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Volume 3 - Study 17

THE MODERN-DAY TONGUES-SPEAKING PHENOMENON

ECSTATIC TONGUE-SPEAKING WAS COMMON AMONG

THE ANCIENT PAGANS OF CORINTH In his book, The Modern Tongues Movement Robert G. Gromacki, documents the history of “speaking in tongues” in antiquity (pp 5-10). He notes that ecstatic babblings were reported in the “Report of Wenamon” (about 1100 BC), in Plato’s Dialogues (5th century B.C.E.), and in Virgil’s Aeneid (1st century B.C.E.). H. Wayne House, in his theological paper entitled Tongues and the Mystery Religions of Corinth, describes how ecstatic tongues-speaking was a common practice of those in the pagan communities of the mystery religions of Corinth. This background was of the cultic worship of Cybele-Attis where, at the sound of clashing cymbals, loud drums, and screeching flutes, the priests were stirred to dance in a frenzy of excitement and to gash their bodies. Also part of the background was the worship of Dionysus, the god of wine, and which involved similar intense rapture as they became identified with the god himself. However, more relevant as the prime source of the practice of tongues-speaking was:

The third major cult…of Apollo. Several temples in Corinth were for the worship of Apollo, and the famous

shrine at Delphi was primarily that of Apollo. The slave girl that Paul encountered in Philippi on the way to Corinth had a spirit of Python, or one inspired by Apollo. The ecstatic tongues-speaking of the oracle and the subsequent interpretation by the priest at Delphi are widely known. The cult of Apollo was widespread in Achaia, but especially around the temple of Delphi across from Corinth.

Furthermore, the assistant professor in Grace Theological Seminary, Dr. Charles R. Smith notes that:

Tongues occupied a significant place in ancient Greek religion. The seeress at Delphi, not far from Corinth, spoke in tongues. According to Plutarch (A.D. 44-117), interpreters were kept in attendance to explain her incoherent utterances. Many scholars have stated that tongues were experienced in the mystery religions (Osirius, Mithra, Eleusinian, Dionsyian, and Orphic cults). Some have concluded that the unintelligible lists of "words" in the "magical papyri" and in certain Gnostic "prayers" are records of ecstatic utterances. About A.D. 180 Celsus reported ecstatic utterances among the Gnostics. Lucian of Samosata (A.D. 120-198) described tongues speaking as it was practiced by the devotees of the Syrian goddess, Juno.

Tongues in Biblical Perspective pp. 20-22

DETAILS ABOUT THE MODERN-DAY PHENOMENON

In addition to the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, the modern-day tongues speaking phenomenon is popular with the Mormons and the many of ex-members of the now defunct Way International. In contrast to the biblical recorded instances of the use of natural language, please note the following conclusions by professionals who have examined the modern-day ecstatic speaking in tongues: a. Professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, William Samarin, concluded that modern-day

tongues-speaking is “like language in some ways, but this is only because the speaker (unconsciously) wants it to be like language. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, it is fundamentally not language.”

b. Professor of African Languages at UCLA, William Welmes investigated this phenomenon and

concluded by saying:

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“And I must report without reservation that my sample does not sound like a language structurally. There

can be not more than two contrasting vowel sounds, and a most peculiarly restricted set of consonant sounds; these combine into a very few syllable clusters which recur many times in various orders. The consonants and vowels do not all sound like English (the speakers native language), but the intonation patterns are so completely American English that the total effect is a bit ludicrous.”

c. Leading linguist of the American Bible Society Eugene Nida stated:

“The types of inventory and distributions would indicate clearly that this recording bears no resemblance to any actual language which has ever been treated by linguists....If then, it is not a human language, what is it? One can only say that it is a form of ‘ecstatic speech.’...On the basis of what I have learned about this type of phenomena of ‘tongues’ in other parts of the world, apparently there is the same tendency to employ one’s own inventory of sounds, in nonsense combinations, but with simulated ‘foreign’ features.”

d. And finally a Harvard linguistic study looked at some ten thousand incidents of modern-day

tongues speaking and concluded that none of them exhibited the features of an actual language. They noted the features as:

1. A high frequency of repetition of the same sounds and phrases. 2. A similarity to the speaker’s own language background. If the utterance is truly a foreign

language never learned, then why is it so similar to the speaker’s native tongue? 3. An excessive use of one or two vowels. 4. The absence of any language structure. 5. The interpretations were consistently of significantly greater length than the tongue utterance.

