THE PHENOMENON OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Ecstatic tongues Ecstatic tongues (practised in the pagan world)

Tongues of men, inspired tongues, tongues of angles, ecstatic tongues.

THE PHENOMENON OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES Tongues of men, inspired tongues, tongues of angles, ecstatic tongues. Copyright: Ionel Plesa

Translation from Romanian into English: Dianne Bailey

Biblical texts are from the New International Version Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

 Manifestations through psychological pressure 

When the Lord‘s disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when they began to speak in other human tongues which they didn‘t know, they were not in a trance, nor in a state of ecstasy. It all happened in a miraculous way, while they were in a perfectly normal mental state. Communication took place through the use of fluent speech, without any psychological difficulty, through which it is possible to lose self-control. In contrast with the way in which the phenomenon took place at Pentecost, speaking in ecstatic tongues is not a gift of the Holy Spirit, but a manifestation that comes from psychological pressures that are provoked by certain practices and methods borrowed from the pagans. In order to clarify the understanding of this psychological phenomenon, we will use some examples from the practices of some pagan communities, as well as from some Charismatic Christian groups. The first example for an adequate classification of the psychological phenomenon is found in the practices of the prophets of Baal, who, by the continual repetition of certain formulae that were shouted out, finally lost their self-control, and they began to utter, in an unimaginable disarray, certain syllables and words that were not understood by anyone. In 1 Kings 18:25-29, we read the following sequence, 25Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

This example is one of the most useful for us in our understanding of senseless, ecstatic speech, and which has no connection with the spiritual world. Another example from the pagan world is represented by the ―Platonic ecstasy‖. The Greeks borrowed the ritual from the prophets of Baal, adapting it to their culture. Plato considered that a state of ecstasy is the only possible way for man to experience happiness. Being conscious of the evil that surrounds him, a man can become unhappy. Escaping from the real world through certain practices which create a state of ecstasy was preferred by all social categories. Thus the Greeks, in comparison with the Phoenicians who called on the name of Baal, used to form into tight circles, going around and around at a dizzying speed. They repeated formulae and incantations, held hands and called on the name of Zeus, until they lost all self-control, slipping into a state of ecstasy. The final part concluded with them mumbling unintelligible words, similar to those used by the Baal worshipers. The Savior, in teaching His disciples how they should pray, recommended the following, 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:7-8).

I attentively followed a ritual in a sect of the Hindu religion. This sect, that was oriented towards occultism, invented an ingenious doctrine based on the veneration of snakes. The cobras were taken out of their natural habitats, placed into plastic bags and presented before the Guru (the leader of the community). On his orders, the reptiles were taken out of the plastic bags and placed in the form of a circle. They were agitated and ready to attack, but not one of them left the place in which it was put. With a specific, but prudent movement, the guru managed to anoint the heads of the reptiles with ―magic oil‖, without being attacked by any of them. Then the ritual of the ―service‖ began.

When the guru gave the signal, the people began to recite an incantation, repeating fervently a certain formula. After they had become worked up, they began to clap their hands, to jump and gallivant around, and to gesticulate with raised hands, in a rush of loud shouts. In this frenetic state they began to roll over, mumbling certain syllables and words that had no meaning. At the conclusion of the ―service‖, the reptiles that had been anointed with the guru‘s oil were captured and put back into the plastic bags, without having attacked anybody who handled them and who had to then return them to their natural habitat. I saw this ritualistic sequence with my own eyes, amazing for anyone who is not forewarned, and it is a reality of occultism. I have presented three examples from the pagan world to you, firstly the prophet Baal, then the platonic ecstasy and then from the Hindu religion, where they worshiped snakes. As I have emphasized here, speaking in ecstatic tongues is a result of psychological pressure, and exercised to the extreme, and has nothing to do with the gift of the Holy Spirit and neither with demonic spirits. Anybody, no matter what his cultural level, whether he is religious or atheist, if he engages in the intense repetition of formulae of whatever form, once he is exhausted, will lose self-control and will begin to mumble an ecstatic, senseless tongue.