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{{Short description|Phenomenon in which people speak words apparently in languages unknown to them}}
:''Glossolalia is commonly called "speaking in tongues". For other uses of "speaking in tongues", see [[Speaking in Tongues (disambiguation)]].
{{Other uses|Speaking in Tongues (disambiguation)}}
:''"Tongues" redirects here. For the body part, see [[Tongue]], for other uses, see [[Tongue (disambiguation)]].''
{{Redirect|Glossolalia|the Steve Walsh album|Glossolalia (album)|the literary debate|Glossolalia debate}}
:''Some uses of 'Glossolalia' (including here) refer to [[Xenoglossy]], speaking in a [[natural language]] that was previously unknown to the speaker.
{{lead too short|date=October 2010}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
'''Glossolalia''' or '''speaking in tongues''' is the fluid vocalizing (or, less commonly, the writing) of speech-like syllables, often as part of religious practice. Though some consider these utterances to be meaningless, those that use them consider them to be part of a holy language.
[[File:Pentecost icon.jpg|thumb|alt=The Theotokos and the Twelve Apostles – Fifty Days after the Resurrection of Christ, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit|An icon depicting the [[Theotokos]] with the [[Twelve Apostles|apostles]] filled with the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]], indicated by "cloven tongues like as of fire" ({{Bibleverse|Acts|2:3|KJV}}) above their heads]]
[[File:Glossolalia religiosa, Falando em linguas pentecostal.flac|thumb|People speaking in tongues and in Portuguese during a Christian event in Brazil]]
'''Speaking in tongues''', also known as '''glossolalia''', is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehensible meaning. In some cases, as part of religious practice, some believe it to be a [[divine language]] unknown to the speaker.<ref name=DictPsych>{{cite dictionary |entry=Glossolalian |dictionary=A Dictionary of Psychology |editor-first=Andrew M. |editor-last=Colman |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/pub/views/home.html |access-date=2011-08-05}}</ref> Glossolalia is practiced in [[Pentecostal]] and [[charismatic Christianity]],<ref name="LumHarvey2018">{{cite book |last1=Lum |first1=Kathryn Gin |last2=Harvey |first2=Paul |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History|date=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |isbn=978-0190856892 |page=801 |quote= ... would prove influential on the development of black Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, as glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, would be understood as a third work of grace following Holiness and receipt of the Holy Spirit.}}</ref><ref name="FahlbuschBromiley1999">{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Christianity|year=1999|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|language=en|isbn=978-9004116955|page=415|quote=While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870–1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues}}</ref> as well as in other religions.<ref name="Rose1997">{{cite book|last=Rose|first=Seraphim|title=Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future|date=1997|publisher=St Herman Press|language=en|isbn=188790400X|page=137|quote=There is scarcely to be found an example of "speaking in tongues" in any even nominally Christian context for over 1,600 years after the time of Paul...and yet this "gift" is possessed by numerous shamans and witch doctors of primitive religions, as well as by modern spritistics mediums and the demonically possessed.}}</ref><ref name="Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Me">{{cite journal|title=Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Media: Redefining a New Religion as "Rational" in Contemporary Society|journal=[[Nova Religio]]|volume=10|issue=3|pages=54–72|doi=10.1525/nr.2007.10.3.54|year=2007|last1=Whelan|first1=Christal}}</ref>

Sometimes a distinction is made between "glossolalia" and "xenolalia" or "[[xenoglossy]]", which specifically relates to the belief that the language being spoken is a [[natural language]] previously unknown to the speaker.<ref>Cheryl Bridges Johns and Frank Macchia, "Glossolalia", ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'' (Grand Rapids, MI; Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 413.</ref>


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
'Glossolalia' is constructed from the [[Greek language|Greek]] word γλωσσολαλία, itself a compound of the words γλῶσσα (''glossa''), meaning "tongue" or "language"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dglw%3Dssa γλῶσσα], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> and λαλέω (''laleō''), "I speak, I talk".<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dlale%2Fw λαλέω], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus</ref> The term 'speaking in tongues' is a translation of these two components of the same word. The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the [[New Testament]] in the books of [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] and [[First Corinthians|1 Corinthians]].
''Glossolalia'' is a borrowing of the {{lang|grc|γλωσσολαλία}} ({{transliteration|grc|glossolalía}}), which is a compound of the {{lang|grc|γλῶσσα}} ({{transliteration|grc|glossa}}) {{gloss|tongue, language}}<ref>{{cite dictionary |entry-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dglw%3Dssa |entry=γλῶσσα |first1=Henry George |last1=Liddell |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |editor-first1=Henry Stuart |editor-last1=Jones |editor-first2=Roderick |editor-last2=McKenzie |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940}}</ref> and {{lang|grc|λαλέω}} ({{transliteration|grc|laleō}}) {{gloss|to speak, talk, chat, prattle, make a sound}}.<ref>{{cite dictionary |entry-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dlale%2Fw |entry=λαλέω |first1=Henry George |last1=Liddell |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |editor-first1=Henry Stuart |editor-last1=Jones |editor-first2=Roderick |editor-last2=McKenzie |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940}}</ref> The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the New Testament in the books of [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] and [[First Corinthians]]. In Acts 2, the followers of Christ receive the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and speak in the languages of at least fifteen countries or ethnic groups.


'Speaking in tongues' has been used at least since the translation of the New Testament into Middle English in the [[Wycliffe Bible]] in the 14th century.<ref>{{Bibleref|Mark|16:17|53}} in [[Wyclif's Bible]]</ref> [[Frederic William Farrar]] first used the word ''glossolalia'' in 1879.<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]], 2nd ed, 1989</ref>
The exact phrase ''speaking in tongues'' has been used at least since the translation of the New Testament into [[Middle English]] in the [[Wycliffe Bible]] in the 14th century.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mark|16:17|wyc}} </ref> [[Frederic Farrar]] first used the word ''glossolalia'' in 1879.<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |edition=2nd |year=1989 |entry=glossolalia}}</ref>


==Description==
==Linguistics==
In 1972, [[William J. Samarin]], a linguist from the [[University of Toronto]], published a thorough assessment of Pentecostal glossolalia that became a classic work on its linguistic characteristics.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |oclc=308527}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref> His assessment was based on a large sample of glossolalia recorded in public and private Christian meetings in Italy, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Canada, and the United States over the course of five years; his wide range of subjects included the Puerto Ricans of the Bronx, the [[Snake handling in Christianity|snake handlers]] of the Appalachians and the [[spiritual Christians]] from Russia in Los Angeles (''Pryguny, Dukh-i-zhizniki'').
Glossolalia is a material phenomenon which has physical and psychological patterns that can be described. Substantial scientific studies have been published that provide an objective description of the linguistics of glossolalic speech and the neural behaviour of the speakers.


Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels found in a language known to the speaker:
===Linguistics of Pentecostal glossolalia===
William J. Samarin, a linguist from the University of Toronto, published a thorough assessment of Pentecostal glossolalia that became a classic work on its linguistic characteristics.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |oclc=308527}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref> His assessment was based on a large sample of glossolalia recorded in public and private Christian meetings in Italy, Holland, Jamaica, Canada and the USA over the course of five years; his wide range included the Puerto Ricans of the Bronx, the [[Snake Handlers]] of the Appalachians, and Russian [[Molokan]] in Los Angeles.


<blockquote>It is verbal behaviour that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels ... in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically ... with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=120 |oclc=308527}}</ref></blockquote>
Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels taken from a language known to the speaker.
<blockquote>
It is verbal behavior that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels[...]in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically[...]with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=120 |oclc=308527}}</ref>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
[Glossolalia] consists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Samarin |first=William J. |title=Sociolinguistic vs. Neurophysiological Explanations for Glossolalia: Comment on Goodman’s Paper |url=http://jstor.org/stable/1384556 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=11 |issue=3 |year=1972 |pages=293–296 |doi=10.2307/1384556}}</ref>
</blockquote>


That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others: [[Felicitas Goodman]] found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goodman |first=Felicitas D. |title=Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings |url=http://jstor.org/stable/1384336 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=1969 |pages=227–235 |doi=10.2307/1384336}}</ref>
<blockquote>[Glossolalia] consists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Samarin |first=William J. |title=Sociolinguistic vs. Neurophysiological Explanations for Glossolalia: Comment on Goodman's Paper |jstor=1384556 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=11 |issue=3 |year=1972 |pages=293–296 |doi=10.2307/1384556}}</ref></blockquote>


That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others. [[Felicitas Goodman]], a psychological anthropologist and linguist, also found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Goodman |first=Felicitas D. |title=Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings |jstor=1384336 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=1969 |pages=227–35 |doi=10.2307/1384336}}</ref> These findings were confirmed by Kavan (2004).<ref>New Zealand Linguistic Society: Heather Kavan [[Massey University]]: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242187721_WE_DON'T_KNOW_WHAT_WE'RE_SAYING_BUT_IT'S_PROFOUND_THE_LANGUAGE_AND_CONTEXTS_OF_GLOSSOLALIA Heather Kavan "We don't know what we're saying, but it's profound"]</ref>
Samarin found that the resemblance to human language was merely on the surface, and so concluded that glossolalia is "only a facade of language".<ref name=Samarin128>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=128 |oclc=308527}}</ref> He reached this conclusion because the syllable string did not form words, the stream of speech was not internally organised, and– most importantly of all– there was no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Humans use language to communicate, but glossolalia does not. Therefore he concluded that glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives".<ref name="Samarin128"/>


On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead".<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=2 |oclc=308527}}</ref>
Samarin found that the resemblance to human language was merely on the surface and so concluded that glossolalia is "only a facade of language".<ref name=Samarin128>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=128 |oclc=308527}}</ref> He reached this conclusion because the syllable string did not form words, the stream of speech was not internally organized, and – most importantly of all – there was no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Humans use language to communicate but glossolalia does not. Therefore, he concluded that glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives".<ref name="Samarin128" /> On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human [[utterance]], believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead".<ref>{{Cite book|first=William J. |last=Samarin |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=2 |oclc=308527}}</ref>


Felicitas Goodman studied a number of Pentecostal communities in the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico; these included English-, Spanish- and Mayan-speaking groups. She compared what she found with recordings of non-Christian rituals from Africa, Borneo, Indonesia and Japan. She took into account both the segmental structure (such as sounds, syllables, phrases) and the supra-segmental elements (rhythm, accent, intonation) and concluded that there was no distinction between what was practised by the Pentecostal Protestants and the followers of other religions.<ref name="Goodman 1972">{{Cite book |first=Felicitas D. |last=Goodman |author-link=Felicitas Goodman |title=Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study in Glossolalia |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |year=1972 |isbn=978-0226303246 |oclc=393056 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/speakingintongue00feli }}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref>
Practitioners of glossolalia may disagree with linguistic researchers and claim that they are speaking human languages ([[xenoglossia]]). For example Ralph Harris, in the work ''Spoken By the Spirit'' published by Radiant Life/GPH in 1973, describes seventy five occasions when glossolalic speech was understood by others. (Scientific research into such claims is documented in the article on [[xenoglossia]].)


==History==
===Comparative linguistics===
[[Felicitas Goodman]], a psychological anthropologist and linguist, studied a number of Pentecostal communities in the United States, Caribbean and Mexico; these included English, Spanish and Mayan speaking groups. She compared what she found with recordings of non-Christian rituals from Africa, Borneo, Indonesia and Japan. She took into account both the segmental structure (such as sounds, syllables, phrases) and the supra-segmental elements (rhythm, accent, intonation), and concluded that there was no distinction between what was practiced by the Pentecostal Protestants and the followers of other religions.<ref name="Goodman 1972">{{Cite book|first=Felicitas D. |last=Goodman |authorlink=Felicitas Goodman |title=Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study in Glossolalia |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago |year=1972 |pages= |isbn=978-0-226-30324-6 |oclc=393056}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref>


===Neuroscience===
===Classical antiquity===
It was a commonplace idea within the [[Ancient]] world that divine beings spoke languages different from human languages, and historians of religion have identified references to [[esoteric]] speech in Greco-Roman literature that resemble glossolalia, sometimes explained as angelic or [[divine language]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Petruzzello |first1=Melissa |title=Glossolalia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/glossolalia |website=Encyclopedia Britannice |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref> An example is the account in the [[Testament of Job]], a non-canonical elaboration of the [[Book of Job]], where the daughters of [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]] are described as being given sashes enabling them to speak and sing in angelic languages.{{Sfn|Martin|1995|pp=88–89}}
In 2006, the brains of a group of individuals were scanned while they were speaking in tongues. Activity in the language centers of the brain decreased, while activity in the emotional centers of the brain increased. Activity in the area of control decreased, which corresponds with the reported experience of loss of control. There were no changes in any language areas, suggesting that glossolalia is not associated with usual language function.<ref>
{{Cite journal|last=Newberg |first=Andrew B. |authorlink= |coauthors=Wintering, Nancy A.; Morgan, Donna; Waldman, Mark R. |date=1 May 2006|title=Cerebral blood flow during the complex vocalization task of glossolalia |journal=The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Meeting Abstracts |volume=47 |issue=Supplement 1 |page=316 |url=http://jnumedmtg.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/47/suppl_1/316P |accessdate=9 January 2009 |quote= |pages=316P }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Benedict |last=Carey |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=A Neuroscientific Look at Speaking in Tongues |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 November 2006 |accessdate=9 January 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Newberg |first= ndrew B. |authorlink= |coauthors=Wintering, Nancy A.; Morgan, Donna; Waldman, Mark R. |date=22 November 2006 |title=The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study |journal=Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging |pmid=17046214 |volume=148 |issue=1 |pages=67–71 |doi=10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.07.001 |url=http://www.amebrasil.org.br/html/Newberg2006.pdf |accessdate=9 January 2009}}</ref> Other [[Electroencephalography|brain wave]] studies have also found that brain activity alters in glossolalia.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Electroencephalographic Correlates Of Glossolalic Christian Prayer |last=Jones |first=Timothy Arthur |month=November |year=1981 |oclc=41680497}}</ref>


According to Dale B. Martin, glossolalia was accorded high status in the ancient world due to its association with the divine. [[Alexander of Abonoteichus]] may have exhibited glossolalia during his episodes of prophetic ecstasy.{{Sfn|Martin|1995|p=90}} [[Neoplatonist]] philosopher [[Iamblichus]] linked glossolalia to [[prophecy]], writing that prophecy was divine [[spirit possession]] that "emits words which are not understood by those that utter them; for they pronounce them, as it is said, with an insane mouth (''mainomenό stomati'') and are wholly subservient, and entirely yield themselves to the energy of the predominating God".{{Sfn|Martin|1995|p=91}}
==Scientific explanation==
Attempts to explain these physical and psychological from a scientific perspective have been suggested, including mental illness, hypnosis, and learned behaviour.