This would not be the case for a direct translation. 6. The inconsistency of interpretation regarding the same clause or phrase. 7. The “King James” style of interpretation. The interpretations would commonly employ the

phraseology of 17th century English as is found in the King James Version of the Bible. 8. There is no known relationship between any example of tongues speaking and any known

language of the world. ADDITIONAL FEATURES It is not of existing foreign languages with a grammatical structure. But see NOTE below. It has a definite input in terms of the sound system of the native language of the speaker, whereby

there is an incorporation of sounds that contrast with those of the native language and those broadly of the native sound system.

It has a very limited ‘vocabulary’ (if any) compared to any known language. It often involves ecstatic behaviour which can lead to sensory overload and loss of mental control. It is often, either first heard by or actually taught to the tongues-speaker i.e. it is a learned behaviour

rather than, as claimed, to be initiated by God’s spirit. The tongues-speakers tend to make themselves make sounds that they did not previously use and this becomes a babble.

It mostly remains private and so fails to edify the church (1 Cor. 14:12, 13).

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MODERN-DAY TONGUES-SPEAKING

NOTE: However, there are very rare cases where a tongues-speaker has had the experience of a listener saying that when they heard the tongues-speaker they understood his message. If this is true then a possible explanation is that this has been the influence of a demon because demons clearly know every language and the situation is similar to the various cases, in the Bible record, of a demon speaking the language of the demon influenced person.

THE GREAT SIMILARITY WITH ANCIENT & MODERN PAGAN TONGUES-SPEAKING

The point about any modern-day speaking in tongues is that it has nothing to do with the biblical miraculous speaking in real foreign languages of the 1st century (as explained in STUDY 13), and which ceased after it had accomplished its purpose of helping the early Gentile Christians to become established in their faith (Please see STUDY 14). As shown above the kind of “babble” that some do today has its general origin in the ancient pagan worship of Apollo and centred on the oracle of Delphi in ancient Greece. The following is an example of modern day tongues-speaking that was recorded and then transcribed: “prou pray proddey, pa pallassate pa pau pu pe, teli terattata taw, terrea te te-te-te-te, vole virte vum, elee lete lede luto, singe singe singe, imba, imba, ima.” This is the kind of gibberish, rather than real languages, that is done today by Hindu fakirs, Buddhist monks, Muslim dervishes, Hudson Bay Eskimos, North Borneo pagans, the Zar cult in Egypt, spirit mediums, and many others. It is also part of various occult systems of worship e.g. voodooism and other spiritistic activities, where shamans (witch doctors/medicine men) in Haiti, Greenland, Micronesia, and some countries on the continents of Africa, Australia, Asia, and North and South America speak in tongues. For example, in Hinduism during a kundalini session there is supposed to be the releasing of the power of the serpent that comes up through a person’s spine, whereby it takes control of the person’s body and usually results in the physical tongue of the person beginning to make sound without that person controlling it himself. Among some of the other phenomena during such an experience are: uncontrollable laughing, smelling strange fragrances, having a sensation of light or fire or electricity, visions of heavenly people talking to them, or rhythmic and repetitive chants. In fact, some of the above groups use drugs to aid in inducing the ecstatic state and so to produce the speaking in tongues. Robert G. Gromacki, quoted earlier, also documents modern-day speaking in tongues among of Eskimos where their worship rituals are an attempt to contact the spirit-world and are therefore demonic, and “are characterized by drum beating, singing, dancing, and nudity.” He cites a book by another author who observed an Eskimo ritual:

Suddenly one of the men, Krisuk, went out of his head. Unable to contain himself to the regular rhythm of the service he leapt to his feet crying like a raven and howling like a wolf. In ecstasy he and the girl, Ivaloo, began to yell in a tongue I could not understand… Certainly it was not the usual Eskimo language… and if there is such a thing as speaking in tongues I heard it then.

As Dr. John R. Rice states: “Some Christians talk in tongues. So do some Mormons, some devil-possessed spiritists, heathen witch doctors in Africa and Asia. Ages ago many heathen religions talked in tongues.”

