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Friday, March 4, 2016

Tongues vs "Unknown" Tongues vs "Babble"

This series is my answer to the question about my belief on Speaking In Tongues, which I do believe in, but I believe that speaking tongues is when the Holy Spirit bridges language barriers.  

A good starting point is Acts 2:1-18, but remember, the main point of the book of Acts was to tell us not only what happened after Jesus ascended, but the story of the early church & how the church grew.

Genesis 11:1-9 depicts where humans went from all speaking 1 language (or tongue) to language barriers that God constructed.  Do you see that this is the origin of "unknown tongues"?  

Well, Acts chapter 2 gives us the 1st time our God returned to those language barriers, & the Holy Spirit bridged communication through people of various tongues.  But was the main purpose for bridging these language barriers so people could...

a) edify themselves?

b) spread God's Words?

Well, the answer is to spread God’s Words, but it may be hard to see my point until it's clear that 1 Corinthians 14:22 is all about others.  

If you can’t see the warning against speaking “unknown” tongues while promoting Speaking In Tongues, let’s read 1 Corinthians 14 immediately.  Notice verse 19 opposes speaking without understanding, but do you make the connection between Prophecy & Speaking Tongues.

See 1 Corinthians 14:5.  Should we see to edify one's self? Paul clearly says, “Seek to
edify the church", so see verses 5, 12, & 26. 

It is impossible to convince me about diet because I had a personal experience that is consistent with what I see in Scripture.  In the spring of 2000, I was working out 3-4 times daily, & began to notice how each meal affected my workouts.  

I could go on, but basically, pig gave me headache, & shrimp made me sluggish. Combine that personal experience with Bible verses that support my disdain for swine, & you see why I can’t be persuaded on the topic of clean/unclean meat.

Likewise, with Tongues, did you experience a sensation that can't be forgotten?  I urge you to follow God’s Word, even more than the sensations from your senses.  Marriage rates prove how many are fooled by what they hear, see, & feel, but God’s Word is clear on what marriage is all about. 

Anyway, in the context of Paul’s writings, God is “not the author of confusion”, & edifying self is spoken of negatively. If that is not enough, my diet experience is consistent with Scripture, but most people's "experience" with tongues is not.  But what does Scripture say?

"In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto
this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord."

Meaning, I hear people say they're speaking to God in tongues that sound like
jibberish, & they try to use 1 Corinthians 14:3 to justify it, but after reading verse 21-22:

1 - it is about God speaking, not you

2 - it is about speaking to this people, not God

3 - it is spoken to non-believers = as in"all that will not hear me", & those that "believe not"


Continue to verse 22 to help with the context. Tongues are sign for non-believers.  Get it?

TRUTH or False - Those "unknown” tongues are a sign to them who believe not. 

False! - Folks, "unknown” tongues are not a sign at all (period).  So should you use a language unknown to a non-believer to preach the Word of God?  Well, the answer is no because the only signs listed are:

1 -  Prophesying

2 - Speaking in Tongues 

…both are only stated in verse 22 of 1 Corinthians 14.

Imagine someone over-zealous of spiritual gifts starts speaking Galilaen to you, they
would be speaking "unknown" tongue (unless you speak Galilaen).  Speaking an "unknown" tongue couldn’t have been spoken in Acts 2, unless it was understood only by Galilaen speakers.

Now, I believe that those who equate incomprehensible utterances with "unknown" might not understand the fullness of my angle here. Pray for focus!  

In ancient Greece, the priestess of the oracle at Delphi would voice utterances under the influence of intoxicating gases, while a Delphi priest perpetrated as her interpreter. Meaning, the Bible speaks of tongues, prophecy, and “unknown” tongues, but incomprehensible utterances originated outside of the Bible. 

The temple at Delphi was for worship of the sun-god Apollo, & even though Rome defeated Greece, they assumed many Greek religious practices.  Rome eventually adopted some Biblical practices too, & in the confusion, gods became saints, Sabbath became sun-day, & glossolalia became tongues....both known and unknown.

Meaning, Incomprehensible utterances fail to qualify as “unknown” tongue let alone speaking in tongues.  A tongue is a language, & Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12. 


TRUTH or False – 1 Corinthians 12 lists “unknown" tongues as a gift of the spirit.

False!  I easily find speaking in tongues, diversities of tongues, and speaking with tongues, but I can't find the word "unknown" in the whole entire chapter.  Among the gifts of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12 lists:

1) divers
kinds of tongues

2) interpretation
of tongues

3) diversities
of tongues

4) do
all speak with tongues?


It does NOT list:

1) divers kinds of
"unknown" tongues

2) interpretation of
"unknown" tongues

3) diversities of
"unknown" tongues

4) do all speak with
"unknown" tongues.


TRUTH or False – Outside of 1 Corinthians 14, “unknown” tongues will not appear in the whole entire Bible.

TRUTH - There is no reason to doubt that every single witness of Paul and Peter’s ministry understood the language every time the Spirit spoke in, with, or through Tongues.


TRUTH or False – “Unknown” tongues were never spoken in the whole entire Book of Acts. 

TRUTH - See Biblegateway.com & do search the word "tongues" for yourself.  Again por
ejemplo, that's 2 words in an unknown tongue to anyone that doesn't know Spanish.  
 

TRUTH or False – Everyone understood the language being spoken in Acts 2. 

I don’t know every language, & I don’t want to know every tongue, but wherein I was born, “every” means every, & TRUTH is in Acts 2:38, “…how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we where born?”

I heard there is reference to a “personal prayer language” in the Bible.  I try to find the reason for and purpose of speaking in tongues, because God gives the reason & purpose for everything in His Word.

I read the context where “unknown" tongues are mentioned as if someone who hears “unknown” tongues knows what He is speaking, and someone else does not.

I know that even when “unknown” tongues are mentioned, somebody, at least two
people are around each other.

What I don't see (and feel free to show me) is...

-  your "personal prayer life"(?)

-  a "personal prayer language"

-  a text that promote tongues without 1 listener who comprehends the speaker


TRUTH or False - Jesus Himself connects speaking in tongues to preaching.

TRUTH - And He said unto them,"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be
damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues"...Mark 16:15-17 

- "Glossolalia” is babbling incomprehensible utterances & unintelligible jibberish never even hinted to....in the whole entire Original King James Bible!  

- Speaking in tongues - communication that the Holy Spirit interprets from the language of the speaker into the language of the listener 

- "Unknown“ is a language that foreigners no comprende, no hablamos, no entiendos, no
mas y no menos (more or less).


TRUTH or False – Paul readily admits speaking tongues, but notice, he never once even hints that he speaks in “unknown” tongues.

TRUTH - Re-read 1 Corinthians 12 & 14, & think about how wrong it is that "Christian churches" teach the Holy Spirit urges incomprehensible utterances, & worse...that it is impossible to be saved without speaking in tongues?!?  That is not Biblical.

 
Acts 13:9, says that Paul was filled with the Holy Ghost, but there is no mention of Tongues.  Matter of fact, Acts gives eighteen (18) stories about the Holy Ghost, but tongues are mentioned in only three (3) of those stories!  Let me know if you want to see the list. 

Until then...

I pray that you correct this preaching & teach others the correct doctrine.

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