the purpose of tongues, Paul draws on the experience of Israel.  In spite of the fact that the Lord had offered Israel a place of rest, its leaders had become more occupied with drunkenness than with following the Lord (described in Isaiah 28).  This is unbelieving Israel.  Moses had foretold the Lord's response to such a situation.

The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand …  (Deuteronomy 28:49, compare Hosea 8:1)

Israel's disobedience eventually led to divine judgment at the hands of the Assyrians, whose language was "foreign lips and strange tongues" to the Israelites.  Since they did not heed the plain speech of the Lord through the prophets, they would hear from the Assyrians.

¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, ¹² to whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose" – but they would not listen.  (Isaiah 28:11-12)

Paul reminds the Corinthians that the Lord used the foreign language of Israel's captors to finally get a "message" to them.  Just as God had used this foreign tongue as a sign to unbelieving Israel, tongues still served as a sign to unbelievers.

²¹ In the Law it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord. ²² Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.  (1 Corinthians 14:21-22)

This function of tongues as a sign to unbelievers was illustrated on the day of Pentecost.  The crowd (unbelievers) in Jerusalem heard the disciples speaking in tongues and were bewildered, amazed, and perplexed.  The sign had worked!  The crowd then asked "What does this mean?"  (Acts 2:6-12).  After Peter's explanation, the people learned that they must repent, and thousands came to the Lord  (Acts 2:14-41).

Paul's reference to Israel's experience with Assyria gives us an important clue regarding the nature of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14.  Obviously the Assyrian tongue was a human language that was foreign to Israel.  Paul uses this historical foreign-language event to make the point that "tongues, then, are a sign … for unbelievers" (verse 22).  Paul's reasoning here makes sense only if the tongues he was talking about in 1 Corinthians 14 were of the same nature as the Assyrian tongue – a human foreign language.

Many of the other references to tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 could make sense either way, that is, they could be understood either as some Category 2 language, or they could be understood as a human foreign language, that is, Category 1.  You can read through the entire chapter substituting either of these two concepts every time you read "tongues."  In every case, except verses 21 and 22, your substitution can be made to make sense.  Verse 21 is the only place in the chapter where Paul refers to a tongue that cannot be in Category 2.  Then, in verse 22 Paul ties the Assyrian tongue to his current discussion of tongues by saying "Tongues, then …".  In the Greek, verse 22 begins with the word hoste (ωστε, so then, therefore) showing that his statement about the purpose of tongues in verse 22 is explicitly based on the quoted prophecy about the Assyrian language.

The fact that only one sense for tongues (human foreign languages) makes sense in verses 21 and 22 means that these two verses provide the key for understanding the nature of tongues in the rest of the chapter.  Thus, tongues have the same nature in both Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 14 – human foreign languages.

H.  An unambiguous version of 1 Corinthians 14

The Greek word glōssa occurs 15 times in 1 Corinthians 14.  (Once, in verse 9, glōssa refers to the physical tongue.  We will concern ourselves with the other 14 occurrences.)

The New International Version consistently renders glōssa with the word "tongue" which is ambiguous since it does not distinguish between Category 1 and Category 2.  We have replaced "tongue" with less ambiguous phrases such as "various languages," "his mother tongue," etc. shown in bold italics.  Of course, in each place where we have used "mother tongue," it would be possible to use some other phrase such as "language not understood by most listeners."

The following version of 1 Corinthians 14 shows that a Category 1 understanding of tongues makes good sense of the entire chapter.  Keep in mind that Paul's point throughout the chapter is that each person's communications should make sense to and thus build up the other believers in the meeting.