The Charismatic Movement, pp.136-139: And Dr. Merrill Unger calls attention to similar facts when he notes:

The very phrase "to speak with tongues" (Greek glosais lalein, Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19-6; 1st Cor. 12-14; cf. Mark 16:17) was not invented by New Testament writers, but borrowed from the ordinary speech of pagans. Plato's attitude toward the enthusiastic ecstasies of the ancient soothsayer (mantis, diviner,) recalls the Apostle Paul's attitude toward glossolalia among the Corinthian believers.

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Virgil graphically describes the ancient pagan prophetess "speaking with tongues." He depicts her disheveled hair, her panting breast, her change of color, and her apparent increase in stature as the god (demon) came upon her and filled her with this supernatural afflatus. Then her voice loses its mortal ring as the god (demon) speaks through her, as in ancient and modern necromancy (spiritism). Phenomena of this type are common among savages and pagan peoples of lower culture. Ecstatic utterances interpreted by a person in a sane state of mind have been verified, In the Sandwich Islands, for example, the god Oro gave his oracles through a priest who “ceased to act or speak as a voluntary agent, but with his limbs convulsed, his features distorted and terrific, his eyes wild and strained, would roll on the ground foaming at the moth, and reveal the will of the god in shrill cries and sounds violent and indistinct, which the attending priests duly interpreted to the people.” New Testament Teaching on Tongues, pp.163-165.

All of the above is the same phenomenon as much of the modern-day speaking in tongues experience in Christian churches, whereby the person allows “the spirit” to take control of his or her body, making them lose control of themselves and begin speaking in ecstatic speech. In contrast with this, God never takes away control from a person so as to cause the person to do things against his own will. So if any Christian is controlled by an outside force or “spirit” it is clearly not God’s spirit. Evidently it is a very unholy spirit. In fact, some individuals have had the personal experience of finding great difficulty in returning to normal speech after they have involved themselves in ‘tongues speaking.

A LEARNED BEHAVIOUR

When someone new comes into the company of those in Charismatic groups the new person is asked if they speak in tongues. Usually the answer is ‘no’ and so they are told that they must do so if they are to show that they are a saved person. This is a tremendous pressure. The Charismatic person then proceeds to show the new person how to do it. They are asked to practice until they slowly begin to become proficient with it. Furthermore, the Charismatic movement presents many “how to” teaching aids and even special meetings are held to guide people into this practice. So it is a learned practice, which is why it is found across various denominations, including Roman Catholicism, Mormonism and outright pagan religions, since they also can learn the required behaviour. The instructions for speaking in tongues are generally as the TV evangelist Robert Tilton once presented:

Now speak. You speak the utterances coming to your thoughts. Speak them out loud. Faith is an act. Jesus called for us to walk on the water. Don’t even speak in English or a language you know. Speak the syllables on your lips. You are speaking in a new tongue. It sounds like gibberish? It’s repetitive? Don’t go by what it sounds like or what it feels like.

This whole procedure is contrary to the way the biblical supernatural gift occurred according to the Bible record where no instructions on how to do or practice this gift is ever described i.e. no-one is ever taught to speak in tongues. So this learned behaviour of modern-day tongues-speaking is clearly not the biblical phenomenon.

NON-COGNITIVE PRAYING IN TONGUES IS A MISAPPLICATION OF SCRIPTURES

The reason for praying in ecstatic tongues (1Cor. 14:14) is supposedly to bypass the fleshly mind which interferes with one’s prayers. The Scripture appealed to for this says: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed,

it cannot” (Rom. 8:7). As STUDY 16 shows the 1Corinthians 14:14 reference is to prayer in a foreign normal language in the 1st century setting of the multi-language city of Corinth. Furthermore, the Romans 8:7 statement is

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________ MODERN-DAY TONGUES-SPEAKING not in the context of praying or speaking in languages/tongues, but rather it is in the context of a Christian’s living his life according to God’s spirit. Also, modern-day tongues speakers generally think that the prayers that are prayed in a tongue will always be answered. They often quote the Apostle John’s words:

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will

he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

Again there is no context here that excludes prayer in general i.e. nothing that limits answered prayer to only those prayers that are prayed in a tongue. Instead, we know that: “...the Spirit too comes to our aid in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought,

but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings (or: ‘which cannot be uttered’)” (Rom. 8:26 NAB).

