SPEAKING IN TONGUES
When it comes to questions such as, “Do Christians still speak in tongues today?”, we must decide in advance whether or not we are willing to base what we believe on what the Bible teaches.
If we base our beliefs on our experiences or on what we have personally seen and experienced in religious gatherings, then we are no different from other religions of the world. If the basis for what is true and what is not is one’s own personal experiences, then every religion would be legally valid. Because every religion has unexplainable and emotionally-driven phenomenon within them.
I have heard that some Hindus, for example, can walk across live, burning coals with their bare feet. I cannot explain how they can do that without being burned.
But if I let the Bible determine what I believe, then I cannot believe it is the Holy Spirit doing things like that. The Holy Spirit does not work in the Hindu faith.
And I could be wrong, for I do not have all the answers, but if we let the Bible determine what we believe about this subject, then we might come away believing differently than we would if we just went by experiences we have had and behaviors we have witnessed in other people and used a few Bible verses that we believe support what we have experienced. Again, everyone has had experiences they cannot explain. And every religion claims occurrences that cannot be explained.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS STUDY
Let me start by saying that I truly love all of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are in the “Pentecostal” denominations and “Charismatic” groups who believe that they speak in tongues. Nothing that I write here is intended to offend anyone and if you disagree with my conclusions, I hope that we can still love each other mutually in Jesus Christ. I am against the “miraculous gifts” doctrines of Pentecostalism, as are believers in most mainline denominations today. There are millions of believers who do not believe in speaking in tongues today.
That, in itself, does not prove anything. It could still be true, regardless of how many people do not believe in it. But I am just making the point that the biblical position that I take on this subject is not a novice one or new one or unique one. It has been around the longest and it is likely believed by the vast majority of Bible students and scholars today, even if they have not or do not know exactly how to articulate it.
Also, when I am dealing with something with which I disagree personally, I am not seeking to have a combative tone. One might notice that my writing approach on this subject, for example, is different from the way I attack the doctrine of Calvinism. I do not attack Calvinists personally because I believe that most of them are very sincere and love Jesus. But Calvinism and any other doctrine or system of beliefs which I believe strike at the very heart of the Gospel, make my Lord into something He is not, and make Him look bad in the eyes of people who need to know how wonderful He is, that gets the “fire in my bones” going.
Someone believing that they “speak in tongues” does not deny the Gospel, in my judgment. Not in any way. From my observation—and that is all I can go on in this matter—the vast majority of believers who claim to speak in tongues obviously love Christ personally. (I am not speaking about the ones you see on television. I do not know them personally, but the way most of them go about it seems very harmful to the cause). Anyone who loves Christ that way is on the same team that I am on regardless of whether or not we agree on speaking in tongues.
The subject, however, is still an important one to study and try to get to the bottom of. Because if you believe that you speak in tongues and another believer believes that you don’t or that she does not, then there is an element of division, at least in that area over that subject. And anything that divides the people of Jesus needs to be dealt with and studied.
So regardless of whether or not you agree with my conclusions, know that I am coming from a place of concern for what I believe the Bible teaches because of my love for Jesus. And we have far more in common than our differences on “spiritual gifts.”
But we must admit from the outset that the phenomenon of speaking in tongues—glōssolalia, from the Greek γλῶσσα, glōssa, which means “language,” as much as it means “tongue”— has for many, many decades been a source of division and confusion and debate among the people of God.
While we know for certain that some Christians spoke in tongues during the days of the apostles that we read about in the Book of Acts and in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, many, if not most of us, believe that this was a temporary gift given by the Holy Spirit to some—not all—believers in Christ during what should be considered as the “building phase” of the church. The Gospel and the body of Christ were being confirmed and proven, if you will. A temporary, foundational time in history is clearly revealed in the Bible.
It took place between the time of the Lord’s death to establish the New Covenant and the body of Christ with His blood on the cross, and the end of the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses as competition with the Gospel.
