A Pentecostal View of the Gift of Tongues

        Speaking in a tongue is the believer's external manifestation in the senses world of the internal reality and presence of the power of the holy spirit.

Question: How do I speak in tongues?

    First - get born again of God's spirit. You can't use something you don't have.
         Romans 10:9-10 That is thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him form the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

    Second - Don't wait for God to make you speak in tongues. God NEVER controls you. God gives you the ability. Now you use it. You must speak. The only difference between speaking in tongues and speaking in your native language is what you speak. You do the speaking. You just don't have to think about what to say. God provides the words AS YOU SPEAK. By the way. You won't understand it!

           I Corinthians 14:2 When you speak in tongues you do not understand the words. The language is foreign to you - the speaker. But it is a language "of men and of angels" - I Corinthians 13:1. It will NOT be just noise - like "beep beep beep." It will be a language. You speak. God gives the words. It is really that simple.

         The divine act of the Spirit entering into and speaking in tongues is God's witness that He has received that soul into His kingdom. It is God's sign of the "new birth". Every born again person speaks in tongues, beginning the moment of his new birth.

        If you have not received this experience, please do not feel this a "belittling" or a "condemnation" of your faith in Jesus. It is not. There were sincere followers of Christ in the days of the apostles who had not yet received the Spirit until others came to "teach them the way more perfectly".

        And the Bible said that these earnest souls had the humility of heart and the sincerest of faith to receive it (both the truth, and the baptism of the Spirit!). It is essential that you know that anything short of the baptism of the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues will not suffice for the cleansing of your soul.

         It is the baptism of the holy Ghost that makes one a member of the Church (1 Cor.12:13), and it is the baptism of the holy Ghost that washes the soul from the stain of sin (Acts 22:16), removing even the desire for sin from the heart of man.

        The baptism of the holy Ghost is the experience which makes man a new creature in Christ Jesus, and so the answer to our question is "yes...EVERY believer must speak in tongues".

        Tongues is the sign given by God that a person has been born again. Without this experience, no man can be a new creature, fit to live in eternity among the saints.

Question: What questions, comments do you have about what I just said?

A Non Pentecostal View of the Gift of Tongues

Some facts:
 -tongues is never again mentioned by Paul after 1 Cor. 14
 -Peter, James, John, Jude never once mention or refer to the Gift of Tongues.
 -Tongues is not mentioned as a Fruit of the Spirit
 -Paul says that Tongues will cease.
 -Tongues are not mentioned as a qualification for an elder or a deacon in 2 Tim. 3 or Titus 1
 -In Revelation 2:2 Christ speaks to the 7 churches in Asia Minor and never refers to Tongues.
 -In the 3 centuries that followed the Apostolic period, there are only 2 references in the writings of the early church fathers
   concerning the Gift and use of tongues.

Contributing factors:
         The 20th century practice of speaking in tongues has moved out of the holiness movement and into mainstream protestant churches. it has also been seen in the RC church, Judaism, Mohammedism, Mormoms, Eskimos and pagan tribes in Tibet and China.

Some Possible reasons for this:
 -A downplay of the systematic approach to bible study.
 -Total abstinence of Bible doctrine in liberal churches
 -Spiritual deadness in many fundamental churches.
 -Hunger for the new and emotional in these materialistic days.

         Many evangelicals who once spoke in tongues think their tongues speaking was psychologically induced. It is no great marvel that Satan himself can transform himself into an angel of light, and his ministers transformed into ministers of righteousness. this makes him a deceitful god of disguises and a master when it comes to playing with our feelings.

         Someone attending a Pentecostal service for the first time said to the person next to them, 'I can't understand a thing the pastor is saying' The person replied, 'This is not understanding time, it's feeling time'.

Question: What questions, comments do you have about what I just said?

Definition:
 Speaking in tongues: Glossolalia  (Glossa = tongue, lalia = speech)
  Glossa:  1. Physical Organ  'tongue'
               2. Speech or manner of speech, language
               3. An expression which is strange or obscure and needs  explanation.

3 Basic Views:
 1. All accounts of tongues speaking refer to the same event. that is the supernatural ability to suddenly speak in a previously
     unknown/ unlearned language.