In his writings on [[early Christianity]], the Greek philosopher [[Celsus]] includes an account of Christian glossolalia. Celsus describes prophecies made by several Christians in Palestine and Phoenicia of which he writes, "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent, and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover: for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes".{{Sfn|Martin|1995|p=90}}
===Mental illness===
As Pentecostalism expanded in the 20th century and attracted the attention of the wider world, psychologists initially thought of glossolalia in pathological terms, thinking that it was caused by mental illness. In 1927 [[George Barton Cutten|George Cutten]] described speakers in tongues as people of low mental abilities.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=George Barton |last=Cutten |authorlink=George Barton Cutten |title=Speaking with Tongues Historically and Psychologically Considered |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1927 |oclc=674422}}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref>


References to speaking in tongues by the [[Church fathers]] are rare. Except for Irenaeus' 2nd-century reference to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages "through the Spirit", and Tertullian's reference in 207 AD to the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues being encountered in his day, there are no other known first-hand accounts of glossolalia, and very few second-hand accounts among their writings.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Benjamin B. |last=Warfield |author-link=Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield |year=1918 |title=Counterfeit Miracles |location=New York |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |oclc=3977281 |page=[https://archive.org/details/counterfeitmira02warfgoog/page/n21 10] |quote=The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers contain no clear and certain allusions to miracle working or to the exercise of the charismatic gifts, contemporaneously with themselves.|isbn=978-0851511665}}</ref>
This explanation was effectively refuted in 1969 by a team from the University of Minnesota, who conducted an extensive study covering the United States, Mexico, Haiti and Colombia; they reached practitioners among Pentecostals, other Protestant groups, and Roman Catholics.
<blockquote>
Cutten's contentions concerning psychopathology, quoted and re-quoted through the years, have taken on an aura of fact among non-Pentecostal churchmen who are critical of the movement. His assumption that glossolalia is linked to schizophrenia and hysteria has not been supported by any empirical evidence.<ref name=hine1969>{{Cite journal|last=Hine |first=Virginia H. |title=Pentecostal Glossolalia toward a Functional Interpretation |url=http://jstor.org/stable/1384335 |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |volume=8 |issue=2 |year=1969 |pages=211–226 |doi=10.2307/1384335}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Subsequently, a 2003 statistical study in the religious journal Pastoral Psychology concluded that, among the 991 male evangelical clergy sampled, glossolalia was associated with stable extroversion, and contrary to some theories, completely unrelated to psychopathology.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Francis L.J. and Robbins M. |title=Personality and Glossolalia: A Study Among Male Evangelical Clergy |journal=Pastoral Psychology |volume=51 |issue=5 |month=May |year=2003 |pages=391–396 |doi=10.1023/A:1023618715407}}</ref>


===Hypnosis===
===1100 to 1900===
* 12th century – [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] explained that speaking tongues was no longer present because there were greater miracles – the transformed lives of believers.<ref>[http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/saints/bernard/tome03/homtemps/paques/paques007.htm "''Premier Serrmon Pour Le Jour de L'Ascension. Sur l'Evangile du jour.''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207004808/http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/saints/bernard/tome03/homtemps/paques/paques007.htm |date=7 February 2020 }} "''3. Il y des signes plus certains et des miracles plus salutaires que ceux-là, ce sont les mérites. Et je ne crois pas qu'il soit difficile de savoir en quel sens on doit entendre les miracles dont il est parlé en cet endroit, pour qu'ils soient des signes certains de foi, et par conséquent de salut. En effet, la première oeuvre de la foi, opérant par la charité, c'est la componction de l'âme, car elle chasse évidemment les démons, en déracinant les péchés de notre coeur. Quant aux langues nouvelles que doivent parler les hommes, qui croient en Jésus-Christ, cela a lieu, lorsque le langage du vieil homme cesse de se trouver sur nos lèvres, et que nous ne parlons plus la langue antique de nos premiers parents, qui cherchaient dans des paroles pleines de malice à s'excuser de leurs péchés''".</ref>
Some kind of [[hypnosis]] or trance has often been suggested as the explanation for glossolalia. Much glossolalia takes place in heightened states, whether in Pentecostal Christian or non-Christian contexts.<ref name="Goodman 1972"/> But glossolalia does not require a state of hypnosis or trance. An experiment was conducted in which 12 experienced glossolalists performed with eyes open and without accompanying kinetic activity (such as trembling or shaking) or any residual disorientation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Spanos |first=Nicholas P. |coauthors=Hewitt, Erin C. |title=Glossolalia: 'A test of the 'trance' and psychopathology hypotheses |journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology |year=1979 |month=August |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=427–434 |doi=10.1037/0021-843X.88.4.427}}</ref> Moreover glossolalia is not only displayed in group situations. The Minnesotan study found that "after the initial experience of glossolalia, most Pentecostals speak with tongues as frequently, if not more frequently, alone in private prayer", including some for the first time.<ref name=hine1969/> These findings rule out hypnosis by another, although self-hypnosis may play a part.
* 12th century – [[Hildegard of Bingen]] is said to have possessed the gift of visions and prophecy and to have been able to speak and write in Latin without having learned the language.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=L. Carlyle |first1=May |title=A Survey of Glossolalia and Related Phenomena in NonChristian Religions |journal=American Anthropologist |date=February 1956 |volume=58 |issue=1 |page=75 |url=https://sciencedocbox.com/Paranormal_Phenomena/84364754-E-words-has-long-been-of-interest-to-students-of-religion-the-books-of-cutten.html |doi=10.1525/aa.1956.58.1.02a00060 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* 1265 – [[Thomas Aquinas]] wrote about the gift of tongues in the New Testament, which he understood to be an ability to speak every language, given for the purposes of missionary work. He explained that Christ did not have this gift because his mission was to the Jews, "nor does each one of the faithful now speak save in one tongue"; for "no one speaks in the tongues of all nations, because the Church herself already speaks the languages of all nations".<ref>[[Thomas Aquinas]], ''[[Summa Theologica]]'', Question 176.</ref>
* 15th century – The [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] are referred to by detractors as having spoken in tongues. John Roche, a contemporary critic, claimed that the Moravians "commonly broke into some disconnected Jargon, which they often passed upon the vulgar, 'as the exuberant and resistless Evacuations of the Spirit'".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Stanley M. |last=Burgess |chapter=Medieval and Modern Western Churches |editor1=Gary B. McGee |title=Initial evidence: historical and biblical perspectives on the Pentecostal doctrine of spirit baptism |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |location=[[Peabody, Massachusetts]] |year=1991 |page=32 |isbn=978-0943575414 |oclc=24380326}}</ref>
* 17th century – The French Prophets: The [[Camisards]] also spoke sometimes in languages that were unknown: "Several persons of both Sexes", James Du Bois of Montpellier recalled, "I have heard in their Extasies pronounce certain words, which seem'd to the Standers-by, to be some Foreign Language". These utterances were sometimes accompanied by the gift of interpretation exercised, in Du Bois' experience, by the same person who had spoken in tongues.<ref>{{Cite book|first=John |last=Lacy |year=1707 |title=A Cry from the Desert |oclc=81008302 |page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |first=Michael Pollock |last=Hamilton |title=The charismatic movement |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1975 |page=[https://archive.org/details/charismaticmovem00hami/page/75 75] |isbn=978-0802834539 |oclc=1008209 |url=https://archive.org/details/charismaticmovem00hami/page/75 }}</ref>
* 17th century – Early [[Quakers]], such as [[Edward Burrough]], make mention of tongues-speaking in their meetings: "We spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us".<ref>[[Edward Burrough|Burrough, Edward]] (1831) [1659]. "Epistle to the Reader" in [[George Fox|Fox, George]]. ''The great mystery of the great whore unfolded; and Antichrist's kingdom revealed unto destruction''. ''The Works of George Fox''. '''3'''. p.&nbsp;[https://archive.org/details/worksgeorgefox09foxgoog/page/n17 13]. {{OCLC|12877488}}.</ref>
* 1817 – In Germany, [[Gustav von Below]], an aristocratic officer of the Prussian Guard, and his brothers, founded a religious movement based on their estates in Pomerania, which may have included speaking in tongues.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hogue |first1=Richard |title=Tongues: A Theological History of Christian Glossolalia |date=2010 |publisher=Tate Publishing |page=211}}</ref>
* 19th century – [[Edward Irving]] and the [[Catholic Apostolic Church]]. Edward Irving, a minister in the Church of Scotland, writes of a woman who would "speak at great length, and with superhuman strength, in an unknown tongue, to the great astonishment of all who heard, and to her own great edification and enjoyment in God".<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Edward |last=Irving |author-link=Edward Irving |date=January 1832 |title=Facts Connected With Recent Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFPPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA754 |journal=[[Fraser's Magazine]] |volume=4 |issue=24 |pages=754–761 |access-date=9 June 2009}}</ref> Irving further stated that "tongues are a great instrument for personal edification, however mysterious it may seem to us".<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Carlyle|editor1-first=Gavin|title=The Collected Writings of Edward Irving|date=1865|publisher=Alexander Strahan|page=548|edition=Volume 5|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HS8aAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA548|access-date=12 January 2017|chapter=On the Gifts of the Holy Ghost}}</ref>
* 19th century – The history of the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church), contains extensive references to the practice of speaking in tongues by [[Brigham Young]], [[Joseph Smith]] and many others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.frontiernet.net:80/~bcmmin/tongue1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817001900/http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin/tongue1.htm |archive-date=17 August 2000 |website=www.frontiernet.net |title=Speaking in Tongues and the Mormon Church |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017181936/http://www.mormonwiki.com/Speaking_in_Tongues |archive-date=17 October 2008 |url=http://www.mormonwiki.com:80/Speaking_in_Tongues |title=Speaking in Tongues |format=[[MediaWiki]] |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Sidney Rigdon]] had disagreements with [[Alexander Campbell (clergyman)|Alexander Campbell]] regarding speaking in tongues, and later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Speaking in tongues was recorded in contemporary sources, both hostile and sympathetic to Mormonism, by at least 1830.<ref name="Copeland">{{cite journal |last1 = Copeland |first1 = Lee |title = Speaking in Tongues in the Restoration Churches |journal = Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought |volume = 24 |issue = 1 |url = https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V24N01_15.pdf }}</ref> The practice was soon widespread amongst Mormons, with many rank and file church members believing they were speaking the [[Adamic language|language of Adam]]; some of the hostility towards Mormons stemmed from those of other faiths regarding speaking in tongues unfavorably, especially when practiced by children.<ref name="Copeland" /> At the 1836 dedication of the [[Kirtland Temple]] the dedicatory prayer asked that God grant them the gift of tongues and at the end of the service [[Brigham Young]] spoke in tongues, another elder interpreted it and then gave his own exhortation in tongues. Many other worship experiences in the Kirtland Temple prior to and after the dedication included references to people speaking and interpreting tongues. In describing the beliefs of the church in the [[Wentworth letter]] (1842), Joseph Smith identified a belief of the "gift of tongues" and "interpretation of tongues". The practice of glossolalia by the Latter-day Saints was widespread but after an initial burst of enthusiastic growth circa 1830–34, seems to have been somewhat more restrained than in many other contemporary religious movements.<ref name="Copeland" /> Young, Smith, and numerous other early leaders frequently cautioned against the public exercise of glossolalia unless there be someone who could exercise the corresponding spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues, so that listeners could be edified by what had been said. Although the [[Latter-day Saint]]s believe that speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues is alive and well in the Church, modern Mormons are much more likely to point to the way in which LDS missionaries are trained and learn foreign languages quickly, and are able to communicate rapidly on their missions, as evidence of the manifestation of this gift. This interpretation stems from a 1900 General Conference sermon by [[Joseph F. Smith]] which discouraged glossolalia; subsequent leaders echoed this recommendation for about a decade afterwards and subsequently the practice had largely died out amongst Mormons by the 1930s and '40s.<ref name="Copeland" />


===20th century===
A New Zealand researcher, Heather Kavan,<ref name="kavan">{{Cite journal|last=Kavan |first=Heather |title=Glossolalia and Altered States of Consciousness in two New Zealand Religious Movements |journal=Journal of Contemporary Religion |volume=19 |issue=2 |year=2004 |pages=171–184 |doi=10.1080/1353790042000207692}}</ref> found that whether a person experienced trance or hypnosis depended on the type of group with which they were affiliated. Kavan found that most New Zealand Pentecostals and Charismatics did not experience trance except during the baptism of the spirit. However, meditators in a yoga-based purification group experienced frequent intense trances, of which glossolalia was an occasional manifestation. Kavan suggested that there are two types of glossolalia– spontaneous and context-dependent– and the former is more likely to occur in groups that are radical, experiential and charismatically led.
{{Main|Azusa Street Revival}}
[[File:026 la times.gif|thumb|upright=1.25|Headline about the "Weird babel of tongues" and other behavior at Azusa Street, from a 1906 ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' newspaper]]
During the 20th century, glossolalia primarily became associated with Pentecostalism and the later [[charismatic movement]]. Preachers in the [[Holiness Movement]] preachers [[Charles Parham]] and [[William J. Seymour|William Seymour]] are credited as co-founders of the movement. Parham and Seymour taught that "baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a [[third work of grace]] that was accompanied by the experience of tongues".<ref name="FahlbuschBromiley1999" /> It was Parham who formulated the doctrine of "initial evidence". After studying the Bible, Parham came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence that one had received the [[baptism with the Holy Spirit]].