This ending happened with the fall of the temple in AD 70 at the hands of the Roman armies. Between those two events—the death of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem—the church was being built and confirmed in the eyes of humanity as the true kingdom of God.
So we should liken spiritual gifts to scaffolding on a house while it is being built. It is necessary while the house is under construction, but once the house is completed, the scaffolding is no longer needed and is taken away.
Before the days of a completed revelation, like we have in the canon of Scripture, the temporary signs and wonders were needed to establish and confirm the Gospel and thus are no longer needed today. The Gospel has been confirmed.
Today, people have the choice to accept or reject the Gospel message. If they choose to reject it as it is revealed in the completed New Testament, then that is all they are going to get. The Gospel message is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who will believe it (Romans 1:16).
While this article is lengthy because there are many points that need to be made, I hope you will find it worth your time and that you will calmly consider the easily understood points that are made. Even if you do not read the entire article in one sitting, I encourage you to read it all.
Let us study this subject point by point. These facts did not originate with me, but I am “standing on the shoulders of giants.”
TONGUES WERE A SIGN
First, tongues were primarily a sign for Jewish men and women who did not believe in Jesus.
We have the authority of God, given by the writings of Paul—who was chosen by Jesus to be an apostle, and was miraculously enabled to speak and write the word of God—that tongues were a sign for unbelievers, not for believers.
This miraculous manifestation of God was given, in other words, to convince unbelievers of the truth of the Gospel.
Does the modern-day “tongue speaking” phenomenon convert unbelievers to the Lord? Or is it something that an unbeliever looks at and thinks is silly and untrue? Real speaking in tongues in the Bible convinced people of the Gospel’s truth. Even those who did not want to believe in the Gospel.
Here is what Paul wrote:
“Therefore tongues are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…” (1 Corinthians 14:22).
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had prophesied that there would come a time when God would communicate truth to His people in “strange lips and with a foreign language (tongue)” (Isaiah 28:11-12). God’s use of foreign languages (Hebrew: lāšôn ʾaḥēr) to those of whom Isaiah prophesied means that He spoke in something other than their native Hebrew to indicate His extreme judgment for their unbelief.
Paul, writing in the Greek language centuries later, spoke to the Corinthian believers in 1 Corinthians 14:21 employing the Greek word ἑτερογλώσσοις (heteroglōssois), “other tongues/languages,” showing that the act of speaking in tongues was a legal sign to Jewish men and women who did not believe the Gospel. It was not intended as something people of God would do until the end of time.
THE SIGNS WERE TEMPORARY
Second, the New Testament explicitly teaches that the gift of tongues was temporary.
Paul had already said, concerning the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues, that it would cease:
“Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will pass away (καταργηθήσονται); as for tongues, they will cease (παύσονται); as for knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8–10).
Paul, in plain language, said that tongues would cease, but he used different words. He said that tongues would “cease” (Greek: παύσονται, pausontai)—in the middle voice— indicating that tongues would play out on their own without external force.
Prophecy and what is clearly a reference to supernatural knowledge in this text would be “done away with” (Greek: καταργηθήσονται, katargēthēsontai)—a different verb in the passive voice, indicating that there would be an active removal of those things.
I believe, and there are many far more capable students than I am who would agree with me, that Paul’s use of different verbs here was intentional, demonstrating that tongues would be the first gift to cease. It was, in other words, the least important of all the signs. That is at least a possible interpretation.
Paul even said that he would rather people prophesy than speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:5) if he had to make a choice between the two.
If there would be no “outside factor” that would cause the end of tongue speaking, he seems to be saying that tongues would naturally expire when the gift had served its temporary purpose.
WHEN THE PERFECT COMES
Third, we need to look closely at Paul’s phrase that tongues would cease “when the perfect comes.”
In 1 Corinthians 13:10, Paul makes this informative statement:
“But when the perfect comes, that which is in part will pass away.”
