Do christians speak in tongues today?

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…to another various kinds of tongues… (1 Corinthians 12:10)
…Do all speak with tongues?.. (1 Corinthians 12:30)

I have been addressing this question in a fresh way with the elders of my congregation as of late. It has been a challenging and thought-provoking inquiry. Recently, they asked me to summarize my current position. I present it here for your scrutiny. I would be more than happy for anyone to make a biblical argument poking at any of my present understandings and conclusions. Please just make the argument biblical—demonstrating your point(s) from specific passages.

My summary of the Bible’s teaching on tongues

As we see entire groups of new believers speak in tongues in the book of Acts (Acts 2, 10:44-46, 19:5-7), the plain purpose of such incidents is to testify to the giving of the Spirit of God (Acts 2:33, 10:45, 19:6). The gift of tongues discussed in 1 Corinthians is similar in some respects, but different in others.

Similarities common to Acts and 1 Corinthians

• Tongues were genuine languages (1Cor 14:8-10), meant to be understood—directly in Acts 2; via interpretation in Corinth (1Cor 14:12-16)
• The languages spoken were not known to those speaking, serving as a self-authenticating, supernatural wonder. (Acts 2:5-8)

Differences in tongues between Acts and 1 Corinthians

• In Corinth, tongues was a gift given to certain individual believers (1Cor 12:30), not to the entire group/church.
• In Corinth, tongues was a gift to be exercised over time (1Cor 12:4,10), not just a one-time experience (as the incidents in Acts appear to be).
• In Corinth, this gift’s purpose was to build the Body (as with all spiritual gifts; 1Cor 14:4-5), and in particular to reach non-believers (1Cor 14:22; perhaps alluding to Jews demanding a sign in 1Cor 1:22). On the other hand, in Acts it was to testify to the giving of the Spirit.

It is also important to emphasize that tongues as a testimony that the Spirit was given (in the book of Acts) did not extend beyond those first experiences. It is never presented in the epistles as a normative experience in conversion. And in 1 Corinthians, where tongues is discussed, it is explicitly said not to be something given to every believer (1Cor 12:27-30). Thus, the speaking in tongues clearly was not a general evidence of conversion. Moreover, it does not grant or indicate any spiritual standing or authority (1Cor 14:27-33, 37-38). It was just one gift among many present in the Corinthian church (and perhaps elsewhere), and, in fact, is given lesser prominence by Paul than any other gift (1Cor 12:7-10, 28; 14:5).

1 Corinthians 13 makes clear that tongues are not eternal (1Cor 13:8). However, I do not see any clear indicator in Scripture of when tongues will cease. I can understand the interpretation of 1 Corinthains 13 to indicate the time of ceasing to be with the completion of the NT, but have significant difficulty seeing how vs 12 describes this.

That said, there certainly are some good reasons why it would make sense that tongues would cease with the completion of the cannon. Some gift-positions mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12-14 certainly have ceased (i.e. apostleship) and so it is likely that God designed some of the others also for only certain times and/or in specific contexts. Also, miraculous activity in the Bible is concentrated with Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and finally Jesus and the apostles—key points in history introducing new eras of revelation.

Thus, it is certainly possible that the Spirit would choose not to extensively employ tongues (and other miraculous gifts) at this point in history. At the same time, I do not see biblical warrant to absolutely rule it out. To date, however, I have never been exposed to any such practice of speaking in tongues which passes biblical scrutiny as genuine.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

It seems interesting to me the things you state firmly (things I would say aren’t so firm) and other things a little more loosely. E.g., The plain purpose of such incidents is to testify to the giving of the Spirit of God (each verse you reference, I think would be quite a stretch to say is speaking to the purpose of God pouring out the Holy Spirit) compared to it is perhaps something that happened in other churches (do you really think it was only happening in Corinth? I grant that we don’t know but it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Do you think teaching perhaps might not have been present in Ephesus?).

Great questions/challenges Ryan—they come across great! I’ll take up the first one in a different reply another time (Lord-willing!).