 2. All accounts of tongue speaking refer to the same event. That is the supernatural ability to speak in a non-human ecstatic
     language. This has often been called 'the tongues, or language of the angels'

 3. Some of the accounts (Acts) refer to an unknown/unlearned human language while other accounts (1 Cor.) refer to a
     non-human heavenly language.

Question: What do you know about the Gift of tongues?
               What do you want to know about the Gift of tongues?

HISTORICAL REVIEW OF TONGUES

Jesus and Tongues

Q: Did Jesus speak in tongues?  Did He teach about tongues?

         There is no evidence of "unknown tongues," either by word or action, in the life and teachings of Jesus. He taught much about the Holy Spirit and gave the promise of His coming at Pentecost. But nowhere does Jesus suggest that speaking in unknown tongues would be associated with any phase of the redemptive work of the Spirit.

Q: What did Jesus say about the prayer of pagans and how we should not pray?

Action: Read Matt. 6:7

         He deplored the babblings of pagan religions where what they were saying made no sense to anyone. If any man on earth ever demonstrated the true charisma of the Spirit in the most real and effective sense, Jesus Christ was that man. And yet He never was known to speak in unknown tongues, neither did He encourage His disciples to do so. Jesus always spoke in the simple language of His day, and the common people heard Him gladly.

Tongues: Acts and 1 Corinthians

Q:  What do you remember about the tongues mentioned in acts?

         There are three references to speaking in tongues in the Acts. At Pentecost (Acts 2) the disciples spoke in tongues and were understood by  their listeners. The phenomenon may have involved both the speaking and the hearing.

         At the home of Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10:45-46) the people who heard the speaking knew that the people were praising God and not talking about some mystery.

         At Ephesus (Acts 19:6) the speaking in tongues was equated with prophecy and thus was intelligible communication.
 From these passages it can be said that the tongue speaking in the Acts was intelligible and understood.

Q: What do you know about the tongues in Cornith?

         The tongues at Corinth were unintelligible. The church members seemed more interested in demonstration than in communication.

         So it seems that their practice of speaking in "unknown" tongues, was something different from that recorded in the Acts.
 It is this type of tongues that is perpetuated  and believed by the present day tongues movement.  Paul's discussion in I Corinthians 12-14 is the only extended treatment of the subject in the New Testament. So then, would it not be vital that we understand as fully as possible the background of the city and church that is Corinth?

Q: What do you know about the city of Corinth?

The Corinthian Church
         The reputation of the ancient city of Corinth is well known. Many races and religions were represented. It was a great center of trade and commerce and a gathering place for peoples of many countries. The continual influx of sailors with their traditional propensity to vice made Corinth a bed for immorality.

        We know that moral standards and religious practices are culturally oriented in an individual and are changed only gradually, not happening immediately at the time of conversion to Christianity.

         We must allow for several levels of Christian maturity among the members of the church. Those who were "called to be saints" had not yet arrived at any high degree of sainthood; and some who were "sanctified" were still "babes in Christ." Nevertheless they were "The church of God at Corinth," saints in the making.  But most of their known actions were a far departure from  true Christian life and conduct.

Local Religious Cults

         Religion at this time was moving from thought to experience, from rational content to emotional yearning. There were three major cults that may have influenced the early church in Corinth and were probably responsible for the emphasis on ecstatic speech by the early Christians.

 1. Cybele-Attis: Extreme ritualistic
  -Priests were stirred on by clashing of cymbals, loud drums and screeching flutes, then they would dance in a frenzied,
    uncontrollable manner.
  -One of their festivals celebrated the death and resurrection of one of their gods, Attis.
  -Mantanus was a priest of Cybele at one time as was know for his ecstatic excess.

 2. Dionysus: god of wine: extremely immoral
  -Wild uncontrolled dancing to loud drum beat. While in a state of ecstasy they would be filled with the spirit of Dionysus
     and would be given his spiritual powers.

 3. Apollo
  -Ecstatic tongues and accompanying interpretation was well know in the city of Corinth..
  -the gift of tongues and interpretation was widely experienced in the pagan religions of  the day.