While there is disagreement over what he meant by the phrase “the perfect,” this is the key to understanding when tongues would cease. Paul clearly said that they WOULD cease. And it is difficult to find a reason why he would tell believers that they would cease if they were never going to cease at any point while the earth still stands.
Having said that, it is clear that identifying what “the perfect” is, is the key to knowing when tongues would cease, because Paul says when “the perfect comes” they would.
Those who believe that people today still speak in tongues argue that “the perfect” is a reference to the return of Christ and/or the end of time. Tongues, in other words, according to Paul, would continue until Jesus returns at the end of time.
But is that what he meant? Would that even be something that he would have to say, since obviously all aspects of Christian life and service on earth will cease when Jesus comes again?
You do not have to know Greek to have a relationship with Jesus, read and understand the point of the Bible, or to go to heaven. But when it comes to knowing what Paul meant on some issues, knowing the meaning of the words that he used helps tremendously. And since he wrote in Greek, knowing first century Koine Greek to an extent is very helpful and informative.
Paul wrote that when τὸ τέλειον (to teleion, “the perfect”) comes, tongues would cease. That word, while accurately translated as “the perfect,” also means complete or the end of something.
If he was referring to the completion of the New Testament record and the closing of the canon of Scripture—when the New Testament was finished, in other words—this would have been the perfect word to use in reference to that.
Notice in the context as you read it, in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13, that Paul is making a contrast. And the contrast is not between earthly life and eternal life in heaven, but between a knowledge or revelation that is incomplete and one that is complete. The revelation of truth is the context, not a discussion of heaven and earth.
James refers to “the perfect (Greek: νόμον τέλειον, nomon teleion) law of liberty” (James 1:25). So “perfect” can and does refer to completed Scripture.
The New Testament also teaches that, while God presented and revealed Himself and His word in different ways in times past—given in parts, in other words—He now speaks through the word of His Son (Hebrews 1:1–2). And the word of His Son is the completed New Testament.
So when the process of revelation was closed in the first century, and the canon of scripture was closed (even those who believe in speaking in tongues today, do not believe that anyone has the authority to write Scripture and add it to the Bible), the temporary gifts of confirmation, such as speaking in tongues, were no longer needed.
TONGUES WERE LANGUAGES
Fourth, tongues were languages, not enraptured utterances.
We are introduced to the miraculous gift of speaking in tongues in the second chapter of Acts when the Holy Spirit came down upon believers (Acts 2:1-4). And it is also this chapter that provides the clearest definition of what speaking in tongues actually was.
As the apostles “spoke with other tongues,” those who were listening did not hear gibberish or ecstatic utterances.
“Each one was hearing the apostles speak in their own language” (Acts 2:6).
The word translated language or tongues is διάλεκτος (dialektos). Think of the English word “dialect.” They were hearing languages, in other words, not strange sounds or some type of “heavenly speech” they had never heard before (when you read the word “tongues,” you should immediately think of the word “language”). That would not have been a sign of any kind to prove anything to them.
But the apostles’ ability to miraculously speak in other languages—the miraculous “translation” by God into some seventeen languages so that each one heard what was said in his or her own language (Acts 2:8)—was to convince their Jewish auditors that the words that they were speaking were truly the words of God.
God confirmed what they were saying, in other words, by the miraculous sign of tongues. Those who heard the apostles actually asked, “Why is it that each of us hears their words in our own native language?” (Acts 2:8)
So, according to the Bible, “tongues” were understandable human languages, not strange sounds that no one could understand. The Greek word γλῶσσα (glōssa) that is translated “tongues” in the King James Version means “language.”
Think of the difference it would make if our Pentecostal brothers said, “We speak in languages at our church” instead of “we speak in tongues.” “Speaking in tongues” is actually a human construct based on a word that is not the best translation of that word.
