THE PHENOMENON OF SPEAKING IN TONGUES

Ecstatic tongues practiced in some Christian circles

 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

Christian circles  with charismatic tendencies. 

In 1946 I began to visit many independent groups in Romania that had Charismatic tendencies. The leader of the Pentecostal Churches was striving at that time to maintain order and discipline during religious services throughout the country. The doctrine of ―Baptism in the Holy Spirit‖ contained a lot of well intentioned recommendations, using Scriptural texts. There‘s nothing to object to here. From a theological point of view, there is sufficient Biblical evidence in favor of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Theoretically, the doctrine was well based, but it didn‘t resist the ―fiery test‖ in the practical application of the phenomenon of speaking in tongues, which finally became a simple and favored plaything from the Lord‘s ―ghetto‖.

Although in the official doctrine the practice of persistence through the repetition of certain formulae and the loud shouting as in the pagan rituals was forbidden, in the dissident groups [ Dissident – a member of a group of Christians that is not recognized by the authorized Church; these people do not accept as true believers that those who are in an authorized Church.], persistence in prayer for the ―gift of the Holy Spirit‖ took place in an unimaginable way, becoming a real psychological catastrophe. Those who, because of their lack of Biblical knowledge, organized prayer meetings to persist for the gifts, and observing that it is difficult to receive the gift of tongues through simple, quiet prayer, introduced the repetition of formulae, without realizing the dangers of slipping into the extreme psychological effects in which they loose self-control. Thus, instead of speaking in tongues that are similar to those that were spoken in Cornelius‘ house (Acts 10:45-46), those engaged in this type of prayer began to mumble ecstatic words, being convinced through this ―sign‖ that they‘d received the ―Baptism of the Holy Spirit‖. Subsequently, they realized with bitterness that many who had received such a tongue continued to live a life of sin, without any change occurring in their thoughts, preferences, or their standard of spiritual life, as would be expected to happen when a person is born again, born of water and the Spirit, through God‘s Word (John 3:5; 1 Peter 1:22,23).

It has been convincingly proved that the ―sign‖ of speaking in tongues cannot be the single proof of baptism in the Holy Spirit, if that same phenomenon can also be produced by non-Christians. What man can draw a line of separation between the authentic gifts of the Holy Spirit and those that are falsified in the world? The gift of discerning spirits is very rare in the Christian churches of our day (Matthew 7:22-23; 2 Peter 2>1; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 5:8-10). However, there is the possibility of discernment, by those Christians who are mature in their Biblical knowledge and who have experience. If they are a model in the way they behave, in the accuracy of the teachings that they give, and if they remain steadfast in their faith, they can rejoice in the trust that everyone will have in them (1 Timothy 5:17).

Thanks be to God that even in these last days there are such people, although they are few in number in comparison with the huge number of ―preachers‖ with more or less schooling, who believe that devotion is a means to financial gain (1 Timothy 6:3-5). Coming back to the problem of speaking in ecstatic tongues, these have spread widely in recent times, stirring up a special interest for Christians of many denominations. Many sincere and well-intentioned Christians hunger after this phenomenon, believing that they will therefore be able to rejoice in a richer and more fruitful spiritual life, without realizing that this offers them no guarantee. Don‘t let us become confused in the classification of values.