Q: Does any of this look vaguely familiar to what was happening in the Corinthian church?

Pauls allusions to these cults in Scripture
 1. 1 Cor. 13:1
 2. 1 Cor. 2:1-16
     Mystery religions had wisdom and spiritual growth hidden to only the enlightened.
 3. 1 Cor. 12:7
      Pagan religion was individualistic, they build up only themselves.
 4. 1 Cor. 14:34
      Pagan religions relied heavily on women participating in their worship. Especially vocally with loud high pitched schrills.

     "Spiritual matters" were in confusion at Corinth. The problems which had developed in this young church are treated by Paul in I Corinthians 1-11 and give evidence that the church members had retained many traits of their old life, cultural, religious and moral.

     The fact that they had written him concerning such problems as marriage between Christians and heathen, the relation of slaves and masters, and meat offered to idols-all legitimate matters of concern but said nothing about such things as splits and quarrels among the membership, lawsuits, sexual immorality, disorder at the Lords Table, idolatry, drunkenness and the understanding of Spiritual gifts, was an indication of the true spiritual condition of the church.

Action: read 1 Cor. 12:1

     Paul's concern was that the people did not understand the nature of true spirituality (12:1). They had been idol worshippers and are now Christian, but some of their actions are more pagan than Christian. They had incorporated pagan rituals into their worship service and lives. They were being carried away in ecstasy until they did not know what they were doing. Paul recognized what was happening.  This form of ecstatic speaking had become a stereotype, which they claimed was evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Paul's immediate response was that the manifestation  of the Spirit takes many forms.

Action: Read 1 Cor. 12:6-11 (There is always variety)
Read 1 Cor. 12:7       ( All this is done purposefully )
Read 1 Cor. 14:33 (because God does not act aimlessly).

         The ecstatic tongues were evidence of confusion on the part of the church members. Speaking in ecstatic tongues marked their own folly and showed it's own condemnation by its self-centeredness, and its failure to communicate positive meaning to others.

         While Paul liked the Corinthian Christians, at the same time he was displeased with what he heard about them. There is no indication that he considered speaking in "unknown tongues" as an overflow of the Spirit  He emphasizes its failure to demonstrate spiritual maturity. It is a sign of spiritual childhood (14:20), and he calls the Corinthians "babes in Christ" (3:11) and immature (8:7f.). He preached that they must outgrow their childish ways and become men (13:11). The ability to do something in an unreasonable or mysterious way is to Paul no evidence of superior grace or Christian maturity.

Q: Did Paul speak in tongues?
    Did Paul Speak in Unknown Tongues?

         The exclusiveness of the Corinthian's ecstatic speech (tongues) made them feel superior to those who did not speak that way (14:36). And so Paul decided to boast a little for himself.

Action: Read 1 Cor. 14:18-19

          Paul could say this because he spoke Hebrew, Greek, Latin and probably Aramaic. Also, he had communicated the gospel to multitudes more than all of them put together. And so to credit Paul with speaking in ecstatic tongues is quite out of keeping with what we know of him and his stress on intelligent speech. Paul said that I wish that you all spoke in tongues. Of course he said the same things about celibacy, but in neither instance did he expect universal compliance.

         So perhaps the instructions to correct the mis-use of tongues in Cornith are not directives to speak in tongues today.

History of Tongues Movement

Some of the following information was taken from the book "The Truth about Tongues,"   John MacArthur

The Writings of the Church Fathers

     1. Clement of Rome - wrote a letter to the Corinthians in 95 AD  discussing all of their spiritual  problems.
         Tongues were never  mentioned.

     2. Justin Martyr - compiled a listing of spiritual gifts active in  his time (AD 100-165) and did not include the gift of tongues.

    3. Irenaeus: (AD 150) '..we hear many of the brethren in the church who have prophetic gifts, and who speak in tongues
       through the spirit...(Refutation and Overthrow of False Doctrine, Pg. 174)

     4. Origin - never mentioned tongues and even argued that the "signs" of the Apostolic Age were temporary and that no
         contemporary Christian exercised any of these early "sign" gifts. (AD 185-253).

