CHAPTER ONE

THREE VIEWS OF
SPEAKING IN TONGUES

When starting the journey of understanding the gift of speaking in tongues, I can’t just dive right into examining scripture. There are some fundamental concepts and history that need to be covered. Within this chapter we will be looking at some common views on speaking in tongues.

Cessationism

Before I list the views of speaking in tongues, I need to briefly cover a topic that usually comes up when talking about the gifts or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. This topic is known as Cessationism. The term is derived from the word cessation, which means to end. Cessationism is a view where it is believed that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not currently available for use by Christians today. It is understood by Cessationists that the gifts have somehow ceased with the disciples or apostles in the first century. This raises many questions like, “Did all of the gifts cease? When did the gifts suddenly stop? What about the gift of faith? What might be the reasoning for deciding which gifts have ceased and which gifts haven’t?” One verse that is typically brought up when discussing Cessationism is 1 Corinthians 13:10.

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (1 Corinthians 13:10).

The answer I usually see from a Cessationist in regards to this verse is that the Bible is that which is perfect. I believe that this answer and the answers to the questions above are prone to many errors in simple reasoning. I will not be covering Cessationism as one of the views of speaking in tongues, even though many have been conditioned to think of it as a view. The main reason is that Cessationism is a broader topic covering all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not just one specific gift. The other reason is that Cessationism does not contain an explanation on the gift of speaking in tongues. It is just a belief that the gift has ceased. Not all Cessationists agree on a specific meaning of speaking in tongues, so the views that I provide will contain an explanation of the gift, since we are ultimately trying to understand it. If you are interested in learning more about Cessationism, please research this topic on your own. There are plenty of materials out there for you to come to an honest conclusion and I would have nothing more to offer on that topic that hasn’t already been put forth.

Evangelical View

The first of the views we’ll be taking a look at is the Evangelical view. There are two aspects of this view that are centered on the concept of natural man-made language being used to preach the gospel. Much of the basis for this view is found in the text of Acts 2:6-8.

Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confused, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And all were amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongues, wherein we were born (Acts 2:6-8)?

The first aspect can be described as a supernatural translation of natural languages between two or more people. Let me give an example of what this looks like.

An English speaking missionary visits Japan to preach the gospel. The only language the missionary understands is English. Preaching to the surrounding Japanese citizens, the missionary hears English coming from his own mouth. Unbeknownst to the missionary, the Japanese citizens do not understand English, but hear the missionary in their native language, Japanese. A supernatural translation has occurred from the moment the words were spoken from the missionary in English to the words reaching the ears of the Japanese listeners.

The second aspect is similar to the first, but has a slight change starting off. It can be described as a supernatural act where a natural language is being spoken that is not known by the speaker, but is comprehended by another, as it is their native language. Here is an example showing this aspect in use.

An English speaking missionary visits Japan to preach the gospel. The only language the missionary understands is English. Preaching to the surrounding Japanese citizens, the missionary hears Japanese coming out of his mouth, while the Japanese citizens hear the missionary in their native language, Japanese. A supernatural act has occurred from the moment the missionary’s mouth moved which caused him to speak the language of the Japanese listeners.

Both of these aspects consist of natural languages at both ends. It is the supernatural element during the process that is giving the gift its usefulness. In both of these illustrations, the speaker only knows English and the hearer only knows Japanese. Although there is a supernatural component to this view, it is only used as an evangelical means for the hearer to understand the gospel. This brings us to the next view that concentrates more on the supernatural.

Charismatic View

The Charismatic view, or sometimes known as the Pentecostal view, looks at speaking in tongues as more than just an evangelical method for spreading the gospel. It is found in most Pentecostal churches and so the names tend to be used interchangeably. They see it as a personal prayer language with an aspect of the Evangelical view that occasionally happens as an added bonus. Charismatics believe that the personal prayer language is given to them by God and is used to communicate through the mediation of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).

The language spoken is only understood by God and sounds like babbling or gibberish to the speaker and listener, except during the special situational occurrence of the added bonus where the listener understands what is being said in their native language. Various differences between Charismatics have led to many interpretations of the types of tongues that exist. First Corinthians 13:1 discusses two of these:

Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Charismatics consider these two types what we have already been looking at in this chapter. Tongues of angels would be the prayer language from the Charismatic view and tongues of men would be an aspect of the Evangelical view. There are even some Charismatics that claim there are many more types of tongues used for certain purposes such as intercessory tongues, deliverance tongues, tongues for prayer, and tongues for worship. They classify these as being subsets of tongues of angels. These subsets are not fully agreed upon between all who hold the Charismatic view.

Besides supernatural communication, the other focus for this view is faith. Charismatics feel that they need to have faith that the things they are speaking in their unknown tongue are mysteries understood by the Holy Spirit.

For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men, but unto God: for no man understands him; howbeit in the spirit he speaks mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2).

The Holy Spirit then relays the intents of the heart to God the Father. Without having faith that this process works, all there would be is an incoherent speaker with no other basis for this view.

The Charismatic view became popularized in the early 1900’s with the Azusa Street Revival. Many preachers, pastors, and prophets have attempted to carry the so-called mantle of this revival into their congregations attempting to recreate an experience that equals or rivals that of the Azusa Street Revival. Their actions made their way into the Jesus Movement in the 1970’s and then ended up sparking revival gatherings around North America, such as the Toronto Blessing in 1994, Brownsville Revival in 1995, Lakeland Revival in 2008, and the Azusa Now 110th anniversary gathering.

Today, the Charismatic view is a predominant and widely accepted understanding of speaking in tongues. John Green from Pew Forum had this to say, “In other countries that we studied the renewalist (charismatic) population has reached the point where they can have an enormous impact on the social and political life.“1 This was in reference to a study done by Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life back in October 2006 titled, A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals.2 “I don’t think it’s too far-fetched at this point to seriously entertain the question of whether Christianity is well on its way to being pentecostalized throughout the world, and certainly in the developing world. These numbers clearly jumped out,” said Luis Lugo, Director of The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.3

Because of the growing popularity of this view, I will use it for comparisons throughout this book. In order to gain a greater understanding of the origins of the Charismatic view, we will take a more in depth look at its history in the next chapter.

Wonderful Works View

The Wonderful Works view is one you may not have heard of before. It is a simple concept that seems to be extremely overlooked. It gets its name from Acts 2:11.

…Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God (Acts 2:11).

While searching for views on speaking in tongues, I found very few writings that contained information on this specific view. This led me to believe that this was a view that may have been lost over...