First, regarding the purpose of the incidents in Acts in which people spoke in tongues. I believe that there are only three passages in Acts which explicitly mention tongues. Here are the verses:

• And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. […everyone is amazed…Peter begins his sermon, including these words:] But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. […Peter proclaims the death and resurrection of Jesus, and then talks of the present wonder once more:] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. […Peter finishes the sermon.] (2:4-36)

• While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” (10:44-47)

• And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. (19:6)

I grant that the last one does not give a clear indication as to the purpose of their speaking in tongues. However, the first two seem quite clear to me.

In Acts 2, the effect of their speaking in tongues is that people are amazed and listening. Then, Peter interprets this wonder for those listening by explaining at length that they are witnessing the giving of the Holy Spirit. (The other parts of Peter’s sermon focus on the gospel and say nothing more about the speaking in tongues.)

In Acts 10, the Jewish believers are amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to Gentiles—this is the plain emphasis of the text. The way they knew that the Holy Spirit had been given was the fact they were speaking in tongues. This text (along with Acts 2 and 19) tells us nothing of the content of the speaking in tongues or any other such details—only that it made clear that the Holy Spirit had truly been given. For these reasons, I do find this to be the plain purpose of tongues-speaking in the book of Acts.

As for my uncertainty that tongues occurred in other churches besides Corinth, this is based upon the absence of any discussion of tongues in any other epistle, while there is discussion of other spiritual gifts. (Rom 12:6-8, Eph 4:11, 1Pet 4:10-11; and also non-list mentions: 1Tim 1:18, 4:13-14, 1Thes 5:20-21) To be clear, I am not arguing that the gift of tongues was not a gift exercised in other churches; I’m saying there is reason to ask the question. (As to why it might have been unique to Corinth, that is a whole different discussion!) Teaching, on the other hand, could be easily proven to be a normative gift.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

Did you Arc (or another method) 1 Corinthians 14? I’d love to see how you’re putting some of that together.

Sorry for dropping off the conversation for the last week and a half. There, is of course, much more to discuss with the new questions you have asked.

One of the things causing the delay is the fact I am arcing all of 1Cor 14 per your suggestion. (Not easy!) When I am done, Lord-willing, I will post it here and begin addressing your questions/challenges.

In the meantime, I’d like to give you (and anyone else reading along) the same encouragement to make an arc of 1Cor 14 and post it.

I just published a page on 1 Corinthians 14. See the whole thing here. It includes my arc and a paragraph-level paraphrase phrase. I’ll put a couple highlights below and then begin addressing specifically asked questions in days to come.

Main point summary

Run after love, and in love be zealous to orderly exercise spiritual gifts so as to build the church. Particularly, [a] worship with both your spirit and mind (i.e. not in uninterpreted tongues), and [b] come to gatherings ready to contribute when/if it is appropriately your turn.

Paragraph-level paraphrase

@Andy-Hubert

Thanks for all your hard work, Andy! I hope there are some other questions from other forum users, so we can be built up through this study.

I was wondering: Has your study of this chapter impacted whether or not you believe that the gift of tongues is for today?

I wanted to bring up some issues with modern tongues-speaking which, though they don’t establish that tongues-speaking isn’t for the modern church, yet their presence in a church reveals a dangerous ignorance of the Scriptures. And I’m curious to know your thoughts on this.

First, it seems that often, in tongues speaking in modern church meetings, whether or not tongues-speaking is for the modern day, it is definitely unbiblical because there is no interpreting! Nor is it done in an orderly way.

Secondly, there can be a misplaced emphasis in Charismatic groups, so that tongues-speaking is highly sought-after. Some have even said, I believe, that speaking in tongues is a necessary sign of being saved.

One more thing. In reading your paraphrase, I was struck by Paul’s focus on edification. Too often, our debates on this topic focus on the lawfulness of tongues or not, and we forget about the priority God gives us in this passage of edifying the congregation. Whatever we do, are we seeking to build other people up, to help the church grow spiritually? Or are we more interested in pushing our own viewpoint and making sure others agree with us?