     5. Chrysostom - writing on 1 Corinthians and the gift of tongues said, "This whole place is very obscure; but the obscurity is
         produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by the cessation, being such as then used to occur, but now no
         longer  take place." (AD 347-407).

     6. Augustine - comments on Acts 2:4: "In the earliest times, 'the  Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed: and they spake
        with tongues,'. . .These were signs adapted to the time.  For there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit.
        . .That thing was done for a betokening, and it passed away."

Supposed Occurrences of Tongues Since the Apostolic Age

1. Montanus - During the period of the early church the only people who were reported to have spoken in tongues were the followers of Montanus.  Montanus, a recent convert from a pagan cult, claimed to be the spokesman for the Holy Spirit.  He believed that Christ would soon set up the Kingdom in the city of Phrygia, and tried to justify speaking in tongues as an  occurrence of the end of the age.  Montanus was expelled from the church as a heretic.  (After Montanus, the next eruption of  tongues was not until the late seventeenth century.)

2. The Cevenols - The gift of ecstatic utterance was claimed by a group of persecuted Protestants in southern France around 1685.  They believed that their little children, who knew only the local dialect, were able to speak in perfect French while in a trance.  The group was soon discredited because of their night raids and military reprisals against their enemies.  And because all their prophecies went unfulfilled, they were branded as heretics and not considered to be a part of Mainline Christianity.

3. The Jansenists - Around 1731, a group of Roman Catholic reformers called the Jansenists, were holding night meetings at their leader's tomb during which they supposedly spoke in ecstatic languages.

4. The Shakers - The Shakers were followers of Mother Ann Lee, who lived from 1736-1784.  She regarded herself as the female equivalent of Jesus Christ--God in a female body.  She founded the Shaker community in Troy, New York, and claimed that she had received a revelation from God that sexual intercourse was corrupt. . .even within marriage. It is said that in order to teach her followers to mortify the flesh and to resist temptation, she instituted the practice of men and women dancing together in the nude while they spoke in tongues.

5. The Irvingites - About 1830, Edward Irving started a little group in London known as the Irvingites. This group began to speak in tongues but was soon discredited for several reasons: Their revelations contradicted Scripture, their prophecies went  unfulfilled, their supposed healings were followed by death, there were rumors of immorality, and some of their leading members were accused of fraud. (Sound familar)

6. The Pentecostal Movement:
      Phoebe Plamer and John Inskip in the late 1800's emphasized the 'second blessing'  a  work of  sanctification through the Baptism of the H.S. Divine healing began to be promoted by the holiness preachers and churches in the late1800's. 1895 saw the 'third blessing' teaching take hold. It's leader was Benjamin Hardin Irwin from Lincoln, Neb. this followed the conversion and 2nd blessing of the H.S. in the life of the Believer. Churches were called 'Pillar of Fire CHurch, and Burning Bush Church.  People in these church became 'fire baptized'.

      Tongues became a part of mainline Christianity in 1901 at Bethel Bible College in  Topeka, Kansas.  Agnes Ozman received what she called "the baptism of the Holy Spirit" accompanied by speaking in tongues. Charles Fox Parham set up the 'initial evidence' of tongues.

        Azuza Street revival: A revival in Los Angeles in 1906 under the leadership of a black ecumenist William J. Seymour a student of Parham. During this 3 yr. revival people had  visions, danced, and spoke in tongues. Attendance at the AME church in downtown Los Angeles, flourished.

        Assembly of God, the largest Pentecostal church, began in 1914.

7. The Charismatic Movement:
      In 1960, in Van Nuys, California, the modern Charismatic  movement began in an  Episcopalian church.  It soon spread across mainline denominations of all kinds. Similar  in doctrine and experience to Pentecostalism but less restrictive with regards to the necessity of tongues speaking and being a true Christian.

          Modern day Charismatic leaders: Church Smith (Calvary Chapel)  Tony Campolo,  Jack Hayford (Church on the Way) Benny Hinn, Pat Croche, Ken Copeland, Ken Hagin.

          Today the Tongues movement has taken hold in nearly all denominations.  There are  Evangelicals, Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and even Mormons claiming the "unity of the Spirit" through the Charismatic movement.