¹ Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in his mother tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. ³ But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. ⁴ He who speaks in his mother tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in your mother tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in his mother tongue, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified. ⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in languages you don't understand, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? ⁷ Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? ⁸ Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. ¹⁰ Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. ¹¹ If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. ¹² So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. ¹³ For this reason anyone who speaks in his mother tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. ¹⁴ For if I pray in my mother tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. ¹⁶ If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say "Amen" to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. ¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in various languages more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a foreign language. ²⁰ Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹ In the Law it is written: "Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me," says the Lord. ²² Foreign languages, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. ²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in their mother tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴ But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, ²⁵ and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" ²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a statement in his mother tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. ²⁷ If anyone speaks in his mother tongue, two – or at the most three – should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. ²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, ³⁴ women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. ³⁶ Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. ³⁸ If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. ³⁹ Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in mother tongues. ⁴⁰ But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

The same substitutions can be made in the other passages listed earlier under "Key passages" and they too will make perfect sense when the tongues are understood to be Category 1.

I.  The reversal of J. B. Phillips

J. B. Phillips' The New Testament in Modern English is, for the most part, an excellent paraphrase (Phillips calls it a translation).  He does a good job of bringing out the flow of thought, especially in his paraphrase of the epistles where there are long reasoned passages.  However, Phillips drops the ball in one particular place.  In 1 Corinthians 14:22 he reverses the meaning and questions the reliability of the Greek text.  He does this because of his incorrect understanding of the nature of tongues.

Phillips' understanding of the nature of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 is somewhat masked since he puts the word tongues in quotes throughout the chapter.  Nevertheless, in verse 14 he has Paul speaking of his mind as "inactive" rather than unfruitful or unproductive (which is the real meaning of the Greek word akarpos).  Also, in verse 20 he adds the adjective "excitable" to describe children, a notion which is not found at all in the Greek.  Thus it is rather clear that Phillips' definition of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 is somewhere in Category 2.

Now, notice the sense of 1 Corinthians 14:22 from the NIV quoted above, which is the same sense as Mounce's interlinear below.

So then tongues are for a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

But notice how Phillips reverses the sense.

That means that "tongues" are a sign of God's power, not for those who are unbelievers but to those who already believe. Preaching the word of God, on the other hand, is a sign of God's power to those who do not believe, rather than to believers.

Thus Phillips switches the purposes of tongues and prophecy.  He explains his reasoning in a footnote:

This is the sole instance of the translator's departing from the accepted text. He felt bound to conclude, from the sense of the next three verses, that we have here either a slip of the pen on the part of Paul, or, more probably, a copyist's error.

The next three verses give Paul's illustration of a visitor in a church meeting.  We can examine this illustration to detect Phillips' reasoning.  Using a Category 2 understanding of the nature of tongues, Phillips thinks that the visitors consider the believers crazy because they cannot understand what is being said.  So, he thinks, tongues should be used only in private, or only between believers, but when you want to evangelize the visitor, use prophecy (Phillips calls it "preaching").  So Phillips' logic makes sense, but only if we (1) adopt a Category 2 understanding of the nature of tongues, (2) reverse the purposes of tongues and prophecy, and (3) posit a copyist's error or worse.

But if we adopt a Category 1 understanding of tongues, the passage makes sense and we don't have to reverse anything, or suggest a copyist's error.  If the visitors were to hear a variety of believers attempting to speak to each other in their various mother tongues, the visitors would not understand and would consider the believers crazy.  But if the believers used the trade language understood by all (which would make their speech prophecy, or preaching), then even the visitors would understand what was being said.

By the way, there is no textual variant in the Greek underlying verse 22.  Thus, Phillips' notion of a copyist's error comes, not from any textual evidence, but solely from his conception of the nature of tongues which he brought to the text.  This illustrates the power of assumptions to override the teaching of a scriptural text.  If you come to the point, as Phillips did, where you think there must be some mistake in the text (particularly when there are no textual variants), the better response is to question your assumptions, not to question the text.

J.  Tongues of angels?

Some have insisted that tongues fall into Category 2 because of the reference to tongues "of angels" in 1 Corinthians 13:1.  However, Paul is speaking hypothetically here.  He starts by saying "If …".

Paul is also using hyperbole.  He is not saying that tongues of angels actually exist.  If the mere mention of tongues of angels were enough to prove that such tongues actually exist, then we would also have to conclude that some people fathom all knowledge since that is mentioned in verse 2.  But that is impossible for humans.