In 1900, Parham opened [[Bethel Bible College]] in [[Topeka, Kansas]], America, where he taught initial evidence, a Charismatic belief about how to initiate the practice. During a service on 1 January 1901, a student named [[Agnes Ozman]] asked for prayer and the [[laying on of hands]] to specifically ask God to fill her with the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]]. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, in the first hours of the 20th century. Parham followed within the next few days. Parham called his new movement the [[Charles Fox Parham|apostolic faith]]. In 1905, he moved to Houston and opened a [[Bible school]] there. One of his students was William Seymour, an African-American preacher. In 1906, Seymour traveled to [[Los Angeles]] where his preaching ignited the [[Azusa Street Revival]]. This revival is considered the birth of the global Pentecostal movement. According to the first issue of William Seymour's newsletter, ''The Apostolic Faith'', from 1906:
===Learned behavior===
The material explanation arrived at by a number of studies is that glossolalia is "learned behavior".<ref name=hine1969/><ref>{{Cite book|last=Samarin |first=William J. |title=Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |year=1972 |page=73 |oclc=308527}}</ref> What is taught is the ability to produce language-like speech. This is only a partial explanation, but it is a part that has withstood much testing. It is possible to train novices to produce glossolalic speech. One experiment with 60 undergraduates found that 20% succeeded after merely listening to a 60-second sample, and 70% succeeded after training:
<blockquote>
Our findings that glossolalia can be easily learned through direct instruction, along with demonstrations that tongue speakers can initiate and terminate glossolalia upon request and can exhibit glossolalia in the absence of any indexes of trance[…] support the hypothesis that glossolalia utterances are goal-directed actions rather than involuntary happenings.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Spanos, Nicholas P.; Cross, Wendy P.; Lepage, Mark; Coristine, Marjorie |title=Glossolalia as learned behavior: An experimental demonstration |journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology |year=1986 |month=February |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=21–23 |pmid=3700843 |doi=10.1037/0021-843X.95.1.21}}</ref>
</blockquote>
That glossolalia can be learned is also seen in the traces left behind by teachers. An investigation by the Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn showed that the influence of a particular leader can shape a group's glossolalia: where certain prominent glossolalists had visited, whole groups of glossolalists would speak in his style of speech.<ref>{{Cite book|first=John |last=Kildahl |coauthors=Paul Qualben |title=Glossolalia and Mental Health: Final Progress Report |year=1971 |publisher=[[National Institute of Mental Health]] |oclc=5136439}}</ref>


{{blockquote|A [[Mohammedan]], a Soudanese by birth, a man who is an interpreter and speaks sixteen languages, came into the meetings at Azusa Street and the Lord gave him messages which none but himself could understand. He identified, interpreted and wrote a number of the languages.<ref>Square brackets indicate faded parts that are no longer readable.</ref>}}
==Glossolalia in Christianity==
In addition to the suggested material explanations, some Christians believe that there can be a supernatural explanation of glossolalia: some (cessationists) limit this to the 1st century, others (glossolalists) apply this explanation today.
* '''Glossolalists''' could, apart from those practicing glossolalia, also mean all those who believe that the Pentecostal/Charismatic glossolalia practiced today is the 'speaking in tongues' described in the New Testament. They believe that it is a miraculous [[Gifts of the Spirit|gift of the Spirit]]. While some Charismatics claim that these tongues are a real, unlearned language (i.e., [[xenoglossia]]),<ref name=grudem1994p1070>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |authorlink=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1070 |isbn=978-0-85110-652-6 |oclc=29952151}}</ref><ref name=ag-baptism2000>{{Cite web|author=General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God |date=11 August 2000 |title=The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Initial Experience and Continuing Evidences of the Spirit-Filled Life |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4185_spirit-filled_life.pdf |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |accessdate=9 June 2009}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> others - Pentecostals in particular, explain the activity as a 'language of the spirit', or a 'heavenly language', perhaps the language of angels.<ref name=grudem1994p1072>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |authorlink=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1072 |isbn=978-0-85110-652-6 |oclc=29952151}}</ref>
*'''[[cessationism|Cessationists]]''' believe that all the charismatic gifts of The Holy Spirit ceased to be early in the Christian history, and therefore that the speaking in tongues practised today is simply the utterance of meaningless syllables. It is neither [[xenoglossia]] nor miraculous, but rather learned behavior, possibly self-induced. However, they believe that what the New Testament describes is [[xenoglossia]], a miraculous [[Gifts of the Spirit|gift of the Spirit]] through which the speaker could communicate in languages not previously studied.


Parham and his early followers believed that speaking in tongues was xenoglossia, and some followers traveled to foreign countries and tried to use the gift to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking people. From the time of the Azusa Street revival and among early participants in the Pentecostal movement, there were many accounts of individuals hearing their own languages spoken 'in tongues'. The majority of Pentecostals and Charismatics consider speaking in tongues to primarily be divine, or the "language of angels", rather than human languages.<ref>D. Swincer, ''Tongues: Genuine Biblical Languages: A Careful Construct of the Nature, Purpose, and Operation of the Gift of Tongues for the Church'' (2016) pp. 88–90 {{ISBN?}}</ref> In the years following the Azusa Street revival Pentecostals who went to the mission field found that they were unable to speak in the language of the local inhabitants at will when they spoke in tongues in strange lands.<ref>Faupel, D. William. ''Glossolalia as Foreign Language: An Investigation of the Twentieth-Century Pentecostal Claim''. {{cite web |url=http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/31-35/31-1-05.htm |title=31-1-05 |access-date=2005-04-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050429071428/http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/31-35/31-1-05.htm |archive-date=29 April 2005}}</ref>
==Biblical practice==
Glossolalia is believed by many Christians to have come into the Christian experience in the 1st century on the day of Pentecost after the Crucifixion of Jesus when "... there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire,.." divided unto all of the individuals in the "upper room". They were said to speak in "other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance" (according to Acts, Ch. 2) (The book of Acts, written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke, is found in the New Testament immediately after the Gospel of John and is considered to be the story of the very early church). It should be noted, however, that Acts records that everyone in a nearby crowd was able to understand what the Apostles were saying at Pentecost, whereas glossolalia as usually practised today is unintelligible to everybody including the speaker ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:2]]; [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|14:13-18]]).


The revival at Azusa Street lasted until around 1915. From it grew many new Pentecostal churches as people visited the services in Los Angeles and took their newfound beliefs to communities around the United States and abroad. During the 20th century, glossolalia became an important part of the identity of these religious groups. During the 1960s, the [[charismatic movement]] within the [[Mainline Protestantism|mainline Protestant]] churches and among [[Catholic Charismatic Movement|charismatic Roman Catholics]] adopted some Pentecostal beliefs, and the practice of glossolalia spread to other Christian denominations. The discussion regarding tongues has permeated many branches of Protestantism, particularly since the widespread charismatic movement in the 1960s. Many books have been published either defending<ref>Example: Christenson, Laurence, ''Speaking in tongues: and its significance for the church'', Minneapolis, MN : Dimension Books, 1968.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}</ref> or attacking<ref>Example: Gromacki, Robert Glenn, ''The Modern Tongues Movement'', Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1973, {{ISBN|0875523048}} (Originally published 1967){{page needed|date=June 2020}}</ref> the practice.
Many, though certainly not all, who consider themselves Christians, believe that this was a miraculous [[Gifts of the Spirit|gift of the Spirit]]. Some Charismatics claim that these tongues are a real, unlearned, language (i.e., [[xenoglossia]]).<ref name=grudem1994p1070/><ref name=ag-baptism2000/> Others - Pentecostals in particular, explain the activity as a 'language of the spirit', or a 'heavenly language', perhaps the language of angels.<ref name=grudem1994p1072/> These views are both drawn from the writings of St. Paul. Some believe that individuals speak different languages at different times, some believed to be human languages and others "angelic or heavenly languages."<ref name="Personal Interview with Deborah Cox">Personal Interview with Deborah Cox. Professor of Writing about the Bible as Literature. 4 May 2009. Lonestar College Library. Conroe, Texas, 77384{{Verify source|date=June 2009}}</ref> Glossolalia came to prominence again in modern times in the [[Azusa Street Revival]] of 1906 and in the subsequent growth of the [[Pentecostal]] movement. "Since then there have been a number of attempts to describe glossolalia in a systematic way. However, practitioners of glossolalia consider it a spiritual experience and tend to doubt the likelihood that it can be classified or proven by the scientific method."<ref name="Personal Interview with Deborah Cox"/> In recent years some research has taken place to make closer investigation of this phenomenon, of which perhaps the most well known, is scientific research that was performed in Pennsylvania {{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}.


===New Testament===
==Christianity==
There are five places in the [[New Testament]] where speaking in tongues is referred to ''explicitly'':
* [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Mark#Chapter 16|Mark 16:17]], which records the instructions of [[Jesus christ|Christ]] to the [[apostles]], including his description that "they will speak with new tongues" as a sign that would follow "them that believe" in him. Many scholars take Mark 16:8 as the original ending and believe the ending (Mark 16:9-20) was written later. (see [[Mark 16]])
* [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2]], which describes an occurrence of speaking in tongues in [[Jerusalem]] at [[Pentecost]], though with various interpretations.
* [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 10|Acts 10:46]], when the household of [[Cornelius the Centurion|Cornelius]] in [[Caesarea]] spoke in tongues, and those present compared it to the speaking in tongues that occurred at [[Pentecost]].
* [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 19|Acts 19:6]], when a group of approximately a dozen men spoke in tongues in [[Ephesus]] as they received the Holy Spirit while the apostle Paul laid his hands upon them.
* [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 12|1 Cor 12]], [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 13|13]], [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|14]], where [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] discusses speaking in "various kinds of tongues" as part of his wider discussion of the [[gifts of the Spirit]]; his remarks shed some light on his own speaking in tongues as well as how the gift of speaking in tongues was to be used in the [[Ecclesia (church)|church]].