So in the Book of Acts, if we let the Bible define what “tongue speaking” was, we see that it was comprehensible human languages. There is simply nothing in the Bible to support the idea that tongues were erratic or unintelligible sounds made by believers in the early church.
Some will argue that Paul spoke of the “tongues of angels” in 1 Corinthians 13:1, so human languages were not the only kind. These brothers and sisters maintain that an angelic language would be something that human beings on earth would not be able to understand with the naked ear.
But several observations need to be made concerning this point. First of all, if the “tongues of angels” was different from the “tongues of men” in which the apostles spoke in Acts 2, why does one continue while the other does not? If there were two different types of “speaking in tongues,” then why aren’t they both still around?
No one today is speaking in languages they have never studied, are they? If they are, they should be able to do so to convince those who do not believe that this is happening today that it really is. In other words, if you can speak in tongues, your attitude should not be, “you believe what you believe, but I know what I have seen and experienced.” But rather, you should demonstrate your ability to speak miraculously in a language that you do not know to convince us that you can.
Also, you cannot attach an interpretation to the “tongues of angels” that makes it support your theory and your experiences. It cannot mean now what it did not mean when Paul wrote it in the first century to the Corinthians. And nowhere in the Bible is there a reference to some “heavenly language” that angels speak that humans are not in on.
When Paul says the “tongues of angels,” the reasonable interpretation would be that he is using stylistic hyperbole. He also spoke, after all, in the same context, of “giving his body to be burned” and “having all knowledge,” and these were both hypothetical situations (v. 2–3).
No one in the early church possessed “all knowledge” and Paul did not at any point willingly give his body to be burned, nor did anyone else in the New Testament.
CONSIDER HISTORY
Fifth, I believe we need to consider the historical record.
The writings of the “early church fathers” in the centuries immediately following the first century reveal that believers accepted the fact that tongues had ceased by then. This may be debatable in the minds of some, but you can examine what is said for yourself historically, and see what you think.
What we know without question is that Christians did not obsess over and talk about “speaking in tongues” until the Pentecostal movement originated in Topeka, Kansas in 1901 and the subsequent “Azusa Street Revival” in Los Angeles from 1906 to 1909.
THE GOSPEL HAS BEEN CONFIRMED
Finally, we need to have proper respect for the fact that the Gospel message of Christ has been confirmed and is, by itself, powerful enough to convert people today.
Even Pentecostals agree that the canon is closed. Even though Pentecostal pastors and teachers often claim that God is speaking or writing through them, they stop short of saying that what they speak and write should be added to the Bible, the way Paul’s and Peter’s and John’s writings were. They admit that the canon is closed.
But if one miraculous gift—speaking in tongues—continues to this day, then why do they not all continue to this day? If one can miraculously speak in tongues today the way Paul did, why can someone not still write an authoritatively inspired document the way Paul did?
Why do preachers who claim that they work miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit today not also claim the ability to write Scripture and add to the Bible? Why has one miraculous gift—inspired writing—ceased, but another—tongue-speaking—has not?
If Pentecostal preachers and teachers went as far as to claim the ability to write Scripture and add to the Bible, they would be completely ostracized by the entire “Evangelical” community overnight.
The Word of God, the Gospel of Christ, was confirmed by the miracles that are recorded in the Bible. Something would be wrong with a message that needed to be confirmed repeatedly throughout history. No, it was confirmed during one foundational period and it remains sufficient and confirmed forever.
We simply must believe in the sufficiency of the Bible to give us the message of God and the sufficiency of the Gospel of Christ to convert people and strengthen them in the faith. In other words, the Gospel of Christ is sufficient to convert people to Jesus, and the words of the New Testament record are sufficient to strengthen and build us up in living for Him. This is because all of these things point to Jesus Himself and a personal relationship with Him. The Bible is about Christ, not about miracles, wonders and signs or the Pentecostal movement.
Yes, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us and helps us in obeying and serving God, but it does not teach that it does so today through miraculous gifts.