Yet, tongues are utterances. So it is not up to the person to try to enable the spirit to pray for them. Therefore, the modern phenomenon is not what is spoken about in the Scriptures. THERE WAS NO ECSTASY USED WITH THE BIBLICAL “LANGUAGES” If one views the Bible texts objectively one finds that ecstasy or intense emotion do not accompany the occurrences of the miraculous speaking in foreign languages; whereas the word ekstasis, as a reference to a trance-like condition, and occurs only in Acts 11:5 and 22:17 - passages which do not concern the miraculous speaking of foreign languages. IN MATTHEW 6:7 JESUS SAID DON’T DO IT Jesus gave the injunction that one should not repeat meaningless sounds in one’s prayers: “When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their

gods will hear them because their prayers are long” (Matt. 6:7 GNT). Or as expressed in the NIV: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard

because of their many words” (NIV). Those who ‘pray in tongues’ would say that what they say is not meaningless to God. How do they know if they don’t know what is said in normal language? In reality this practice is little different than the chanting of Buddhist mantras and so is really the meaningless babble of the nations that Jesus condemned (Matt. 6:7).

AN UNSCRIPTURAL AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS PRACTICE BUT I KNOW IT IS FROM GOD BECAUSE I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT!! Just because one experiences some highly emotional or supernatural phenomenon, such as speaking in tongues, it does not have to have come from God. Even people who get involved in the occult have these sorts of experiences which clearly are not from the true God. However, these are all based simply on subjective feelings. So how can one know if these experiences are from God or from some other source? Certainly one needs the standard of the Scriptures and this standard is external to the ‘experiences’ and so provides an objective perspective from which one can evaluate the experiences. The modern-day speaking in tongues among Christian groups really began in the early 1900s from a need to have a visible indicator that one had received holy spirit – indeed to prove it to others. However, this really demonstrates a lack of faith. Really, a Christian knows for himself that he has ________________

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God’s spirit because he has “set his mind on the things of the spirit” (Rom. 8:5) as therefore, is “in union with Christ Jesus.” This means that he or she has God’s and Christ’s way of thinking i.e. has their spirit and needs no external proof. THE NEGATIVE EFFECT ON ONE’S MIND It appears that the extended practice of tongues speaking occurs in association with certain mental illnesses. This has been well documented by psychiatrists who have associated it with schizophrenia, neurosis, and psychosis. POSSIBLE DEMON INFLUENCE From the above information concerning the influence of pagan religion it is evident that those who engage in the current tongues-speaking phenomenon may be opening themselves up to possible demon influence. This is because these pagan religions originate from “the teachings of demons” (1Tim. 4:1) and deceptively work against God’s purposes. Furthermore, when some go into a frenzy, this certainly would seem to be a case of demon control because it results in actions that are the very opposite of the displaying of the fruits of God’s spirit (Gal. 5:22-24). Even if there are no frenzied outbursts, no falling down and rolling on the floor, or all speaking at once, all avoided because of following the biblical injunction to do everything “decently and in order” (1Cor. 14:40) this still does not mean that one is experiencing something from God. Because demons each have very different personalities, they can create different levels of experience for the individual Christian – some far less frenzied than others. Even some Pentecostal authors acknowledge that there have been cases where demonic influence is apparently responsible for tongues utterances. So below I have quoted several paragraphs of Jeremy James’ internet article concerning his experiences, research and conclusions on: Speaking in Tongues – An Unscriptural and Potentially Dangerous Practice:

This paper strives to give an objective analysis of the Pentecostal/Charismatic practice of speaking in tongues. I had no doctrinal position in the matter before carrying out this review. However, my findings were so disturbing that I felt it was necessary to share them with my fellow Christians, as well as ‘seekers’ who may be attending Christian meetings where ‘tongues’ are spoken. At the outset I should acknowledge that, from the various sources I have examined, speaking in tongues is a very sensitive issue among Christians. Practitioners greatly resent any criticism of the practice, while many non-practitioners regard it as harmful. It is certainly a topic which gives rise to highly polarised views. This in itself would suggest that all parties should familiarise themselves, as much as possible, with the scriptural basis for the practice and think the issue through very carefully. The reason for this ought to be obvious – if speaking in tongues is scriptural, then it ought to be a standard part of Christian worship; however, if it is not scriptural, then it is potentially harmful to anyone who indulges in it and should be abandoned.