===Theological explanations===
Other verses by inference may be considered to refer to 'speaking in tongues', such as Isaiah 28:11, Romans 8:26 and Jude 20.
In [[Christianity]], a supernatural explanation for glossolalia is advocated by some and rejected by others. Proponents of each viewpoint use the biblical writings and historical arguments to support their positions.
* '''Glossolalists''' could, apart from those practicing glossolalia, also mean all those Christians who believe that the Pentecostal/charismatic glossolalia practiced today is the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. They believe that it is a miraculous [[charism]] or [[spiritual gift]]. Glossolalists claim that these tongues can be both real, unlearned languages (i.e., [[xenoglossia]])<ref name=grudem1994p1070>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |author-link=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1070 |isbn=978-0851106526 |oclc=29952151}}</ref><ref name=ag-baptism2000>{{cite web|author=General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God |date=11 August 2000 |title=The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Initial Experience and Continuing Evidences of the Spirit-Filled Life |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4185_spirit-filled_life.pdf |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |access-date=9 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217141421/http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4185_spirit-filled_life.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2008 }}</ref> as well as a "language of the spirit", a "heavenly language", or perhaps the [[Angelic tongues|language of angels]].<ref name=grudem1994p1072>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |author-link=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1072 |isbn=978-0851106526 |oclc=29952151}}</ref>
* '''[[cessationism|Cessationists]]''' believe that all the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to occur early in Christian history, and therefore that the speaking in tongues as practiced by Charismatic Christians is the learned utterance of non-linguistic syllables. According to this belief, it is neither xenoglossia nor miraculous, but rather taught behavior, possibly self-induced. These believe that what the New Testament described as "speaking in tongues" was xenoglossia, a miraculous spiritual gift through which the speaker could communicate in natural languages not previously studied.
*A third position claims that glossolalia does exist, but it is a form of [[prelest]], not the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. It believes glossolalia is part of a mediumistic technique where practitioners are manifesting genuine spiritual power, but this power is not necessarily of the Holy Spirit.<ref name=Rose1997/>
* A fourth position conceivably exists, which believes the practice of "glossolalia" to be a folk practice and different from the legitimate New Testament spiritual gift of speaking/interpreting real languages. It is therefore not out of a belief that "miracles have ceased" (i.e., cessationism) that causes this group to discredit the supernatural origins of particular modern expressions of "glossolalia", but it is rather out of a belief that glossolalists have misunderstood Scripture and wrongly attributed to the Holy Spirit something that may be explained naturalistically.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/health/07brain.html|title=A Neuroscientific Look at Speaking in Tongues|first=Benedict|last=Carey |newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 November 2006}}</ref>


===Biblical practice===
The biblical account of [[Pentecost]] in the second chapter of the book of Acts describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and "divided tongues like fire" coming to rest on the [[apostles]]. The text further describes that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in unknown languages." It goes on to say in verses 5-11 that when the Apostles spoke, each person in attendance "heard their own language being spoken." Therefore, the gift of speaking in tongues refers to the Apostles' ability to speak in their native language while the people listening heard "them declaring the wonders of God in [their] own tongues."
There are five places in the [[New Testament]] where speaking in tongues is referred to explicitly:
* [[s: Bible (King James)/Mark#Chapter 16|Mark 16:17]] (though this is a [[Mark 16|disputed text]]), which records the instructions of [[Jesus Christ|Christ]] to the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]], including his description that "they will speak with new tongues" as a sign that would follow "them that believe" in him.
* [[s: Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2]], which describes an occurrence of speaking in tongues in [[Jerusalem]] at [[Pentecost]], though with various interpretations. Specifically, "every man ''heard them'' speak in his own language" and wondered "how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
* [[s: Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 10|Acts 10:46]], when the household of [[Cornelius the Centurion|Cornelius]] in [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] spoke in tongues, and those present compared it to the speaking in tongues that occurred at [[Pentecost]].
* [[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 19|Acts 19:6]], when a group of approximately a dozen men spoke in tongues in [[Ephesus]] as they received the Holy Spirit while the apostle Paul laid his hands upon them.
* [[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 12|1 Cor 12]], [[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 13|13]], [[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|14]], where [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] discusses speaking in "various kinds of tongues" as part of his wider discussion of the [[gifts of the Spirit]]; his remarks shed some light on his own speaking in tongues as well as how the gift of speaking in tongues was to be used in the [[Mother Church|church]].


Other verses by inference may be considered to refer to "speaking in tongues", such as [[s:Bible (King James)/Isaiah#Chapter 28|Isaiah 28:11]], [[s:Bible (King James)/Romans#Chapter 8|Romans 8:26]] and [[s:Bible (King James)/Jude|Jude 20]].
Glossolalists and cessationists both recognize this as [[xenoglossia]], a miraculous ability that marked their [[Baptism of the Holy Spirit|baptism in the Holy Spirit]]. Something similar (although perhaps not xenoglossia) took place on at least two subsequent occasions, in Caesarea and Ephesus.


The biblical account of [[Pentecost]] in the second chapter of the book of Acts describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and "divided tongues like fire" coming to rest on the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Geisler |first1=Norman L. |author1-link=Norman Geisler |title=Was it Only the Apostles Who Spoke in Tongues at Pentecost? |date=11 February 2022 |url=https://christianpublishinghouse.co/2022/02/11/was-it-only-the-apostles-who-spoke-in-tongues-at-pentecost/ |publisher=Christian Publishing House |access-date=5 July 2023}}</ref> The text further describes that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages". It goes on to say in verses 5–11 that when the Apostles spoke, each person in attendance "heard their own language being spoken". Therefore, the gift of speaking in tongues refers to the Apostles' speaking languages that the people listening heard as "them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God". Glossolalists and cessationists both recognize this as [[xenoglossia]], a miraculous ability that marked their [[Baptism of the Holy Spirit|baptism in the Holy Spirit]]. Something similar (although perhaps not xenoglossia) took place on at least two subsequent occasions, in Caesarea and Ephesus.
The [[Apostle Paul]] instructed the church in [[Roman Corinth|Corinth]] about speaking in tongues in his discussion of the [[gifts of the Spirit]] in a [[First Corinthians|letter]] to them. His purpose was to encourage them to value the gift, but not too highly; to practice it, but not abuse it. In the letter, Paul commands church brethren, "''Do not forbid to speak in tongues''" (1 Cor 14:39), while warning them that "''all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner''" He further expresses his wishes that those to whom he wrote "''all spoke with tongues''" (1 Cor 14:5) and claims himself to speak with tongues more than any in the church at Corinth ("''I thank God I speak with tongues more than you all''" 1 Cor 14:18). At the same time he argues that not everyone can speak in tongues (1 Cor 12:29) and discourages simultaneous speaking in tongues directed at people rather than God, lest unbelievers should think that the assembled believers were "mad" (1 Cor 14:23, 27). Tongues, says Paul, is speaking to God, rather than men ("''in the Spirit he speaks mysteries''" (1 Cor 14:2)). Paul claims that speaking in tongues edifies the person speaking (1 Cor 14:4), that it is the action of a praying speaker's spirit (as opposed his or her understanding, see 1 Cor 14:14), and that praying in tongues serves both to bless God as well as to give thanks (1 Cor 14:16-17). However, he also expressed a preference for prophecy over speaking in tongues, ''unless [a speaker in tongues] interprets, so that the church may be edified''(1 Cor 14:5). Paul also gave instructions that, unless there was an interpreter present, the speaker should "''keep quiet in the church''", and speak only to himself and to God (1 Cor 14:27-28).


Glossolalists and cessationists generally agree that the primary purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues was to mark the [[Holy Spirit]] being poured out. At [[Pentecost]] the [[Apostle Peter]] declared that this gift, which was making some in the audience ridicule the disciples as drunks, was the fulfilment of the prophecy of [[Joel (prophet)|Joel]] which described that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:17]]).<ref name=ag-baptism2000/>
Glossolalists and cessationists generally agree that the primary purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues was to mark the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] being poured out. At [[Pentecost]] the [[Apostle Peter]] declared that this gift, which was making some in the audience ridicule the disciples as drunks, be the fulfilment of the prophecy of [[Joel (prophet)|Joel]], which described that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh ([[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:17]]).<ref name=ag-baptism2000 />


Despite these commonalities, there are significant variations in interpretation.
Despite these commonalities, there are significant variations in interpretation.
* '''Universal'''. The traditional [[Pentecostal]] view is that every Christian should expect to be [[Baptism in the holy spirit|baptized in the Holy Spirit]], the distinctive mark of which is glossolalia.<ref name=ag-truths>{{Cite web|title=Statement of Fundamental Truths |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Statement_of_Fundamental_Truths/sft.pdf |author=[[Assemblies of God]] |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |year=1961 |accessdate=9 June 2009}}</ref> While most Protestants agree that baptism in the Holy Spirit is integral to being a Christian, others believe that it is not separable from [[Religious conversion|conversion]] and no longer marked by glossolalia. Pentecostals appeal to the declaration of the [[Apostle Peter]] at Pentecost, that "the gift of the Holy Spirit" was "for you and for your children and for all who are far off" ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:38-39]]). Cessationists reply that the gift of speaking in tongues was never for all ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 12|1 Cor 12:30]]). In response to those who say that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a separate experience from conversion, Pentecostals appeal to the question asked by the [[Apostle Paul]] to the Ephesian believers "Have ye received the Holy Ghost ''since'' ye believed?" ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 19|Acts 19:2]]).
* '''Universal'''. The traditional [[Pentecostal]] view is that every Christian should expect to be [[Baptism in the holy spirit|baptized in the Holy Spirit]], the distinctive mark of which is glossolalia.<ref name=ag-truths>{{cite web |title=Statement of Fundamental Truths |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Statement_of_Fundamental_Truths/sft.pdf |author=Assemblies of God |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |year=1961 |access-date=9 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619112828/http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/Statement_of_Fundamental_Truths/sft.pdf |archive-date=19 June 2006 |author-link=Assemblies of God}}</ref> While most Protestants agree that baptism in the Holy Spirit is integral to being a Christian, others<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christians.eu/holy-spirit-baptism/|title=Baptism with the Holy Spirit|work=christians.eu|date=22 July 2015}}</ref> believe that it is not separable from [[Religious conversion|conversion]] and no longer marked by glossolalia. Pentecostals appeal to the declaration of the [[Apostle Peter]] at Pentecost, that "the gift of the Holy Spirit" was "for you and for your children and for all who are far off" ([[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:38–39]]). Cessationists reply that the gift of speaking in tongues was never for all ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 12|1 Cor 12:30]]). In response to those who say that the baptism in the Holy Spirit be not a separate experience from conversion, Pentecostals appeal to the question asked by the [[Apostle Paul]] to the Ephesian believers "Have ye received the Holy Ghost ''since'' ye believed?" ([[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 19|Acts 19:2]]).
* '''One gift'''. Different aspects of speaking in tongues appear in Acts and 1 Corinthians, such that the [[Assemblies of God]] declare that the gift in Acts "is the same in essence as the gift of tongues" in 1 Corinthians "but different in purpose and use".<ref name=ag-truths/> They distinguish between (private) speech in tongues when receiving the gift of the Spirit, and (public) speech in tongues for the benefit of the church. Others assert that the gift in Acts was "not a different phenomenon" but the same gift being displayed under varying circumstances.<ref name=grudem1994p1073>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |authorlink=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1073 |isbn=978-0-85110-652-6 |oclc=29952151}}</ref> The same description - 'speaking in tongues' - is used in both Acts and 1 Corinthians, and in both cases the speech is in an unlearned language.
* '''One gift'''. Different aspects of speaking in tongues appear in Acts and 1 Corinthians, such that the [[Assemblies of God]] declare that the gift in Acts "is the same in essence as the gift of tongues" in 1 Corinthians "but different in purpose and use".<ref name=ag-truths/> They distinguish between (private) speech in tongues when receiving the gift of the Spirit, and (public) speech in tongues for the benefit of the church. Others assert that the gift in Acts was "not a different phenomenon" but the same gift being displayed under varying circumstances.<ref name=grudem1994p1073>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |author-link=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1073 |isbn=978-0851106526 |oclc=29952151}}</ref> The same description{{snd}}"speaking in tongues"{{snd}}is used in both Acts and 1 Corinthians, and in both cases the speech is in an unlearned language.
* '''Direction'''. The New Testament describes tongues largely as speech addressed to God, but also as something that can potentially be interpreted into human language, thereby "edifying the hearers" ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:5,13]]). At Pentecost and Caesarea the speakers were praising God ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:11]]; [[wikisource:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 10|10:46]]). Paul referred to praying, singing praise, and giving thanks in tongues ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:14-17]]), as well as to the interpretation of tongues([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:5]]), and instructed those speaking in tongues to pray for the ability to interpret their tongues so others could understand them ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:13]]). While some limit speaking in tongues to speech addressed to God - "prayer or praise",<ref name=grudem1994p1070/> others claim that speech in tongues is revelation from God to the church, and when interpreted into human language by those embued with the gift of interpretation of tongues for the benefit of others present, may be considered equivalent to prophecy.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Peter |last=Masters |coauthors=[[John C. Whitcomb]] |title=The Charismatic Phenomenon |publisher=Wakeman Trust |location=London |year=1988 |page=49 |isbn=978-1-870855-01-3 |oclc=20720229}}</ref>
* '''Direction'''. The New Testament describes tongues largely as speech addressed to God, but also as something that can potentially be interpreted into human language, thereby "edifying the hearers" ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:5, 13]]). At Pentecost and Caesarea the speakers were praising God ([[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 2|Acts 2:11]]; [[s:Bible (King James)/Acts#Chapter 10|10:46]]). Paul referred to praying, singing praise, and giving thanks in tongues ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:14–17]]), as well as to the [[{{PAGENAME}}#interpretation of tongues|interpretation of tongues]] ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:5]]), and instructed those speaking in tongues to pray for the ability to interpret their tongues so that others could understand them ([[s: Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:13]]). While some people limit speaking in tongues to speech addressed to God{{snd}}"prayer or praise",<ref name=grudem1994p1070/> others claim that speaking in tongues be the revelation from God to the church, and when interpreted into human language by those embued with the gift of interpretation of tongues for the benefit of others present, may be considered equivalent to prophecy.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Masters |author2=John C. Whitcomb |title=The Charismatic Phenomenon |publisher=Wakeman Trust |location=London |year=1988 |page=[https://archive.org/details/charismaticpheno0000mast/page/49 49] |isbn=978-1870855013 |oclc=20720229 |author2-link=John C. Whitcomb |url=https://archive.org/details/charismaticpheno0000mast/page/49 }}</ref>
* '''Music'''. Musical interludes of glossolalia are sometimes described as ''singing in the Spirit''. Some hold that singing in the Spirit is identified with singing in tongues in {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|14:13-19|KJV}},<ref>{{Cite book|first=Donald A. |last=Johns |chapter= |editors=Stanley M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee and Patrick H. Alexander |title=''[[Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements]]'' |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1988 |page=788 |isbn=978-0-310-44100-7 |oclc=18496801}} Cited by {{Cite web|first=Richard M. |last=Riss |url=http://www.pctii.org/arc/riss.html |title=Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements |date=28 July 1995 |accessdate=9 June 2009}}</ref> which they hold to be "spiritual or spirited singing", as opposed to "communicative or impactive singing" which Paul refers to as "singing with the understanding".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Delton L. |last=Alford |chapter= |editors=Stanley M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee and Patrick H. Alexander |title=Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1988 |page=690 |isbn=978-0-310-44100-7 |oclc=18496801}} Cited by {{Cite web|first=Richard M. |last=Riss |url=http://www.pctii.org/arc/riss.html |title=Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements |date=28 July 1995 |accessdate=9 June 2009}}</ref>
* '''Music'''. Musical interludes of glossolalia are sometimes described as [[singing in the Spirit]]. Some hold that singing in the Spirit is identified with singing in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:13–19,<ref>''Bible'' {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|14:13–19|KJV}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Donald A. |last=Johns |editor1=Stanley M. Burgess |editor2=Gary B. McGee |editor3=Patrick H. Alexander |title=''Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements'' |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1988 |page=788 |isbn=978-0310441007 |oclc=18496801|title-link=Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements}} Cited by {{cite web|first=Richard M. |last=Riss |url=http://www.pctii.org/arc/riss.html |title=Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements |date=28 July 1995 |access-date=9 June 2009}}</ref> which they hold to be "spiritual or spirited singing", as opposed to "communicative or impactive singing" which Paul refers to as "singing with the understanding".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Delton L. |last=Alford |editor1=Stanley M. Burgess |editor2=Gary B. McGee |editor3=Patrick H. Alexander |title=Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements |publisher=[[Zondervan]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1988 |page=690 |isbn=978-0310441007 |oclc=18496801}} Cited by {{cite web|first=Richard M. |last=Riss |url=http://www.pctii.org/arc/riss.html |title=Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements |date=28 July 1995 |access-date=9 June 2009}}</ref>
* '''Sign for unbelievers''' ([[wikisource:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:22]]). Some assume that tongues are "a sign for unbelievers that they might believe",<ref>{{Cite web|title=Questions about Tongues |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/baptmhs_faq_tongues.cfm |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |year=2009 |accessdate=10 June 2009}}</ref> and so advocate it as a means of evangelism. Others point out that Paul quotes Isaiah to show that "when God speaks to people in language they cannot understand, it is quite evidently a sign of God's judgment"; so if unbelievers are baffled by a church service they cannot understand because tongues are spoken without being interpreted, that is a "sign of God's attitude", "a sign of judgment".<ref name=grudem1994p1075>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |authorlink=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1075 |isbn=978-0-85110-652-6 |oclc=29952151}}</ref>
* '''Sign for unbelievers''' ([[s:Bible (King James)/1 Corinthians#Chapter 14|1 Cor 14:22]]). Some assume that tongues are "a sign for unbelievers that they might believe",<ref>{{cite web |title=Questions about Tongues |url=http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/baptmhs_faq_tongues.cfm |publisher=[[General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States]] |year=2009 |access-date=10 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613065932/http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/baptmhs_faq_tongues.cfm |archive-date=13 June 2006}}</ref> and so advocate it as a means of evangelism. Others point out that Paul quotes Isaiah to show that "when God speaks to people in language they cannot understand, it is quite evidently a sign of God's judgment"; so if unbelievers are baffled by a church service they cannot understand because tongues are spoken without being interpreted, that is a "sign of God's attitude", "a sign of judgment".<ref name=grudem1994p1075>{{Cite book|first=Wayne A. |last=Grudem |author-link=Wayne Grudem |title=Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine |publisher=[[Inter-Varsity Press]] |location=[[Leicester]] |year=1994 |page=1075 |isbn=978-0851106526 |oclc=29952151}}</ref> Some identify the tongues in Acts 2 as the primary example of tongues as signs for unbelievers.
* '''Comprehension'''. Some say that speech in tongues was "not understood by the speaker"<ref name=grudem1994p1070/> Others assert that "the tongues-speaker normally understood his own foreign-language message".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Peter |last=Masters |coauthors=[[John C. Whitcomb]] |title=The Charismatic Phenomenon |publisher=Wakeman Trust |location=London |year=1988 |page=106 |isbn=978-1-870855-01-3 |oclc=20720229}}</ref> This last comment seems to have been made by someone confusing the "gift of tongues" with the "gift of the interpretation of tongues, which is specified as a different gift in the New Testament, but one that can be given to a person who also has the gift of tongues. In that case, a person understands a message in tongues that he has previously spoken in an unknown language."{{Cite quote|date=July 2009}} This is considered "not an uncommon phenomenon in charismatic churches."<ref name="Personal Interview with Deborah Cox"/>
* '''Comprehension'''. Some say that speaking in tongues was "not understood by the speaker".<ref name=grudem1994p1070/> Others assert that "the tongues-speaker normally understood his own foreign-language message".<ref>{{Cite book |first=Peter |last=Masters |author2=John C. Whitcomb |title=The Charismatic Phenomenon |publisher=Wakeman Trust |location=London |year=1988 |page=[https://archive.org/details/charismaticpheno0000mast/page/106 106] |isbn=978-1870855013 |oclc=20720229 |author2-link=John C. Whitcomb |url=https://archive.org/details/charismaticpheno0000mast/page/106}}</ref> This last comment seems to have been made by someone confusing the "gift of tongues" with the "gift of the interpretation of tongues" , which is specified as a different gift in the New Testament, but one that can be given to a person who also has the gift of tongues. In that case, a person understands a message in tongues that he has previously spoken in an unknown language.