Jude 3 says that followers of Christ should “contend earnestly for the faith that was ONCE FOR ALL delivered to the saints.” The New Testament, and therefore the Bible itself, is complete because of the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets (Ephesians 2:20). The work of God through them was sufficient, and miracles, wonders and signs are no longer needed today.
Notice how the words of the inspired apostle Peter support this idea:
“We have the prophetic word confirmed more fully, to which you would do well to pay careful attention…” (2 Peter 1:19).
If you read Peter’s words in context, he is saying that the written word is more lasting and sure than even the actual experiences themselves upon which they are based. Because the Scriptures were given by eyewitness testimony, and by those who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write things for God.
CONCLUSION
A study of the Bible, church history, and the actual words that God employed through His apostles to teach us, support the fact that speaking in tongues was a temporary gift to serve a specific purpose in the first century. The church was in its infancy stage and needed to be confirmed as the truth of God by miraculous activity. The same way that Jesus worked miracles to prove that He was really from God (John 3:1-2; 5:36; 10:37-38; 20:30-31; Acts 2:22).
Tongues were actual languages known by people. They were words and sentences that could be understood. They were given primarily as a sign to physical Israel that the Gospel was true, even though the Old Testament temple was still standing at the time.
The miraculous gifts of the Spirit established the identity and authority of the apostles of Christ. Once the foundational truths of the Gospel were established and confirmed, and the temple was destroyed in AD 70, tongues had served their purpose and were no longer operative. They “ceased” just as Paul predicted that they would (1 Cor. 13:8).
Jesus said that He would “confirm the word” with miraculous signs until the end of the Old Covenant age, not until the end of the world (Matthew 28:18–20, NIV; Mark 16:15–20). The writer of Hebrews said that the Word of Christ has been confirmed by miracles, wonders and signs and gifts of the Holy Spirit through those who were with Jesus while He was on earth (Hebrews 2:1-4). It has been confirmed.
Let us say one final thing in this regard. If you are absolutely convinced in your own mind that you speak in tongues, or that speaking in tongues is for today, and nothing I have written in this article has convinced you otherwise, then it must be remembered that we are united by our common allegiance to and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Your message should not be “speaking in tongues,” but it should be the glorious good news of how wonderful Jesus is, and how powerful what He has done to save us is, and how it is available to everyone.
Even while the apostles were alive, not every believer spoke in tongues and tongues had nothing to do with whether or not someone had faith in Christ or was a true believer.
In other words, while it is your choice what you will believe about this subject, it is not your choice when it comes to whether or not someone who disagrees with you is saved.
There are some “tongue speakers” and believers in current day miraculous gifts who seem to believe that those who truly have the Holy Spirit will have them. Even if they are speaking in tongues, they are making way too big of a deal about it.
If one is obsessed with speaking in tongues or the gifts of the Spirit rather than the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:2), then that in itself suggests that they are not really being led by the Holy Spirit. One who is led by the Spirit will focus on Jesus Christ, not on miraculous gifts.
So whatever your personal reasons are for believing that speaking in tongues is for today, it is not a part of the Gospel and does not have to be believed and accepted by others in order for them to know, love and follow Jesus. Childlike, simple, trusting faith and love will do that.
Tongues has nothing to do with anything when it comes to whether or not a person knows Jesus and has the Holy Spirit within them. Please don’t be divisive with your beliefs about speaking in tongues.
I realize this article does not cover everything and does not answer every argument or question on this subject. I also believe there are questions about it that no one can fully answer. But is the position taken a biblical and reasonable one?
I do not judge the sincerity of your beliefs, nor do I question your steadfast love for and commitment to Jesus. But focus on and talk about the things that all who love Jesus and believe in Him can be united on. Love and goodness and kindness and doing good to others in His name and living obediently to Him in this world. That is what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. It is about loving Him and striving to be like Him, not about “speaking in tongues.”
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