So I would ask everyone reading this post: Does every believer come to your church with a desire to build others up, and prepared to build others up? I don’t ask that so you can peer at your fellow church members’ lives, but into your own heart. Encouraging and building up other believers is not just for the pastor, but for all believers! See Ephesians 4:12 and 16.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

• In saying that the purpose of the gift is to build up the body, are you saying if we are gathered together in the assembly? OR Always?
• And if you are saying always, how are you reading statements like 2a and 4a (bolded above)?
• Do you think that Paul is saying these things with pejorative undertones?
• Do you think something in the larger context qualifies how one would naturally* read this passage (here is how I take the natural reading: because the tongue/language is spoken to God, the person speaking it is in fact building themselves up just like prayer in one’s normal language would)?

In the full context of the 1Cor 12-14 section, I do think we need to take these statements as tongue-in-cheek. That is, I do not think Paul is saying “a is good, but b is better” in 1Cor 14:2-4. Instead, I think he is saying “sure you can do a, but b is what God wants.”

If, on the otherhand, Paul is communicating that the gift of tongues is meant to have an individual benefit, this would be the only gift of this sort and would contradict the biblically stated purpose for the gifts as a whole. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  (1 Corinthians 12:7) “So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.”  (1 Corinthians 14:12) “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ”  (Ephesians 4:11-12) This is why love for one another is a natural subject for Paul to emphasize within his discussion of spiritual gifts (1Cor 13).

So would it personally encourage me if I had the gift of tongues and could praise God in languages I had not studied, all in the privacy of my home. Absolutely! But it would be exciting more than building, as my mind would be at a loss as to what I was praising God for (1Cor 14:14). But more significant still, it would be missing the aim of my gift—to worship God in a way that serves as a supernatural sign to unbelievers that (1) the Spirit is among us, and (2) God now seeks worshippers from all peoples and tongues.

This is a great questions. I think that today Christian speak in tongues. Tongues are part of the charismatic gifts. If one believes that they are active today definitelly tongues will also be available for believers.

@Andy-Hubert

I have a lot to think through before responding to much of this. However, there is a question and a comment I’d like to ask/share:

• You said that we can be certain some “gift-positions” have ceased. On what biblical grounds can we have this certainty? And how do you read Ephesians 4:11-16 which says The Messiah has given these gift-positions are for the maturing of the body until Jesus returns?

• It seems interesting to me the things you state firmly (things I would say aren’t so firm) and other things a little more loosely. E.g., The plain purpose of such incidents is to testify to the giving of the Spirit of God (each verse you reference, I think would be quite a stretch to say is speaking to the purpose of God pouring out the Holy Spirit) compared to it is perhaps something that happened in other churches (do you really think it was only happening in Corinth? I grant that we don’t know but it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Do you think teaching perhaps might not have been present in Ephesus?).

I hope that the question/comment come across the right way, especially the latter. I know we are all in this for Jesus.

@Andy-Hubert
Thanks for the response. I’m going to have to work through the Acts passages a little more before responding. Also, I want to respond more to the last points you made. However, I’m going to do it all at once.

Also! Notice my first question was wrong. I said Jesus gave these gifts until the return of Jesus. I was recalling the passage incorrectly. Rather it says that Jesus gave these gifts until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and then some further appositional descriptions of those things. And to show my cards, I don’t think that has happened yet.

Forgive me for the misquote. Question still valid yet better clarified.

@Andy-Hubert

Did you Arc (or another method) 1 Corinthians 14? I’d love to see how you’re putting some of that together.

I started to spend some time in that chapter and thought it could be helpful to compare if you had.

@Andy-Hubert said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

In Corinth, this gift’s purpose was to build the Body (as with all spiritual gifts; 1Cor 14:4-5), and in particular to reach non-believers (1Cor 14:22; perhaps alluding to Jews demanding a sign in 1Cor 1:22). On the other hand, in Acts it was to testify to the giving of the Spirit.

I have another question that has jumped out has I spent some more time in the text. Here is the text:

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (emphasis added)

• In saying that the purpose of the gift is to build up the body, are you saying if we are gathered together in the assembly? OR Always?
• And if you are saying always, how are you reading statements like 2a and 4a (bolded above)?
• Do you think that Paul is saying these things with pejorative undertones?
• Do you think something in the larger context qualifies how one would naturally* read this passage (here is how I take the natural reading: because the tongue/language is spoken to God, the person speaking it is in fact building themselves up just like prayer in one’s normal language would)?