===Pentecostal and charismatic practices===
==Church practice==
{{Pentecostalism |key beliefs}}
===A.D. 100 to 400===
[[Baptism with the Holy Spirit]] is regarded by the [[Christian perfection#Holiness Pentecostalism|Holiness Pentecostals]] as being the third work of grace, following the [[born again|new birth]] ([[first work of grace]]) and [[entire sanctification]] ([[second work of grace]]).<ref name="TWTHS2002">{{cite book|title=The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers – Issue 56 |year=2002|publisher=West Tennessee Historical Society.|language=en|page=41|quote=Seymour's holiness background suggests that Pentecostalism had roots in the holiness movement of the late nineteenth century. The holiness movement embraced the Wesleyan doctrine of "sanctification" or the second work of grace, subsequent to conversion. Pentecostalism added a third work of grace, called the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is often accompanied by glossolalia.}}</ref><ref name="FahlbuschBromiley1999"/> Holiness Pentecostals teach that this third work of grace is accompanied with glossolalia.<ref name="TWTHS2002"/><ref name="FahlbuschBromiley1999"/>
20th century [[Pentecostal]]ism was not the earliest instance of "speaking in tongues" in [[church history]], but earlier examples are few; in church history and writing after the New Testament, it had never been regarded as orthodox until the rise of Pentecostalism.


Because Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs are not monolithic, there is not complete theological agreement on speaking in tongues.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Generally, followers believe that speaking in tongues is a [[spiritual gift]] that can be manifested as either a human language or a heavenly supernatural language in three ways:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Casanova |first1=Amanda |title=10 Things Christians Should Know about the Pentecostal Church |url=https://www.christianity.com/church/denominations/10-things-christians-should-know-about-pentecostalism.html |website=Christianity.com |access-date=2 December 2019 |date=6 April 2018}}</ref>
References to speaking in tongues by the [[Church fathers]] are rare. Except for Irenaeus' 2nd-century reference to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages 'through the Spirit', and Tertullian's reference in 207 AD to the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues being encountered in his day, there are no other known first-hand accounts of glossolalia, and very few second-hand accounts among their writings.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Benjamin B. |last=Warfield |authorlink=Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield |year=1918 |title=Counterfeit Miracles |location=New York |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |oclc=3977281 |page=[http://books.google.com/books?id=DWgrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10 10] |quote=The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers contain no clear and certain allusions to miracle working or to the exercise of the charismatic gifts, contemporaneously with themselves.|isbn=085151166X}}</ref>
* The "sign of tongues" refers to [[xenoglossia]], wherein followers believe someone is speaking a language they have never learned.
* The "gift of tongues" refers to a glossolalic utterance spoken by an individual and addressed to a congregation of, typically, other believers.
* "Praying in the spirit" is typically used to refer to glossolalia as part of personal prayer.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wright |first1=N. T. |title=Acts for Everyone, Part One |date=2008 |publisher=Louisville: WJK |pages=210–211}}</ref>
Many Pentecostals and charismatics quote Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14 which established guidelines on the public use of glossolalia in the church at Corinth although the exegesis of this passage and the extent to which these instructions are followed is a matter of academic debate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Richardson |first1=William Edwin |title=Liturgical Order and Glossolalia. 1 Corinthians 14:26c–33a and its Implications |url=https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1137&context=dissertations |website=Andrews University |access-date=2 December 2019 |date=June 1983}}</ref>


The gift of tongues is often referred to as a "message in tongues".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pentecostal Experience|last=Gee|first=Donald|publisher=Gospel Publishing House|year=1993|isbn=978-0882434544|location=Springfield, MO|page=154}}</ref> Practitioners believe that this use of glossolalia requires an interpretation so that the gathered congregation can understand the message, which is accomplished by the [[interpretation of tongues]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} There are two schools of thought concerning the nature of a message in tongues:
What we do have are general remarks that Christ had given the [[gifts of the Spirit]] to the church, and that the gifts in general remained in the church.
* One school of thought believes it is always directed ''to'' God as prayer, praise, or thanksgiving but is spoken in for the hearing and edification of the congregation.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
<blockquote>
* The other school of thought believes that a message in tongues can be a prophetic utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Signs of the Apostles|last=Chantry|first=Walter J.|publisher=Banner of Truth Trust|year=1973|isbn=978-0851511757|location=Edinburgh, Scotland|pages=22–23}}</ref> In this case, the speaker delivers a message to the congregation on behalf of God.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to this present time. ([[Justin Martyr]], c.150)<ref>Justin Martyr, ''Dialogue with Trypho'', [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/JUSTIN MARTYR/Dialogue with Trypho/Chapter LXXXII.|Chapter 82]].</ref>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Now, it is possible to see amongst us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God. ([[Justin Martyr]], c.150)<ref>Justin Martyr, ''Dialogue with Trypho'', [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/JUSTIN MARTYR/Dialogue with Trypho/Chapter LXXXVIII.|Chapter 88]].</ref>
</blockquote>
The Fathers also recount the lists of gifts of the Spirit recorded in the [[New Testament]].
<blockquote>
This is He who places prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, often discrimination of spirits, affords powers of government, suggests counsels, and orders and arranges whatever other gifts there are of charismata; and thus make the Lord’s Church everywhere, and in all, perfected and completed. ([[Novatian]], c.200-c.258)<ref>Novatian, ''Treatise Concerning the Trinity'', Chapter 29.</ref>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
For God hath set same in the Church, first apostles…secondly prophets…thirdly teachers…next mighty works, among which are the healing of diseases… and gifts of either speaking or interpreting divers kinds of tongues. Clearly these are the Church’s agents of ministry and work of whom the body of Christ consists; and God has ordained them. ([[Hilary of Poitiers]], 360)<ref>Hilary of Poitiers, ''On the Trinity'', Vol 8 Chap 33</ref>
</blockquote>
There is one instance of a Father apparently recording that he had heard some in the church speaking all kinds of languages through the Spirit:
<blockquote>
In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God. ([[Irenaeus]], c.180)<ref>Irenaeus, ''Against Heresies'', Book V, [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume I/IRENAEUS/Against Heresies: Book V/Chapter VI.|Chapter VI]].</ref>
</blockquote>


In addition to praying in the Spirit, many Pentecostal and charismatic churches practice what is known as [[singing in the Spirit]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mookgo S. Kgatle |title=Singing as a therapeutic agent in Pentecostal worship |journal=Verbum et Ecclesia |year=2019 |volume=40 |issue=1 |doi=10.4102/ve.v40i1.1910 |s2cid=150696864 |doi-access=free |hdl=10500/26433 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Harper |first1=Michael |title=Releasing the Spirit: the Pentecostals |url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-9/releasing-spirit-pentecostals.html |website=Christianity Today |date=January 1986 |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Religion – Christianity – Pentecostalism |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/pentecostal_1.shtml |website=BBC |access-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>
Tertullian in an anti-heretical apologetic alludes to instances of the 'interpretation of tongues' as one among several examples of 'spiritual gifts' common enough in his day to be easily encountered and provide evidence that God was at work in the church:
<blockquote>
Let Marcion then exhibit, as gifts of his god, some prophets, such as have not spoken by human sense, but with the Spirit of God, such as have both predicted things to come, and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; let him produce a psalm, a vision, a prayer -- only let it be by the Spirit, in an ecstasy, that is, in a rapture, whenever an interpretation of tongues has occurred to him; let him show to me also, that any woman of boastful tongue in his community has ever prophesied from amongst those specially holy sisters of his. Now all these signs (of spiritual gifts) are forthcoming from my side without any difficulty, and they agree, too, with the rules, and the dispensations, and the instructions of the Creator; therefore without doubt the Christ, and the Spirit, and the apostle, belong severally to my God. Here, then, is my frank avowal for any one who cares to require it. ([[Tertullian]], c.207)<ref>Tertullian, ''Against Marcion'', Book V, Chapter VIII, [[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Anti-Marcion/The Five Books Against Marcion/Book V/VIII]].</ref>
</blockquote>


