Anybody can speak in tongues... if what you mean by "speaking in tongues" is what some good folk believe it to be. These folk are commonly called Charismatic or Pentecostal. In this lesson we are going to describe two phenomena,and then compare these with the Biblical account of speaking in tongues, to see which phenomena matches the Biblical miracle.

Ecstatic Utterance (Glossolalia)

 glossolalia  uttering language-like but unintelligible sounds usually in a state of ecstasy.

The first phenomena we will consider is "ecstatic utterance" which is technically called glossolalia. This is a real phenomenon. There is nothing imaginary about it. In Australia, as in just about any part of the world, you can hear and observe glossolalia without having to walk very far. The phenomenon is common to many religions, pagan as well as "Christian". You can make recordings of it, examine it, write histories and case studies about it. You can even practice it yourself if you so choose.

There are two components to this phenomena...

• Utterance of language-like sounds. There is nothing extraordinary about this. Even children, before they speak a real language, chatter away in imitation of language, yet unintelligibly. Anybody can do this.
• Ecstasy, trance-like elation. There is nothing extraordinary about this either. It is harder to do on purpose than the first component, however anybody can do it without using drugs, doing extreme sports, or undergoing hypnosis. Mind you, ecstasy should not be induced for its own sake, because it gives you a high that is followed by depression, and that can spell addiction.

We see then, that ecstatic utterance or glossolalia is a real phenomena and anybody is capable of it whether "Christian" or not. The question we must ask, is whether this phenomena is the Biblical gift of speaking in tongues. We will examine the Biblical account later, in order to answer that question. But first let us note another phenomena which we also later compare with the Biblical account.

The Gift of Tongues (Xenoglossia)

 xenoglossia  Speaking in a language which one has never learned.

A phenomena which may well be called the gift of tongues (technically called xenoglossia) is the ability to speak fluently a language one has never learned. That is to say, one has never studied the language or had any natural exposure to it. One does not "know" the language in any natural sense, yet one can speak it fluently. Although this phenomena has a name, xenoglossia, there appears to be no proven case of it in the world today.

The fact that xenoglossia is not seen or heard today, does not mean that it has never occurred in the past. If it has occurred, however, then it was a miraculous event, because, unlike glossolalia, xenoglossia is not a natual or innate ability in man.

Now let us examine the Biblical description of "speaking in tongues" to see which, if any, of these two phenomena match that description.

The Biblical Phenomena

A Miraculous Sign

According to the scriptures, speaking in tongues is one of several signs which were to follow those who believed in Christ. These signs are...

• Casting out demons
• Speaking with new tongues
• Taking up serpents without harm
• Drinking deadly poison without harm
• Laying hands on the sick, who then recover

This list is found in Mark 16:16-18, however it is not a complete list. You might like to compare it with another list found in 1Corinthians 12:7-11.

Since none of the other gifts is natural, one would expect that the gift of tongues would not be a natural gift either. We are looking at a scriptural list of miraculous signs. Since this list includes tongues, we must conclude that the gift of tongues is a miraculous sign, not a natural ability common to all mankind. This rules out glossolalia or "ecstatic utterance" and leads us to conclude that xenoglossia is the gift of tongues.

The Pentecostal Gift

In Acts 2:4-8, the true Pentecostal tongues, spoken by the apostles, are described by the very people who heard them: "We each hear in our own language in which we were born."

The miracle recorded here was not in the hearing but in the speaking. The apostles "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." The apostles were not speaking one language whilst the people were hearing different languages to that which was spoken. The apostles were actually speaking in the other tongues that people were hearing. These tongues were languages other than the apostles’ own. They were languages native and familiar to the hearers, but completely new to the apostles, languages which the apostles had not learned by study, or by natural exposure, yet were suddenly able to speak.

If, as is often asserted, speaking in tongues caused everyone listening to hear in their own language and therefore to understand the speech, then Paul would never have made his lengthy criticism of using the gift of tongues in church —his criticism being that the people listening do not understand the tongues being spoken and are therefore not edified by what they hear (1Co 14:1-28).

This scripture we are looking at (Acts 2:4-8) is the only place in all of the Bible where "speaking in tongues" is actually described. The phenomena is mentioned in several places, but only in this one place is it described so that we may know exactly what happened.

What Luke describes here in Acts 2:4-8 does not match the phenomenon of glossolalia or "ecstatic utterance" because there is no similarity in Luke’s description to what we observe when we hear and see "ecstatic utterance" or glossolalia being practised. Luke’s description does, however, fit perfectly with the definition of xenoglossia. We are forced to conclude that the gift of tongues among Christians of New Testament times was xenoglossia, not glossolalia.

Tongues Today

Australia is rich with citizens and visitors who know many exotic languages. But they will not hear them when they listen to "ecstatic utterances" claimed to be "the gift of tongues" today. They will hear plenty of hype and plenty of claims and plenty of noise. However they will not be able to say, "We hear them speak in our own language to which we were born" (Acts 2:8).

The use of "tongues" today does not follow the practice of New Testament times. The primary purposes of the gift of tongues was to be a sign to unbelievers and to teach the message of the gospel (1Co 14:19,22). In church, people were not allowed to exercise the gift of tongues, but were to keep silent, except for three at the most, provided they did not all talk at the same time, and that someone interpreted for the sake of those who could not understand the language ((1Co 14:27-28). To anyone else, the rule was, "Let him speak to himself and to God". This is usually interpreted as, "Let him use the gift of tongues as a private devotion to speak to himself and to God." But it makes more sense to take the command, "Let him speak to himself and to God" as an alternative to exercising the gift of tongues, not as a preferred way of exercising it. Be that as it may, folk who claim the gift of tongues today do not generally exercise the gift according to the order and purpose laid down by Paul. Rather they generally compare more with the manner in which the Corinthians exercised the gift before Paul corrected them.

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