          According to the Charismatic Movement, never have we seen such a unifying of the     separated denominations as we have seen in recent years.

Q: If they are including Mormons being united with Christians who are 'united in the Spirit' can we trust the rest of their
     doctrine? Mormons are NOT Christians.

Heavenly Prayer Language

QUESTION: What are the passages Pentecostals use to support the existence of a 'Heavenly Prayer language'?
                     (1 Cor. 14:14-20,  1 Thess. 5:17, Jude 20, Eph. 6:18, 1 Cor. 13:1,  2 Cor. 12:2-4,  Rom. 8:18-27)

Pentecostal View
     A believer operating the manifestation of the spirit called tongues will be edified spiritually, spiritually built-up. He can operate this manifestation in two situations: in public and in private. The bulk of a believer's speaking in tongues is in his own private life. As such, speaking in tongues in private will be prayer or praise to the Father and, therefore is never interpreted. This prayer and praise is spoken of as "praying in the spirit." When you speak in tongues it is the spirit in you which is in direct communication with your heavenly Father, and as such your spirit is edified.

I. 1 Cor 14:14-15
     'For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.'

Pentecostal View
      Here we see clearly that our spirit prays separately from our understanding. You choose by your will to do either, or to do both. 1 Cor 14:15, pray with the spirit, shows the Holy Ghost doesn't speak for us, but with us.  Thus, one must begin speaking in most instances.

Biblical View

 VS. 14  Pray in a tongue = my spirit = my mind is unfruitful
             (Misuse of the gift of tongues in a time of prayer)

 VS. 15  Pray with the spirit = praying with the mind
             Sing with the spirit = singing with the mind
             (All in accordance with the will of God) (Intelligible language all can understand)(Not speaking or praying in tongues)

 VS. 16-19 Only you will benefit if you pray in tongues and this is a misuse of the gift.
                  It is the defining statement to VS. 14 (Speaking  = stating/teaching/discussing/praying)

 VS. 20  Therefore, grow up.
              Don't any longer be like children in your understanding in relation to the gift of  tongues and it's use in the church.

 Conclusion: This is yet another corrective passage on the proper use of the gift of tongues.  It is not to be used in prayer in the
                     church because no one will understand it.

II. 1Thes 5:17

 'Pray without ceasing.'

Pentecostal View
      Without the gift of tongues, you will be hard pressed to accomplish "pray without ceasing". The gift of tongues will enable you to abide in His presence without ceasing. If you have received the gift of speaking in tongues, then DO NOT STOP! Pray in tongues constantly. Train yourself to speak in tongues as much as you can. The flesh does not want to speak in tongues but you are not to be led by the flesh. Do you think that demons want you to pray God's perfect will? Use that which has been given to you. The gift of tongues will edify you. The origin of what is coming out of your lips is from heaven. Heaven is literally coming forth from your mouth as you pray in tongues, so don't stop.

Biblical View

     'It is not in the moving of the lips, but in the elevation of the heart to God, that the essence of prayer consists' (Lightfoot)  The context is that of the abundant Christian life and the attitude of the Believer as he goes through life. this is not a directive to be in literal prayer every moment of every day but in an attitude of prayer always.

III. Jude 20
 'But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,'

Pentecostal View
     This admonishment was given in the context to keep us from falling into error. If your desire is to get out of false doctrine and keep from falling into more false doctrine, pray in the Holy Spirit. This is praying in the Spirit's language which is tongues.

Biblical View
     This is Paul's encouraging words at the end of his letter. It is intended to mean praying with hearts that are indwelt, illuminated and filled with the HS.

IV. Ephesians 6:18
  'With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit,'

Pentecostal View
    Same as for Jude 20

Biblical View
     This is not speaking of a special language of the heavenlies but of praying in the power and will   of the Spirit. It suggests thoroughness and intensity in prayer.

V.  1 Cor. 13:1
 'If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.'

Pentecostal View
     This is a major proof text for the existence of a heavenly prayer language.We can speak the language of Angels. This is  praying in tongues, privately. This is what happens when a Believer is seized by the Spirit and caught up to heaven.