===Interpretation of tongues===
There were unorthodox movements that may have engaged in glossolalia. For example, [[Montanism|Montanus]] was accused (by his opponents) of ecstatic speech that some have equated to glossolalia:
{{anchor|Interpretation of tongues}}
<blockquote>
In [[Christian theology]], the ''interpretation of tongues'' is one of the [[spiritual gift]]s listed in [[1 Corinthians 12]]. This gift is used in conjunction with that of the gift of tongues{{snd}}the [[supernatural]] ability to speak in a language (tongue) unknown to the speaker. The gift of interpretation is the supernatural enablement to express in an intelligible language an utterance spoken in an unknown tongue. This is not learned but imparted by the [[Holy Spirit (Christianity)|Holy Spirit]]; therefore, it should not be confused with the acquired skill of [[language interpretation]]. While [[Cessationism|cessationist]] Christians believe that this miraculous [[charism]] has ceased, [[Charismatic Movement|Charismatic]] and [[Pentecostal]] Christians believe that this gift continues to operate within the [[Christian Church|church]].<ref name=foundations>Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, ''Foundations of Pentecostal Theology'', 1983, (Los Angeles: Foursquare Media, 2008), pp. 342–343.</ref> Much of what is known about this gift was recorded by [[St. Paul]] in [[1 Corinthians 14]]. In this passage, guidelines for the proper use of the gift of tongues were given. In order for the gift of tongues to be beneficial to the edification of the church, such supernatural utterances were to be interpreted into the language of the gathered Christians. If no one among the gathered Christians possessed the gift of interpretation, then the gift of tongues was not to be publicly exercised. Those possessing the gift of tongues were encouraged to pray for the ability to interpret.<ref name=foundations/>
He became possessed of a spirit, and suddenly began to rave in a kind of ecstatic trance, and to babble in a jargon, prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church which had been handed down by tradition from the earliest times. ([[Eusebius]], d.c.339)<ref>Eusebius, ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', V,17,3</ref>
</blockquote>
Their hostility to such a practice demonstrates that the mainstream (the anti-Montanists) regarded it as false, and would never have practised it. Indeed, "after the first or perhaps the second century, there is not record of it in any Orthodox source, and it is not recorded as occurring even among the great Fathers of the Egyptian desert, who were so filled with the Spirit of God they performed numerous astonishing miracles, including raising the dead".<ref>Fr. Seraphim Rose, ''Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future'', p.125.</ref>


==Non-Christian practice==
However, Eusebius' words demonstrate that he still regards the gift of prophesying as being a normal part of church life, so he is clearly not a cessationist.
Other religious groups have been observed to practice some form of theopneustic glossolalia. It is perhaps most commonly in [[Paganism]], [[Shamanism]], and other [[mediumistic]] religious practices.<ref name=Rose1997 /> In Japan, the [[Shinji Takahashi (religious leader)#God Light Association|God Light Association]] believed that glossolalia could cause adherents to recall past lives.<ref name="Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Me"/>


Glossolalia has been postulated as an explanation for the [[Voynich manuscript]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Gerry Kennedy, Rob Churchill|title=The Voynich Manuscript|location=London|publisher=Orion|year=2004|isbn=978-0752859965}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}</ref>
[[Chrysostom]] regarded the whole phenomenon of 'speaking in tongues' as not only something that was not practised in his own day, but was even obscure.
<blockquote>
This whole phenomenon [of speaking in tongues] is very obscure, but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such then as used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity hath produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more? ([[Chrysostom]], 344-407)<ref>Chrystostom, ''Homilies on First Corinthians'', xxix, 1</ref>
</blockquote>


In the 19th century, [[Kardecist spiritism|Spiritism]] was developed by the work of [[Allan Kardec]], and the practice was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of [[xenoglossia]].
Chrysostom's objection is easily answered: At that time, there was a great lack of biblical teaching on the subject of spiritual gifts. {{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} In just the same way, Paul found disciples in Ephesus who had not received any teaching on receiving the Holy Spirit. But as soon as the correct teaching and the anointing were received, the gifts were immediately manifest. (Acts 19:1-7)


==Medical research==
[[Augustine of Hippo]] regarded speaking in tongues (that is, xenoglossia) as a gift for the apostolic church alone, and argued that this was evident from the fact that his contemporaries did not see people receiving that gift in their own day.
In most cases tongues speakers have no underlying neuropsychiatric disorder precipitating the manifestations, although it rarely occurs in neurogenic conditions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mendez|first=Mario F.|date=2018-01-01|title=Non-Neurogenic Language Disorders: A Preliminary Classification|journal=Psychosomatics|volume=59|issue=1|pages=28–35|doi=10.1016/j.psym.2017.08.006|issn=0033-3182|pmc=5748000|pmid=28911819}}</ref> Speakers report finding personal meaning in the utterances, although they are unintelligible and have no linguistic structure. The link to psychopathology has been disproven - tongues speakers are not over-representend in those with depression or psychosis, nor other disorders and one study found tongues speaking negatively associated with neuroticism - emotional stability was greater amongst the speakers.<ref name=":1" />{{rp|69}} Nevertheless the language spoken by the speakers is devoid of semantic meaning, although the utterances appear to be derived from the language of the speaker.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=Rulon |title=William J. Samarin. Tongues of Men and Angels. The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. (New York, Macmillan, and London, Collier-Macmillan Ltd, 1972.) $7.95. |journal=Religious Studies |date=December 1973 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=503–506 |doi=10.1017/S0034412500007307 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/william-j-samarin-tongues-of-men-and-angels-the-religious-language-of-pentecostalism-new-york-macmillan-and-london-colliermacmillan-ltd-1972-795/F867AAB256A2B00DD87B2A9041FC6E93 |language=en |issn=1469-901X}}</ref>{{rp|505}} Studies have thus suggested this could be learned behaviour by the speakers.<ref> {{cite journal |last1=Spanos |first1=Nicholas P. |last2=Cross |first2=Wendy P. |last3=Lepage |first3=Mark |last4=Coristine |first4=Marjorie |title=Glossolalia as learned behavior: An experimental demonstration. |journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology |date=1986 |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=21–23 |doi=10.1037//0021-843X.95.1.21}}</ref>
<blockquote>
In the earliest times, "the Holy Ghost fell upon them that believed: and they spake with tongues", which they had not learned, "as the Spirit gave them utterance". These were signs adapted to the time. For there behooved to be that betokening of the Holy Spirit in all tongues, to shew that the Gospel of God was to run through all tongues over the whole earth. That thing was done for a betokening, and it passed away. In the laying on of hands now, that persons may receive the Holy Ghost, do we look that they should speak with tongues? Or when he laid the hand on infants, did each one of you look to see whether they would speak with tongues, and, when he saw that they did not speak with tongues, was any of you so strong-minded as to say, These have not received the Holy Ghost; for, had they received, they would speak with tongues as was the case in those times? If then the witness of the presence of the Holy Ghost be not given through these miracles, by what is it given, by what does one get to know that he has received the Holy Ghost? Let him question his own heart. If he love his brother, the Spirit of God dwelleth in him. ([[Augustine of Hippo]], 354-430)<ref>Augustine, ''Homilies on the Gospel of John 6:10'', in ''The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'' [7:497-98]</ref>
</blockquote>


[[Neuroimaging]] of brain activity during glossolalia does not show activity in the language areas of the brain.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Newberg|first1=Andrew B.|last2=Wintering|first2=Nancy A.|last3=Morgan|first3=Donna|last4=Waldman|first4=Mark R.|date=2006-11-22|title=The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study|journal=Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging|volume=148|issue=1|pages=67–71|doi=10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.07.001|pmid=17046214|s2cid=17079826|issn=0925-4927}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2006/october/language-center-of-the-brain-i|title=Language Center of the Brain Is Not Under the Control of Subjects Who "Speak in Tongues" – PR News|website=www.pennmedicine.org|access-date=January 15, 2019}}</ref> In other words, it may be characterized by a specific brain activity.<ref name="Am J Speech Lang Patho_24_4_2015">{{cite journal|first1=Ray D.|last1= Kent|title=Nonspeech Oral Movements and Oral Motor Disorders: A Narrative Review|journal=Am J Speech Lang Pathol|date=November 1, 2015|volume= 24|issue=4|pages=763–789|pmc=4698470|pmid= 26126128|doi=10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0179|issn=1058-0360|oclc=8146899752}} (at Appendix A)</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cave |first1=David Sachs |last2=Norris|first2= Rebecca|url=https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/45980|title=Religion and the Body. Modern Science and the Construction of Religious Meaning|doi=10.1163/9789004225343|publisher=Brill|year=2012|hdl=20.500.12657/45980 |isbn=9789004225343 |access-date=April 16, 2021|oclc= 1238010307}}</ref>
===A.D. 400 to 1900===
*5th century St. Patrick of Ireland ({{circa|387–493}}) in his "Confessio" called "The Confession of St. Patrick," records hearing a strange language being prayed by the Holy Spirit in a dream"
St. Patrick says in his book: "And another night– God knows, I do not, whether within me or beside me– most words which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech it was represented thus: 'He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.' And thus I awoke, joyful."<ref name=patrick-confessio24-25>Saint Patrick. ''Confessio'', sections 24 and 25</ref> (Compare this to what Saint Paul says in 1 Cor. 14:4.).<ref name="Personal Interview with Deborah Cox"/>


A 1973 experimental study highlighted the existence of two basic types of glossolalia: a static form which tends to a somewhat [[Repetition compulsion|coaction to repetitiveness]] and a more dynamic one which tends to [[Free association (psychology)|free association]] of speech-like elements.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=H A Osser |author2=P F Ostwald |author3=B Macwhinney |author4= R L Casey |title=Glossolalic speech from a psycholinguistic perspective |journal=J Psycholinguist Res |date=March 1, 1973 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=9–19 |doi=10.1007/BF01067109 |pmid=24197793 |s2cid=36005466 |issn=0090-6905
'And on a second occasion I saw Him praying within me, and I was as it were, inside my own body , and I heard Him above me—that is, above my inner self. He was praying powerfully with sighs. And in the course of this I was astonished and wondering, and I pondered who it could be who was praying within me. But at the end of the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the Spirit. And so I awoke and remembered the Apostle's words: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance [Romans 8:26]." And again: "The Lord our advocate intercedes for us [Romans 8:27]."<ref name=patrick-confessio24-25/> Some Charismatic Christians consider this a dream concerning the experience of speaking in tongues.<ref name="Personal Interview with Deborah Cox"/>
|oclc=4664154487}}</ref><ref name="Am J Speech Lang Patho_24_4_2015" />