Background Firstly I should say a little about my own background. I was a Roman Catholic for 19 years and a very active participant in the New Age movement for 33 years when, in 2008, I came to Christ. One thing that struck me as I got to know other Christians was the extent to which Christianity today is infected with New Age beliefs and concepts. It turns out that many of the lies I left behind are actually being adopted by Christians and incorporated into their spiritual lives. While the branch of the New Age movement in which I was involved did not include speaking in tongues, I was struck by the incredibly close similarity between Christian ‘tongues’ and various Shamanic and pagan religious practices where rhythmic chanting and trance vocalisation are employed. There was also a disturbing parallel between the ‘spirit filled’ state of a Christian tongue-speaker, who didn’t understand what he was saying, and the ‘spirit filled’ state of a trance medium. Furthermore, from my exposure to the New Age over 33 years, I also knew that the supernatural realm is buzzing with entities which are constantly on the look out for some way to attach themselves to _______

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MODERN-DAY TONGUES-SPEAKING

humans. Once they get attached, they feed off their hosts like invisible parasites, causing emotional, psychological and many other problems. Some of these entities (or ‘demons’) are more pernicious than others, so if one is unfortunate enough to tangle with one of the more dangerous kind, the adverse effects can be very unsettling and could persist for years, perhaps even a lifetime.

A Baptist Minister Speaks Out In the course of my research I came across a very revealing article by an Australian Baptist Minister who, from long experience, saw fit to make the following arresting observations:

Among the great delusions that are spreading today, there is none more subtle or more dangerous than modern-day tongues. It has been my experience over many years to observe that out of the masses of people coming under the influence of the tongues phenomena, very few escape without serious emotional and spiritual damage to themselves and their families...I and others have been testing tongues in Australia for some years. In fact, there are men personally known to me who have been testing them for over 20 years and none of us has ever yet found a genuine gift of Biblical Tongues. When the spirit using the tongue is commanded to identify itself, in 95% of cases, a demon answers...The other 5% have prove[d] to be psychosomatic. [Bryce Hartin, 1987, Third Edition 1993].

If Pastor Hartin is correct, then this chilling assessment of the ‘tongues’ phenomenon ought to be of great concern to all Bible-believing Christians.

What spirit is working through modern tongue speakers? This is a very fraught question and one which is painful to answer. Many Pentecostals are wonderful, selfless Christians, utterly dedicated to living a Christian life. However, it is obvious from the Scriptural analysis we have conducted that the Holy Spirit no longer confers the gift of tongues. So, if modern Christians are speaking in tongues they are either pretending (perhaps even to themselves), expressing an aberrant (possibly harmless) form of mental behaviour, or responding to an unclean supernatural influence. It is this last explanation that ought to be of greatest concern. The first two explanations (self-deception and aberrant behaviour) are bad enough in that they deflect Christians from praying to the LORD as He intended and they give a grievously unbiblical portrayal of Christianity to the world. How many thousands have rejected the Gospel because of the strange way supposedly devout tongue-speaking Christians were behaving? The demonic element, however, is the truly dangerous one. Many observers have noted how erratic and unsettled Pentecostal and Charismatic tongue-speakers can be in their emotional lives and how hungry they are for signs and demonstrations of divine providence. For them the accent is on experience rather than faith – just as in the New Age movement. We cited Pastor Bryce Hartin’s comments near the start of this paper and his great concern about the damage that tongue-speaking is doing, both to individual Christians and to Christianity in general. He has seen countless cases where tongue-speakers were subject to serious ongoing disturbances when they opened themselves to “the spirit.” It hardly occurred to any of them that the spirit concerned was not the Holy Spirit but a demonic entity masquerading as a benign being. … No one likes to hear this, and I certainly don’t like to say it. But after 33 years in the New Age, when I finally came to Christ, I was truly taken aback by just how many Christians had become New Age practitioners by the back door, by just how many had lost their faith in Christ and replaced it with an experiential philosophy which actually conflicts with Biblical truth. Christians seem to have forgotten just how dangerous Satan is and how many counterfeit versions of Christianity he has created to deceive the unwary and lure them into his net of deception. From long years of study in this field, I have not the slightest doubt that tongue-speaking, slaying in the spirit, the Toronto Blessing, and similar phenomena are entirely demonic in origin, a disguised form of witchcraft which poses a real spiritual threat to anyone foolish enough to become involved with it. Most Christians are unfamiliar with Grimoires, collections of magical spells and incantations dating from the earliest times. These are designed to conjure and control dark spirits for magical purposes. Many of these spells and incantations are in Latin (as in the Satan-inspired Harry Potter series), but others are in Greek, Old _______________