Biblical View
     This is hyperbole or Pauls exaggeration of ecstatic speech w/o love. This expression is found no where else in the Bible. We are never told that angels have their own language. We are never told that man can speak in this angelic language. Angelic beings and theophanies spoke the native language of the people they encountered.

VI. 2 Cor. 12:2-4
 'I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.'

Pentecostal View
     This is an  experience of ecstasy when the spirit comes upon you in prayer and you commune with God and the HS speaks through you with works that can not be understood.

Biblical View
     This represents what will happen to all those who are 'in Christ' when they go to heaven. Paul was relating the future blessing that would come to those who suffer for Christ in this life. (2 Cor. 4:17)  Inexpressible words is not tongues but words that are not allowed to be expressed..  There is no reference to tongues or a heavenly prayer language in this passage.

Rom. 8:26
 'And in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself, intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.'

Pentecostal View
     This is a chief  proof text for the heavenly prayer language. When we don't know how to pray, the Spirit speaks through us to God and  these words are unintelligible to us but God can understand. Since there is no mention of an interpreter, none is needed as long as it is in prayer. This is what happens when a Believer is seized by the Holy Spirit and caught up in heaven. He is speaking the very words of heaven.  (2 Cor. 12:2-4)

Biblical View
 1. The Believer is not left to his own resources in their Suffering  vs. 18 or groaning   vs. 23
 2. The HS helps (present tense: keeps on helping) us in our weakness. The HS just doesn't help us when we are in real
     trouble. He keeps on helping us because we will always be in weakness until we are in Christ's presence in glory.
 3. 'Helps'  Someone who is helping another carry a heavy load. Matt. 11:30. The reason the yoke of Christ is light and easy
     is that we have help carrying it..the HS.
 4. We do not know how to pray
 5. The Spirit intercedes (present tense Keeps on interceding) We do not always know the will of God for our lives but the
    Spirit who knows God's mind does and so praes for us even when we don't know what to pray for. If this was a prayer
    language the logical fulfillment would be that we must then  continually pray in this heavenly language and that is what the
    greek tense means.
 6. Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of God. Rom. 8:34 and there are no mention of Jesus speaking in tongues to the
    Father through us.
 7. Triple groaning
      a. Creation anxiously awaits redemption / groans
      b. Believers anxiously await final redemption / groans and suffers
      c. HS Groans and intercedes with words literally 'not heard' or 'silent'
8. In the same way
       Is a linking phrase
           a. Connecting what immediately precedes it. We endure suffering in this life because we have hope in the final
               redemption of our bodies and because of the constant intercession by the  HS on our behalf.
           b. Connecting the HS work in enabling us to pray. Vs. 15-17. it is another way we are assured that we are Children of
              God.
 9. This not a tongues text.  this is a message of encouragement to every Believer. Tongues are no where mentioned.
     Nor is a heavenly prayer language  mentioned  here.

Conclusion to Heavenly Prayer language

        There isn't one. Scripture in no way states it, not intimates it. In the normal, literal interpretation of these texts, there is not taught a heavenly prayer language. This is good isegesis but not good exegesis.

Conclusion to the gift of Tongues

 Pentecostals and Chraismatics are not agreed on the nature of tongues.

  1. How and when it is manifested.
  2. Whether it is an intelligible or ecstatic language.
  3. It purpose
       To build up the individual or the body.
       Public speaking or closet prayer language
       For believers or unbelievers
  4. Who controls it, man or the movement of the HS in the persons life.
  5. Is it necessary for salvation.

         Tongues, as they are manifested today do not accord with the correctives in 1 Cor. 12-14 nor    with the understanding that they are an intelligible language as seen in Acts. Therefore, a can not accept the current tongues movement as being legitimate  but will not limit the work of the HS to say that there is no legitimate gift of tongues today.

 I believe the gift of tongues to be intelligible languages.
  1. It is most consistent with the biblical use of the words,
  2. The legitimate gift of tongues in 1 Cor. and the tongues displayed in Actsare the same  thing. Intelligible languages.
  3. The words 'interpret' and 'intepreter' are most commonly used to describe a foreign  language.
  4. Gifts os the Spirit were given to spread the gospel of JC and thus intelligible language  would be favored for the kind of
      tongues that was a legitimate gift.