*of course in my mind - maybe because of my upbringing in the faith - it’s always hard to notice your glasses when you have worn them your whole life

@Andy-Hubert said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

In the meantime, I’d like to give you (and anyone else reading along) the same encouragement to make an arc of 1Cor 14 and post it.

Started right after I had asked you.

However, the process is going much slower than I had originally desired.

@Andy-Hubert

You’re way ahead of me. I’m tempted to take a day off of work (I have lots of time to use) to get this done.

I briefly looked at your work through. Fun stuff. I tried to not dig in too much because I didn’t want it to effect my original work through.

I’m excited to talk more about this.

@Brent-Karding

I certainly have been asking the Lord to increase my passion for building up other though the gifts He has distributed. However, this has caused me to think about the following: There is a struggle today to use our gifts as we meet unless it’s done at a different time than when we meet.

Doing this in a smaller group in a 1st century “living room” would have much easier to do v.26.

This isn’t a “oh, if only we were doing house churches, everyone would be more biblical.” However, I think we wouldn’t be honest recognizing the different of context that is in Paul’s mind, and what is often understood as “church” in the 21st western world/mind.

To show my cards… I have been saying a lot of what Chan has been saying (as of late) for years. However, I presently go to a huge baptist church…

Just a few thoughts.

@Brent-Karding said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

I was wondering: Has your study of this chapter impacted whether or not you believe that the gift of tongues is for today?

Yes, it has affected my perspective. I remain unconvinced that 1 Cor 13 teaches that [the gift of] tongues (and prophecy and knowledge) will cease with the completion of the canon (12:12 being my primary sticking point). However, biblical observations of how the Spirit wisely facilitates different supernatural wonders at different points in history, along with clarification on the purpose of tongues both lead me to understand why the Spirit might choose to not grant the gift of tongues widely in our day. But that is His call, not mine!

As for the concerns you mention @Brent-Karding, I share them given my experience. But that, of course, is just my experience.

As an interesting aside, when the gift of tongues reappeared within the primitive pentecostal movement, it was almost universally claimed that it was xenoglossy (i.e., the speaking of actual preexisting human languages like Mandarin, German, etc.), such that the early Pentecostals sent out missionaries without taking the time to learn the native tongue of those they were ministering to. Today, most who speak in tongues don’t speak xenoglossy, but something else altogether. Personally, I view tongues as actual human languages as in Acts 2:10-11.

@Ryan-Robinson said in Do christians speak in tongues today?:

There is a struggle today to use our gifts as we meet unless it’s done at a different time than when we meet.

Good point here, Ryan. The first Jerusalem church both worshipped in the Temple together (obviously unique to this point in redemptive history) and ate together “in their homes” (Acts 2:46).

1 Cor 14:26 could be followed in church services, depending how they are structured. And we can do these things before and after the service, if we don’t enter the building 5 minutes before the service starts and race out as soon as it ends.

But having fellowship together outside our corporate gatherings is important too; it would be helpful to think more about what that could look like. Hospitality is important in the Christian life (1 Pet 4:8-9), and we should eat in each other’s homes more often, I think. Going out for coffee can be a great tool for edifying other believers. Too often, our lives are centered around ourselves and our families to the exclusion of fellow believers, even in our own church. That’s not the biblical pattern.

Have you read Rosaria Butterfield’s book on hospitality called The Gospel Comes with a House Key? I found it very convicting, and my wife and I are trying to put some of her examples and suggestions into practice.

@Michael-Burgos

That is interesting, isn’t it? I want to interact more with Don Carson’s exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14. I believe he is a continuationist, but also a wonderful exegete. It would be very hard to be a continuationist, I think, if you viewed biblical tongues (as I do) as actual languages.

@Brent-Karding I count myself a continuationist in the sense that I cannot say definitively that the gifts, such as tongues, has ceased upon exegetical grounds. Functionally, however, I don’t see those gifts as normative at best. I really don’t understand how anyone could argue cessationism given 1 Cor. 13:8-12.