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English, Hebrew and Arabic. Thus it is very easy for a demon to induce a Christian to chant one of these spells under the mistaken belief that he is speaking in tongues. For example, if you heard a tongue speaker chanting “jam tibi impero,” you might imagine it was prayer given to him by the Holy Spirit. In fact it is the first three words of a magical incantation to command a dark demon. Many Christians mistakenly believe that speaking in tongues is an exclusively Christian phenomenon. In fact, it is nothing of the sort. Many other cultures and religious traditions, including Voodoo and Santeria, practise tongues. It is also well known among followers of Falun Gong, the Chinese religious movement based on the ancient occult art of Qigong. For example, “...hundreds of Pekingites turned up recently for an afternoon of holy rolling, trance dancing, faith healing, and speaking in tongues.[1992]” They were attending a Falun Gong meeting hosted by Li Hongzhi, who by 1995 was claiming to be the "omniscient and omnipotent saviour of the entire universe" (Quotedin Qigong Fever: Body, Science and Utopia in China, by David A Palmer, Columbia University Press, 2007). At a congressional meeting in Washington DC in May 2005, Professor David Ownby made a presentation on Unofficial Religions in China, in which he discussed Qigong and Falun Gong:

Led by charismatic masters, the movement promised miracle cures and supernormal powers, to be obtained through physical exercises, meditation, visualisation, trance, and/or speaking in tongues. Parallel phenomena in the West would be called new religious movements or new age movements. Speaking in tongues is also a feature of Kundalini Yoga, which involves raising the ‘serpent power’ at the base of the spine – a very dangerous occult practice.

In his book, Devatma Shakti (Kundalini): Divine Power, Swami Vishnu Tirtha quotes some of the relevant characteristics, based on a treatise by his guru, Shri Yogãnandji Mahãrãja:

When your body begins trembling, hair stands on roots, you laugh or begin to weep without your wishing, your tongue begins to utter deformed sounds, you are filled with fear or see frightening visions...the Kundalini Shakti has become active...When no sooner you have sat with eyes closed than in an instant the body begins to show activity of throwing out limbs forcibly, deformed sounds are loudly uttered, your speech begins to utter sounds like those of animals, birds and frogs or of a lion or like those of jackals, dogs, tigers, fear inspiring and not pleasing to hear, understand that the Great Goddess Kundalini has come into action...As soon as you sit for prayers your body begins to shake and in ecstasy of joy you begin to sing hymns in tones of music charming to hear and whose composition and poetry come out involuntarily, your hands giving a rhythmical clapping, and you pronounce languages you know not, but the sound ecstasizes your mind, know that the Goddess of speech Saraswati, has awakened into action.

If you think the Holy Spirit is involved in any of this, you are gravely mistaken. It is completely, wholly and utterly demonic. The demons are even named – Shakti, Kundalini and Saraswati. ******************* I will close with a stark warning by Pastor Bryce Hartin:

Until recent times, Spiritism was generally discredited. Its alleged phenomena were ridiculed and its mediums denounced as imposters. All this has now changed. The practice of Spiritism in some form or other has now become acceptable in society, but even more, its emergence in the tongues speaking section of the Church has actually made it respectable. The way is thus being prepared for new ever-widening spheres of demonic activity and for the supply of new and more efficient human channels through whom these deceiving spirits may operate. Someone has well said that the partition between the natural and the supernatural is wearing thin in places. Such is indeed the case. With the emergence this century of the tongues movement with its powerful emotional hype and its psychic healings, Satan has now created for himself a new source of authority and these teachings, having now gained respectability, open the door very wide for other “doctrines of demons.”