A study done by the ''American Journal of Human Biology'' found that speaking in tongues is associated with both a reduction in circulatory cortisol, and enhancements in alpha-amylase enzyme activity{{snd}}two common biomarkers of stress reduction that can be measured in saliva.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lynn|first1=Christopher Dana|last2=Paris|first2=Jason|last3=Frye |first3=Cheryl Anne|last4=Schell|first4=Lawrence M.|date=2010|title=Salivary Alpha-Amylase and Cortisol Among Pentecostals on a Worship and Nonworship Day|journal=American Journal of Human Biology|volume=22|issue=6|pages=819–822|doi=10.1002/ajhb.21088|issn=1042-0533|pmc=3609410|pmid=20878966}}</ref> Several sociological studies report various social benefits of engaging in Pentecostal glossolalia,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Culture and personality aspects of the Pentecostal holiness religion|last=Wood|first=William W.|date=1965|publisher=Mouton (IS) |oclc=797731718}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Hine|first=Virginia H.|date=1969|title=Pentecostal Glossolalia toward a Functional Interpretation|journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion|volume=8|issue=2|pages=211–226|doi=10.2307/1384335|issn=0021-8294|jstor=1384335}}</ref> such as an increase in self-confidence.<ref name=":0" />
*12th century– [[Bernard Clairvaux|Bernard of Clairvaux]], commenting on Mark 16:17 ("they will speak in new tongues"), asked: "For who is there that seems to have these signs of the faith, without which no one, according to this Scripture, shall be saved?"<ref>Bernard, Serm. i. de Ascens., 2</ref> He explained that these signs were no longer present because there were greater miracles– the transformed lives of believers.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
* 12th century– [[Hildegard of Bingen]] is reputed to have spoken and sung in tongues. Her spiritual songs were referred to by contemporaries as "concerts in the Spirit."{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
* 1265– [[Thomas Aquinas]] wrote about the gift of tongues in the New Testament, which he understood to be an ability to speak every language, given for the purposes of missionary work. He explained that Christ did not have this gift because his mission was to the Jews, "nor does each one of the faithful now speak save in one tongue"; for "no one speaks in the tongues of all nations, because the Church herself already speaks the languages of all nations".<ref>[[Thomas Aquinas]], ''[[Summa Theologica]]'', Question 176.</ref>
* 14th century– The [[Moravian Church|Moravians]] are referred to by detractors as having spoken in tongues. John Roche, a contemporary critic, claimed that the Moravians "commonly broke into some disconnected Jargon, which they often passed upon the vulgar, 'as the exuberant and resistless Evacuations of the Spirit'".<ref>{{Cite book|first=Stanley M. |last=Burgess |chapter=Medieval and Modern Western Churches |editors=Gary B. McGee |title=Initial evidence: historical and biblical perspectives on the Pentecostal doctrine of spirit baptism |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |location=[[Peabody, Massachusetts]] |year=1991 |page=32 |isbn=978-0-943575-41-4 |oclc=24380326}}</ref>
* 17th century– The French Prophets: The [[Camisards]] also spoke sometimes in languages that were unknown: "Several persons of both Sexes," James Du Bois of Montpellier recalled, "I have heard in their Extasies pronounce certain words, which seem'd to the Standers-by, to be some Foreign Language." These utterances were sometimes accompanied by the gift of interpretation exercised, in Du Bois' experience, by the same person who had spoken in tongues.<ref>{{Cite book|first=John |last=Lacy |year=1707 |title=A Cry from the Desert |oclc=81008302 |page=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Michael Pollock |last=Hamilton |title=The charismatic movement |publisher=[[William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company]] |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |year=1975 |page=75 |isbn=978-0-8028-3453-9 |oclc=1008209}}</ref>
* 17th century– Early [[Quakers]], such as [[Edward Burrough]], make mention of tongues speaking in their meetings: "We spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us".<ref>[[Edward Burrough|Burrough, Edward]] (1831) [1659]. "Epistle to the Reader" in [[George Fox|Fox, George]]. ''The great mystery of the great whore unfolded; and Antichrist's kingdom revealed unto destruction''. ''The Works of George Fox''. '''3'''. p.&nbsp;[http://books.google.com/books?id=OUBUXRr-y-4C&pg=PA13 13]. {{OCLC|12877488}}.</ref>
* 1817– In Germany, [[Gustav von Below]], an aristocratic officer of the Prussian Guard, and his brothers, founded a charismatic movement based on their estates in Pomerania, which may have included speaking in tongues.{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}}
* 19th century– [[Edward Irving]] and the [[Catholic Apostolic Church]]. Edward Irving, a minister in the Church of Scotland, writes of a woman who would "speak at great length, and with superhuman strength, in an unknown tongue, to the great astonishment of all who heard, and to her own great edification and enjoyment in God".<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Edward |last=Irving |authorlink=Edward Irving |month=January |year=1832 |title=Facts Connected With Recent Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts |url=http://books.google.com/?id=mFPPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA754&lpg=PA754 |journal=[[Fraser's Magazine]] |volume=4 |issue=24 |pages=754–761 |accessdate=9 June 2009}}</ref> Irving further stated that "tongues are a great instrument for personal edification, however mysterious it may seem to us."{{Cite quote|date=June 2009}}
* 19th century– The history of the [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] (LDS Church), contains extensive references to the phenomenon of speaking in tongues by [[Brigham Young]], [[Joseph Smith]] and many others.<ref>http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin/tongue1.htm{{Verify credibility|date=June 2009}}</ref><ref>http://www.mormonwiki.com/Speaking_in_Tongues{{Verify credibility|date=June 2009}}</ref> [[Sidney Rigdon]] will have disagreements with [[Alexander Campbell (clergyman)|Alexander Campbell]] regarding speaking in tongues, and latter joins the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The [[Latter Day Saint]]s embrace speaking in Tongues and the Interpretation of tongues. At the 1836 dedication of the [[Kirtland Temple]] the dedicatory prayer asks that God grant them the gift of tongues and at the end of the service [[Brigham Young]] speaks in tongues, another elder interprets it and then gives his own exhortation in tongues. Many other worship experiences in the Kirtland Temple prior to and after the dedication included references to people speaking and interpreting tongues. In describing the beliefs of the church in the [[Wentworth letter]], Joseph Smith will identify a belief of the "gift of tongues" and "interpretation of tongues".


As of April 2021, further studies are needed to corroborate the 1980s view of glossolaly with more sensitive measures of outcome, by using the more recent techniques of neuroimaging.<ref name="Am J Speech Lang Patho_24_4_2015" /> {{better source needed|date=January 2022}}
===1901 to 1906===
{{Main|Azusa Street Revival}}
The modern Pentecostal Christian practice of glossolalia is often said to have originated around the beginning of the 20th century in the United States. The city of [[Topeka, Kansas]] is often cited as the center of the Pentecostal movement and the resurgence of glossolalia in the Church. [[Charles Fox Parham]], a [[Holiness Movement|holiness]] preacher and founder of [[Bethel Bible College]] in 1900, is given credit for being the one who influenced modern [[Pentecostalism]]. During what has been called a sermon by Parham, a bold student named [[Agnes Ozman]] asked him for prayer and the [[laying on of hands]] to specifically ask God to fill her with the [[Holy Spirit]]. This was the night of New Year's Eve, 1900. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, coincidentally in the first hours of the 20th century. Parham followed within the next few days, and before the end of January 1901, glossolalia was being discussed in newspapers as a sign of the second advent of Pentecost.

Parham now found himself as the leader of the movement and traveled to church meetings around the country to preach [in the terminology of that era] about ''[[Holiness movement|holiness]],'' ''[[divine healing]],'' ''healing by faith,'' the ''laying on of hands and prayer,'' ''[[sanctification]] by faith,'' and the signs of ''[[baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire]],'' the most prominent being ''speaking in tongues''.<ref>http://www.originalapostolicfaith.org/1900AFRVol2No3.pdf ''The Apostolic Faith,'' Volume 2, No. 3, 1 January 1900.</ref><ref>[http://www.originalapostolicfaith.org/our_history.htm Our History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.godsgenerals.com/person_c_parham.htm God's Generals | Christian History<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Word of the outpouring of the Spirit spread to other Holiness congregations. Parham wrote, studied, traveled, preached, and taught about glossolalia for the next few years. Parham and others who believed in or manifested tongues were persecuted from both inside and outside of the church. In 1905, he opened a Bible school in Houston. It was there that [[William J. Seymour]] became indoctrinated. It is notable that Seymour was black, and Parham was white. It is further notable that Seymour did not speak in tongues while in Houston.

When Seymour was invited to speak in Los Angeles about the baptism of the Holy Spirit in February 1906, he accepted. His first speaking engagement was met with dispute, primarily because he preached about "tongues" being a primary indication of the baptism of the Spirit, yet he did not himself speak in tongues. It was not until April that his preaching and teaching about glossolalia paid dividends, first to a man named Edward Lee, and later to Seymour. Similar to the experience of Parham in 1901, Seymour's students received the ability to speak in tongues a few days before he did.

[[Image:026 la times.gif|right|thumb|290px|Headline about the "Weird babel of tongues" and other behavior at Azusa Street, from a 1906 [[Los Angeles Times]] newspaper.]] By May 1906, indeed only one month after the Great [[San Francisco Earthquake]] which was seen as an "act of God", Seymour was leading a major movement of the Spirit known as the [[Azusa Street Revival]] in Los Angeles. It has been characterized as an [[inter-denominational]], inter-racial, inter-sex [[Pentecostal]] [[Revival meeting|revival]] during a time in the United States in which women and non-whites were not afforded the same [[civil rights]] as white men. People from many denominations and [[Race (classification of human beings)|races]] gathered daily to see and hear, to preach and pray, to sing and shout, and to speak in new tongues. Newspapers, clearly biased against the movement, reported the happenings as a wild and weird group of mostly "colored" people acting as if they were pretty disturbed, exhibiting behavior unheard of in most [[Protestant]] churches of the time: intense shouting, vigorous jerking, dancing, passing out, crying, howling, emotional outbursts, and speaking gibberish. Many religious leaders in Los Angeles and other places were quick to disparage the goings on at Azusa Street, informing their flocks that the new Pentecostal movement was (at worst) sensational, [[Satanism|Satanic]], [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|Spiritualism]], and (at best) too overly focused on the [[Holy Spirit]] instead of [[Jesus Christ]]. The matter of glossolalia was then (as it is now) hotly debated within the Church as being either [[heresy]] or exemplary and necessary for a spiritual rebirth in Jesus Christ.

Witnesses at the Azusa Street Revival wrote of seeing fire resting on the heads of participants, miraculous healings in the meetings, and incidents of speaking in tongues being understood by native speakers of the language. According to the first issue of William Seymore's newsletter, "The Apostolic Faith," from 1906:
{{Cquote|A Mohammedan, a Soudanese by birth, a &#x5b;m]an who is an interpreter and speaks six&#x5b;t]een languages, came into the meetings at Azusa Street and the Lord gave him messages which none but himself could understand. He identified, interpreted and wrote &#x5b;a] number of the languages.<ref>Square brackets indicate faded parts that are no longer readable.</ref>}}

Parham and his early followers believed that speaking in tongues was xenoglossia, and some followers traveled to foreign countries and tried to use the gift to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking people. These attempts consistently resulted in failure and many of Parham's followers rejected his teachings after being disillusioned with their attempts to speak unlearned foreign languages. Despite these setbacks, belief in xenoglossia persisted into the latter half of the 20th century among Pentecostal groups.<ref>Faupel, D. William. GLOSSOLALIA AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE:
AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY PENTECOSTAL CLAIM. [http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/31-35/31-1-05.htm]</ref>

===1906 to present===
The revival at Azusa Street lasted until around 1915. But from it grew many new Protestant splinter groups and denominations, as people visited the services in Los Angeles and took their new found beliefs to communities around the US and abroad. Many denominations rejected the doctrines of Parham and Seymour, while some denominations adopted them in one form or another. [[Baptism of the Holy Spirit]] was a doctrine that was embraced by the [[Assemblies of God]] (est. 1914) and [[Pentecostal Church of God]] (est. 1919) and others. Glossolalia became entrenched into the doctrines of many [[Protestant]] sects and [[Christian denomination|denominations]] in the 20th century. The later [[Charismatic movement]] was heavily influenced by the [[Azusa Street Revival]] and [[Pentecostalism]]'s glossolalia.

Some Christians practice glossolalia as a part of their private devotions; some accept and sometimes promote the use of glossolalia within corporate worship. This is particularly true within the [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] and [[Charismatic movement|Charismatic]] traditions. Both Pentecostals and Charismatics believe that the ability to speak in tongues, and sometimes the utterance itself, is a supernatural gift from God.

On ''singing in the Spirit'', [[Donald Hustad]] describes a pattern observed in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches in which, during worship, someone begins to utter musical sounds, which may or may not have recognizable words. Other members of the congregation join in and, although there is no particular effort to match the pitch or the words, the overall effect is harmonious. "It is as if the strings of a huge [[Aeolian harp]] have been set in motion by the wind of the [[Holy Spirit]]. The strangely-beautiful sound rises in volume, lasts for a longer or shorter period, and then gradually dies away."<ref>[[Donald Hustad]], "The Historical Roots of Music in the Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal Movements", ''The Hymn: A Journal Of Congregational Song'' 38 (January 1987), p7. Cited by Richard M. Riss in [http://www.pctii.org/arc/riss.html "Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements"], paper delivered at a conference sponsored by the North American Renewal Service Committee, Orlando, 28 July 1995.</ref>

Three different manifestations or forms of glossolalia can be identified in Charismatic / Pentecostal belief. The "sign of tongues" refers to [[xenoglossia]], wherein one speaks a foreign language he has never learned. The "gift of tongues" or "giving a tongue" refers to a glossolalic utterance by an individual and addressed to a congregation of, typically, other believers. This utterance is believed to be inspired directly by the [[Holy Spirit]] and requires a natural language interpretation, made by the speaker or another person if it is to be understood by others present. Lastly "praying in the spirit" is typically used to refer to glossolalia as part of personal prayer.

Historically, Pentecostals have viewed speaking in tongues as genuine languages. This was the view of the leaders of the Azusa Street revival. In I Corinthians 13:1, Paul writes, "Though I speak in the tongues of men and of angels...." Pentecostals have historically believed that tongues can be a language of men or of angels. In the case that a language is the language of men, some disciplines would call this [[xenoglossia]], though Christians who believe in these gifts would refer to them as glossalalia because that is the New Testament Greek term used to refer to the manifestation. Some groups of Pentecostals and Charismatics have come to emphasize the idea of speaking in the language of angels and consider most tongues to be languages that is not comprehensible to human beings.

There have been many testimonies and anecdotal accounts in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches of people hearing speaking in tongues and recognizing it as their own language. There have also been occasions where an onlooker would understand the language and identify the interpretation of the tongues to be accurate. In 1971, Paul Harris wrote a book entitled [[Spoken by the Spirit]] which contained 70 accounts of people speaking in tongues understood by the listeners.

There is some variety of belief among Pentecostals and Charismatics regarding the need for interpretation of tongues. Some Pentecostals and Charismatics teach that if there is no interpreter, that a speaker in tongues must be silent in church meetings in accordance with I Corinthians 14:27-28. Others practice speaking in tongues all at one time in the church meeting. The gift of interpretation of tongues is widely exercised in some Pentecostal and Charismatic churches.

After a message is spoken in tongues, someone interprets the tongue. In some cases, two people in the congregation receive the same interpretation, and one person speaks it out.