In addition, even if tongues of angels actually exist as a possibility for humans, this passage is not saying that they should be sought.  (See the section below entitled "Should we seek tongues?".)

K.  Does the Holy Spirit override the mind?

Some hold the view that the person who speaks in tongues does not know what he is saying, that he is passive and fully under the control of the Holy Spirit.  However, 1 Corinthians 14:17 indicates that the speaker does actually give thanks, and contrasts his giving thanks with the person who does not understand what the speaker has said (see verse 16).  Also, verse 28 indicates that the speaker has the ability to stop speaking publicly if there is no interpreter.  Thus the speaker is not passive, but active and in control of when he speaks and when he does not.

The phrase in verse 14, "my mind is unfruitful," does not mean that the speaker fails to understand what he is saying.  Rather, it means that what he says in his mother tongue has no benefit for others in the meeting if they do not understand his mother tongue.  This is the main point Paul is making in this entire section (verses 2-19), that when the church gathers, the individual members should strive to excel in building up each other (see verse 12).  Also, keep in mind that God does not want passive instruments to control.  Rather, he wants active obedience.  The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control!  (Galatians 5:22-23)

L.  Duration of tongues

There is no explicit New Testament statement indicating exactly when tongues were to cease.  However, 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 does indicate that they would cease when, or before, "the perfect comes."  Is this the millennium?  The eternal state?  While some maintain that this "perfect" thing is the completed New Testament, there is little or nothing in the passage to favor that conclusion.

God's pattern in the past has been to give miracles and signs most when they are needed most.  Notice how signs and wonders are clustered around the creation, the exodus, the times of the prophets, the life of Christ, and the establishment of the church.  Thus, it is not necessarily true that God intends us in our time to see as many outward signs of his working as were seen in the early church.

God does use signs and miracles to verify his message and his messengers  (Hebrews 2:4, compare Acts 2:43 and 4:30).  However, where the Word of God is available there is no need for other signs.  Abraham explains this principle to the rich man who thought that a sign, Lazarus rising from the dead, would convince his brothers to repent (Luke 16:19-31).  Abraham explains that their response to the Word of God would not be changed even if Lazarus did rise and go talk to them.  Thus, it would seem that we who have the Word of God should consider it the sign which God wants us to respond to.

It is interesting to note the loss of miraculous sign-gifts during Paul's own ministry.  Even though he had performed outstanding miracles (Acts 19:11-12; 28:2-9; 2 Corinthians 12:12), near the end of his ministry (on his fourth missionary journey) he had to leave Trophimus sick at Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20).

It is true that language barriers still exist in many places, and some still are without the Word of God.  If we could expect God to give the gift of tongues somewhere (remembering that tongues are human foreign languages), it would be to a missionary for use with a foreign people.  However, it appears that God is making use of language schools rather than a miraculous gift in our day.

Because of God's clustered pattern of miracles, because of the fact that God has verified the New Testament message, because of the apparent loss of sign-gifts during Paul's ministry, and because of God's use of language schools, we conclude that we should not assume that God will miraculously give the gift of tongues today.

M.  Should we seek tongues?

The gift of tongues is a lesser gift (1 Corinthians 12:28-31;  14:19).  The Corinthians were to seek love and prophecy before tongues (1 Corinthians 14:1, 5).

In our time (when it seems that God's pattern is not to give the gift of tongues), and in our situation (assuming we are in a group where everyone speaks English), we should neither expect nor seek tongues.

Erickson suggests the following helpful attitude toward tongues and other sign gifts.