(The boldening for highlighting is mine).

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MODERN-DAY TONGUES SPEAKING COULD INVOLVE BLASPHEMY

Although those who engage in the ecstatic tongues-speaking phenomenon believe they are speaking meaningful words to God, yet, they actually don’t know what they are saying to Him. They evidently do not understand the meaning of any of the sounds that they speak. However, to speak to God but not have any control over the content of what is said can be very dangerous — one could be saying anything, including obscenities or absolute blasphemy. In fact, Jesus warned that: “...on the day of judgment people will give an account for every thoughtless word they utter. For by

your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37 ISV). Ecstatic tongues-speakers counter this statement by pointing out that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:3: “Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, ‘Jesus is cursed,’

and no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” However, Professor Gordon Fee explains in his commentary on First Corinthians that:

this is exactly the kind of thing that those who are “inspired” by demonic spirits may have said in the pagan settings that Paul is alluding to in v.2…it would be precisely the kind of contrast between their pagan past and Christian present that would help them to see the difference between “spirits” and the Spirit, between “inspired utterance” as such and that which is truly of the Spirit of God,

The New International Commentary on the New Testament. pp. 578, 9.

So it seems that in 1 Corinthians 12:3 Paul may have been presenting a hypothetical situation based on the previous pagan background of the Corinthians (vs. 2) and not that anyone in the congregation was actually saying that ‘Jesus is cursed.’ Furthermore, “speaking in the Spirit of God” is assumed by tongues-speakers to refer to ecstatic speaking, whereas the context shows that it is the various “utterances” from God (vs. 8) and their gift of “prophecy” (vs. 10) all of which are fully intelligible with nothing non-cognitive about them.

FURTHER DAMAGED CAUSED BY THE MISUNDERSTANDING OF TONGUES-SPEAKING IN THE CHARISMATIC MOVEMENT

1. It has brought an unhealthy mystical element into Christianity. 2. It has brought into the public and private worship of the true God the pagan religious practice of

ecstatic utterances. 3. It has negatively affected prayer because there cannot be any communication with God by means of

gibberish. 4. It has removed any appreciation for the significance of the miraculous gift of speaking in native

foreign languages that God gave for the apostolic era only. 5. It has produced yet another doctrinal division with great confusion over the real biblical meaning of

this phenomenon. 6. It has caused Christian groups not involved in this Charismatic practice to be considered without

real spiritual life. 7. It has caused unbelievers of today to think that Christians are insane because “no one understands

what is said.

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THE REAL MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S SPIRIT

Therefore, this modern-day speaking in tongues has no place in the lives of Christians, in spite of the fact that many mistakenly advocate it. This is not just a matter of opinion, but of well established facts. In complete contrast with the possibly demon-promoted actions of some of those who engage in the modern-day pagan phenomenon of “tongues-speaking” the Apostle Paul directed Christians to “walk by the spirit” because its fruit is evident in the following qualities displayed in the Christian’s life, namely that: “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness and self-control … Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).

Furthermore, according to Paul the opposite may be evident in the lives of those who do not truly have God’s spirit, inasmuch as they may display: “…what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency;

involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God!” (Gal. 5:19-21CJB).

CONCLUSION

MODERN-DAY TONGUES SPEAKING IS UNBIBLICAL BECAUSE: 1. The original phenomenon in the Bible was of real normal foreign languages as shown by the

meaning and usage in the Scriptures of the Greek word glossa. What ‘tongues-speakers’ today do is not in real structured languages.

2. The claim by ‘tongues-speakers’ today that they speak a real, but angelic language is untrue.

Angels communicated in normal structured language.

3. Contrary to the thought that ‘tongues-speaking’ is a proof of one’s having God’s spirit, the original ability to speak in foreign languages was never a gift for all Christians! “Do all speak in other languages?” NO! (1 Cor. 12:30 HCSB). If it were true that ‘speaking in tongues’ is the initial evidence that a person has received holy spirit, then one is saying that those with all their varying biblically false beliefs and forms of worship in such systems as Roman Catholicism and the many denominations of Protestantism and the known cults also are true Christians. Yet these live in many ways that displease God.

4. Proof of one’s having God’s spirit is in one’s showing “the fruit of the spirit” (Gal. 5:22). One

aspect listed is that of self-control. 5. The ‘tongues-speaker’ does not have self-control over what he says to others or what he says to

God – he could therefore be saying cuss words or blasphemous words from an unknown language. 6. The Christian with this gift is to translate it (1 Cor.14:30). Yet the modern-day ‘tongues-speaking’

cannot truly be interpreted (translated) because these are ecstatic non-cognitive phenomena, rather than real languages. Often their rare attempts to give an interpretation are far shorter than the length of time spent in the “tongues-speaking” itself. It is really a counterfeit in both the speaking and the so-called interpretation.

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MODERN-DAY TONGUES-SPEAKING 7. This gift was to be interpreted so that there would be an edifying of the church (1 Cor.14:12). This

does not happen in modern-day ‘tongues-speaking,’ which either generally remains uninterpreted or is said only in private and so permanently unexamined by the body of believers.

8. Because the original was a gift from God one cannot be taught by humans to’ speak in tongues’ or

learn it or practice it until one gets it right. 9. The three occurrences in Acts of the supernatural ability to speak in foreign languages was for the

purpose of making unbelieving Jews know that God was making the Gentiles to be part of His people under Christ. So Paul said that this ability of Christians was for judgment of “unbelievers” (1 Cor.14 22) i.e. those Jews who would not believe that God would deal with Gentiles. In contradiction of this purpose modern-day tongues-speakers treat their version of it as entirely for “believers.”

10. Even if the modern-day practice was of real languages and really of God, it is evident that its

practitioners do not follow the apostle Paul’s instructions in regard to being “one at a time” and only being two or three per meeting “at the most” and with proper interpretation, which means translation (1 Cor. 14;27-33).

Since modern-day tongues-speaking (1) is not linguistic speech, (2) is practiced among pagan denominations and religions and (3) must be learned, it is evident that it is not the biblical miracle. THE DANGERS OF THE MODERN-DAY PRACTICE When speaking in tongues is in evidence, it seems that it could be from any one of three possible motivations: That a person fakes the speaking in tongues i.e. they are just pretending to speak in tongues. This is

really a deceiving of those around them and may even lead them to believe that they really are speaking in tongues – a self-deception.

That a person is expressing an aberrant form of mental behaviour. Over the long term this practice

may be psychologically damaging. That a person is under the influence of an unclean spirit – a demon. This is in evidence during

sessions of ‘slaying in the spirit’ with which speaking in tongues is usually associated. The dangers of the first two are evident, but it is clear that such practices may open the person up to coming under demonic influence. Furthermore, if either of the first two is being practiced in prayer then the person is actually not praying to God and may be making utterances which contain obscenities or that have a blasphemous meaning. Whatever the case, such involvement actually leads a person to accept a counterfeit as being a genuine miracle and so leading them to think they have God’s approval, when, in fact, it has more in common with such things as mystical rituals and other mind-emptying procedures, and so opens the door to demonic influences. Furthermore, such things promote a false unity with other ‘tongues-speaking’ people, many of whom hold to a great deal of false doctrine or may be outright pagans. This is why the biblical admonition is that one should: “test the spiritual statements” and manifestations by comparison with biblical truth (1 John 4:1-3; 1 Tim. 4:1) so that one does not end up receiving “another spirit” (2 Cor. 11:4) and leading to “a different gospel.” For sure, Satan and his agents certainly seek to deceive as Paul warned:

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“For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no

wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve”

(2 Cor. 11:13-15). Indeed, it is a very difficult struggle when one begins to see that something in the holy Scriptures and its background conflicts with what one has believed for a considerable length of time. It is even more difficult to give up something that has been our regular practice for such a time – it has even become part of us. Nevertheless, because the modern-day tongues-speaking is a spiritual deception, our desire to please God should be strong enough, with His help, to give up such beliefs and practices.

By Raymond C. Faircloth www.biblicaltruthseekers.co.uk

§ RECOMMENDED READING: The Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements by David Cloud