In the final analysis, whether the Bible teaches that the Spirit dispenses special gifts today is not an issue of great practical consequence. For even if he does, we are not to set our lives to seeking them. He bestowes them sovereignly; he also determines the recipients (1 Cor 12:11). If he chooses to give us a special gift, he will do so regardless of whether we expect it or seek it. What we are commanded to do (Eph. 5:18) is be filled with the Holy Spirit (the form of the Greek imperative suggests ongoing action). This is not so much a matter of our getting more of the Holy Spirit; presumably all of us possess the Spirit in his entirety. It is, rather, a matter of his possessing more of our lives. Each of us is to aspire to giving the Holy Spirit full control of our lives. When that happens, our lives will manifest whatever gifts God intends for us to have, along with all the fruit and acts of his empowering that he wishes to display through us. …
    Of more importance, in many ways, than receiving certain gifts is the fruit of the Spirit. These virtues are, in Paul's estimation, the real evidence of the Spirit at work in Christians. Love, joy, and peace in an individual's life are the surest signs of a vital experience with the Spirit. In particular, Paul stresses love as more desirable than any gifts, no matter how spectacular (1 Cor 13:1-3).  (Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, 2nd ed., Baker Academic, 2001, p. 284-285)

N.  Restrictions

If tongues (foreign languages) should occur in a meeting where one language is spoken in common by most present (similar to the Corinthian situation), these restrictions from 1 Corinthians 14 should be observed.

1. Before an individual proceeds to speak in a foreign language, the leader should ask if someone present can identify and interpret the language.  If not, do not allow the person to proceed in the foreign language. (verse 28)
2. Only one at a time. (verse 27)
3. Limit to three foreign-language speakers in one service. (verse 27)
4. If the above restrictions are observed and done in an orderly fashion, do not forbid the use of foreign languages. (verses 33, 39, 40)
5. Men only? (verse 34)  However, the prophesying activity described in Acts 2:17-18 involved both "sons and daughters" and "men and women."  So, it may be that this fifth restriction was meant to apply uniquely to the Corinthian situation because of its many problems:
   1. Divisions and quarrels – 1 Corinthians 1:10-11
   2. Being spiritual infants, still worldly – 3:1-3
   3. Pride in their rare type of sexual immorality – 5:1-2
   4. Lawsuits between brothers, defeated already – 6:1-8
   5. Meetings that do more harm than good – 11:17
   6. Shameful lack of good sense – 15:34

O.  The problem of the Corinthians

The Corinthians sought outward manifestations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:12).  Being weak in faith (1 Corinthians 3:1), they needed sight.  They needed to see God working now.  Similarly, we are quicker to recognize God's working in a healing than in maintaining a person's health.  Often we acknowledge God's direct workings, but not his indirect.  While it is not wrong to seek manifestations of the Spirit, we must look for them in the right places.  When a fellow believer is built up, this is a manifestation of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:12).

It is immature to expect God to always work directly.  For example, notice that, in respect to our decisions, he works indirectly (James 1:5).  He gives us wisdom and we come up with the answer.  He does not give the answer directly.

P.  What are the so-called tongues popular today?

Given the widespread and varied phenomenon of tongues today, we can only make a few summary comments here.

There are many possible explanations for some of the Category 2 tongues heard today, including imitation, suggestibility, self-hypnosis, learning (being explicitly coached to verbalize a certain way), fraud, and demonic influence.  However, we must exhibit understanding and be slow to judge.  Yet, we must "test the spirits" (1 John 4:1).  In this passage the word "test" (δοκιμαζω, dokimazō) means to test, examine, or scrutinize in order to see if something is genuine or not.  We must also beware of Satan's habit of misrepresentation (2 Corinthians 11:14), and of all forms of unintelligible utterances (Isaiah 8:19).

When we disagree with those who favor Category 2 tongues for today, we do not question either their experiences or their sincerity.  Yet, we know that sincerity in itself is not enough (Matthew 7:21-23).  Instead of rejecting everything they stand for, we should only reject what is contrary to biblical teaching and be rebuked by their zeal and many other positive traits.

In regard to the current scene, we can say summarily that if God does give the gift of tongues (or the interpretation of tongues) today, we can expect that it will involve a human foreign language used to bridge a language barrier.

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Annotated bibliography