The discussion regarding tongues has permeated many branches of the Protestantism, particularly since the widespread Charismatic Movement in the 1960s. Many books have been published either defending<ref>Example: Christenson, Laurence, ''Speaking in tongues : and its significance for the church'', Minneapolis, MN : Dimension Books, 1968.</ref> or attacking<ref>Example: Gromacki, Robert Glenn, ''The modern tongues movement'', Nutley, N.J. : Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1973, ISBN 0875523048 (Originally published 1967)</ref> the practice. The issue has sometimes been a contributing factor in splits within local churches and in larger [[Christian denomination|denominations]]. The controversy over tongues is part of the wider debate between conservative, evangelical Christians whose approach to the Christian Scriptures requires addressing the texts that endorse glossolalia.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}} Within that debate are [[continuationists]] who believe that glossolalia has a role to play in contemporary Christian practice and [[cessationalists]] and [[dispensationalists]] who believe that all miraculous gifts, including glossolalia, were featured only in the time of the [[Catholic Church|early Church]].

==Non-Christian practice==
Other religious groups been observed to practice some form of ''theopneustic glossolalia.'' It is perhaps most commonly in [[Paganism]], [[Shamanism]], and other [[mediumistic]] religious practices.<ref>Fr. Seraphim Rose: Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, St Herman Press</ref> In Japan, the [[God Light Association]] used to practice glossolalia to cause adherents to recall past lives.<ref>http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/nr.2007.10.3.54</ref>

Glossolalia has even been postulated as an explanation for the [[Voynich manuscript]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=Gerry Kennedy, Rob Churchill|title=The Voynich Manuscript|location=London|publisher=Orion|year=2004|isbn=0-7528-5996-X}}</ref>

There are some{{Who|date=July 2009}} who consider the following in [[Judaism]] to be some form of glossolalia:

Various rituals and references exist about prayer of people not familiar with the holy language, and the importance of prayers said by people who only know how to mumble the words without understanding them.
In the 17th century it was said in the name of the [[Baal Shem Tov]] upon hearing the prayer of someone who instead of praising God who blesses the ''years'' (HaShanim) praised God who blesses the ''women'' (HaNashim). He said that this person's prayers are the highest and holiest. The texts to be recited during the Shavuot celebrations (original ceremony of Pentecost) must be read in the original Hebrew directly from the Bible, even if the person reading it does not understand the meaning.<ref>Bikurim in Hebrew only [http://www.dafyomi.shemayisrael.co.il/sotah/points/so-ps-033.htm Daf Hayomi outline]</ref>

Certain [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] magical texts from the Roman period have written on them unintelligible syllables such as "t t t t n n n n d d d d d..." etc. It is conjectured that these may be transliterations of the sorts of sounds made during glossolalia. The [[Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians]] also features a hymn of (mostly) unintelligible syllables which is thought to be an early example of Christian glossolalia.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}}

In the 19th century, [[Spiritism]] was developed by the work of [[Allan Kardec]], and the phenomenon was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of [[xenoglossia]] (from Greek,''xenos'', stranger; and ''glossa'', language. When one speaks in a language unknown to him).


==Cessationism==
Glossolalia has also been observed in the [[Haitian Vodou|Voodoo]] religion of [[Haiti]],<ref>[http://www.scionofzion.com/tongues3.htm Tongue Speaking<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> as well as in the [[Hindu]] [[Guru]]s and [[Fakir]]s of India.<ref>[http://www.anandamayi.org/ Sri Sri Anandamoyi Ma's Spiritual Heritage<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/readings/future/ Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Various Christian groups have criticized the Pentecostal and charismatic movement for paying too much attention to [[mystical]] manifestations, such as glossolalia.<ref>Wolfgang Vondey, ''Pentecostalism: A Guide for the Perplexed'', T&T Clark, UK, 2012, p. 37-38</ref> In certain [[evangelical]] and other [[Protestant]] Churches, this experience was understood as a gift to speak foreign languages without having learned them ([[xenoglossy]]) for evangelization, and [[Cessationism versus continuationism|cessationism]] is the theological position that argues that this and other spiritual gifts were meant only for the apostolic age, and thereafter withdrawn.<ref> Gerald R. McDermott, ''The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology'', Oxford University Press, UK, 2013, p. 332</ref><ref> Mal Couch, ''A Bible Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles'', Kregel Academic, USA, 1999, p. 38</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Div col}}
{{div col}}
*[[Aphasia]]
* {{annotated link|Aphasia}}
*[[Asemic writing]]
* {{annotated link|Asemic writing}}
* {{annotated link|Automatic writing}}
*[[Biblical hermeneutics]]
* {{annotated link|Biblical hermeneutics}}
*[[Charismatic Movement]]
* {{annotated link|Covenant theology}}
*[[Direct revelation]]
* {{annotated link|Direct revelation}}
*[[Covenant theology]]
*[[Dispensationalism]]
* {{annotated link|Dispensationalism}}
* {{annotated link|Dream speech}}
*[[Divine language]]
* {{annotated link|Gibberish}}
*[[Dream speech]]
*[[Historical-grammatical method]]
* {{annotated link|Historical-grammatical method}}
* {{annotated link|Idioglossia}}
*[[Holiness movement]]
*[[Logorrhoea]]
* {{annotated link|Logorrhea (psychology)|Logorrhoea}}
* {{annotated link|Scat singing}}
*[[Pentecostalism]]
{{div col end}}
*[[Scat singing]]
*[[Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship]]
*[[Toronto Blessing]]
*[[True Jesus Church]]
*[[The Revival Fellowship]]
{{Div col end}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Citation |last = Martin |first = Dale B. |title = The Corinthian Body |year = 1995 |publisher = Yale University Press |location = New Haven, Connecticut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fW_NSjdkA70C |isbn = 978-0300081725}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |editor-last=Cartledge |editor-first=Mark J. |title=Speaking in Tongues: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives |publisher=[[Paternoster Press]] |year=2006}}
* Sadler, Paul M.: "The Supernatural Sign Gifts of the Acts Period" <http://www.dovhost.com/grace-books/SadleI05.pdf>. Berean Bible Society <http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/>, 2001, 63 pages, ISBN 1893874281.
* {{cite book |last=Ensley |first=Eddie |title=Sounds of wonder: Speaking in tongues in the Catholic tradition |location=New York |publisher=Paulist Press |year=1977}}
* MacArthur, John F.: "Charismatic Chaos". Zondervan, 1993, 416 pages, ISBN 9780310575726.
* {{cite book |last=Goodman |first=Felicitas D. |title=Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-cultural Study of Glossolalia |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1972}}
* Gromacki, Robert G.: "The Modern Tongues Movement", Baker Books, 1976, ISBN 9780801037085.
* {{cite book |last=Gromacki |first=Robert G. |title=The Modern Tongues Movement |publisher=Baker Books |year=1976 |isbn=978-0801037085}}
* Cartledge, Mark J., ed. ''Speaking in Tongues: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives''. [[Paternoster Press|Paternoster]], 2006.
* {{cite book |last=Harris |first=Ralph W. |title=Spoken by the Spirit: Documented Accounts of 'Other Tongues' from Arabic to Zulu |location=Springfield, MO |publisher=Gospel Publishing House |year=1973}}
* Kostelnik, Joseph, ''[http://www.gtm.org/pvp/bookdetails.php?id=8 Prayer in the Spirit: The Missing Link]''. Prophetic Voice Publications, 1981.
* {{cite book |last=Hoekema |first=Anthony A. |title=What about tongue-speaking? |location=Grand Rapids, MI |publisher=Eerdmans |year=1966}}
* Malony, H. Newton, and Lovekin, A. Adams, ''Glossolalia: Behavioral Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues'', Oxford University Press, 1985, ISBN 0195035690
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Luke Timothy |title=Religious Experience in Earliest Christianity: A Missing Dimension in New Testament Studies |location=Minneapolis |publisher=Fortress Press |year=1998 |isbn=0800631293}}
* Roberson, Dave, ''[http://www.christianserver.com/voffice/files_file_download2.asp?fileid=4438 Vital Role of Praying in Tongues]''
* {{cite book |last=Keener |first=Craig |title=Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts |volume=1-2 |location=Grand Rapids, MI |publisher=Baker Academic |year=2011}}
* Roybal, Rory, ''[http://www.miraclesormagic.com Miracles or Magic?]''. Xulon Press, 2005.
* {{cite book |last=Kelsey |first=Morton T. |title=Tongue-Speaking: An Experiment in Religious Experience |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=1964}}
* {{cite book |last=Kostelnik |first=Joseph |url=http://www.gtm.org/pvp/bookdetails.php?id=8 |title=Prayer in the Spirit: The Missing Link |publisher=Prophetic Voice Publications |year=1981 |isbn=9798764898568}}
* {{cite book |last=MacArthur |first=John F. |title=Charismatic Chaos |publisher=Zondervan |year=1993 |isbn=978-0310575726}}
* {{cite book |last1=Malony |first1=H. Newton |last2=Lovekin |first2=A. Adams |title=Glossolalia: Behavioral Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1985 |isbn=0195035690}}
* {{cite book |last=May |first=Jordan D. |title=Global Witness to Pentecost: The Testimony of 'Other Tongues' |location=Cleveland, TN |publisher=CPT Press |year=2013}}
* {{cite book |last=Mills |first=Watson E. |title=Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia |location=Grand Rapids, MI |publisher=W.B. Eerdmans |year=1986}}
* {{cite book |last=Roberson |first=Dave |url=http://daveroberson.org/Media/7/WOSWOP%20English%20Printer%20Friendly.pdf |title=The Walk of the Spirit — The Walk of Power: The Vital Role of Praying in Tongues |date=22 January 1999 |publisher=Dave Roberson Ministries |isbn=978-1-929339-10-5 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228020459/http://www.daveroberson.org/Media/7/WOSWOP%20English%20Printer%20Friendly.pdf |archive-date=2013-02-28}}
* {{cite book |last=Roybal |first=Rory |title=Miracles or Magic? |publisher=Xulon Press |year=2005 |isbn=9781597812504}}
* {{cite book |last=Ruthven |first=Jon |title=On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-biblical Miracles |edition=2nd |publisher=Word & Spirit Press |year=2012}}
* {{cite book |last=Sadler |first=Paul M. |title=The Supernatural Sign Gifts of the Acts Period |url=http://www.dovhost.com/grace-books/SadleI05.pdf |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004232738/http://www.dovhost.com/grace-books/SadleI05.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2011 |publisher=Berean Bible Society |year=2001 |isbn=1-893874-28-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Sherrill |first=John L. |title=They Speak with Other Tongues |location=New York |publisher=McGraw Hill |year=1964}}
* {{cite book |last=Stronstad |first=Roger |title=The charismatic theology of St. Luke |location=Peabody, MA |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |year=1984}}
* {{cite book |last=Tarr |first=Del |title=The Foolishness of God: A Linguist Looks at the Mystery of Tongues |location=Springfield, MO |publisher=Access Group Publishers |year=2010}}
* {{cite book |last=Yun |first=Koo D. |title=Baptism in the Holy Spirit |location=New York |publisher=University Press of America |year=2003}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Wiktionary|glossolalia}}
{{Wiktionary|glossolalia}}
* Gerlach, Joel C., [https://web.archive.org/web/20100708052546/http://www.wlsessays.net/files/GerlachGlossolalia.pdf ''"Glossolalia"''] (from a [[Confessional Lutheran]] perspective)
* [http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/31-35/31-1-05.htm Glossolalia as Foreign Language] by D. William Faupel
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x_NmYZ1OCY Video recorded during a Sunday Prayer Meeting]; 10 February 2008; [[Cochin, India]], [[Kerala]]; this prayer group functions under the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in India.
* [https://message-for-you.net/heavenly-sounds-english/ Example of singing in tongues with a music recording in mp3]; 2014; message-for-you.net; charismatic movement
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14776c.htm "Gift of Tongues"]. T. Reilly. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 14. 1912.
* [http://www.scripturecatholic.com/tongues.html "Tongues".] by [[John Salza]], bible verses and the Catholic Church fathers on speaking in tongues
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010619205618/http://www.bible411.com/glossolalia/ "Glossolalia"]. bible411.com. (Cessationist perspective)
* [http://wesley.nnu.edu/fileadmin/imported_site/wesleyjournal/1996-wtj-31-1.pdf "Glossolalia as Foreign Language"]. D. William Faupel. ''Wesleyan Theological Journal'' Vol. 31 No. 1 (Spring 1996): pp.&nbsp;95–109. (Historical study of Pentecostal beliefs)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101025121806/http://ag.org/top/Beliefs/topics/baptmhs_faq_tongues.cfm#alwaysinterpretation "Questions about Tongues"]. [[Assemblies of God USA]]. (Pentecostal perspective)
* [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1974/JASA3-74Tappeiner.html "The Function of Tongue-Speaking for the Individual: A Psycho-Theological Model"]. Daniel A. Tappeiner. ''Journal of American Scientific Affiliation''. Vol. 26. March 1974. pp.&nbsp;29–32.
* [http://community.middlebury.edu/~beyer/gl/intro.html Andrei Bely's ''Glossalolia'' {sic} with an English translation]
* [http://community.middlebury.edu/~beyer/gl/intro.html Andrei Bely's ''Glossalolia'' {sic} with an English translation]
* {{in lang|it}} [http://www.teatrocantiere.it/media/video-2/glossolalia/ ''Esperimenti di Glossolalia'']. A case of glossolalia in theatre.
* [http://skepdic.com/glossol.html A Skeptic's Perspective] The Skeptic's Dictionary on Glossolalia
* [http://soundcloud.com/new-pink-floyd/lalia "Lalia"]. Extreme episode of glossolalia captured in modern music.
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14776c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Gift of Tongues]

* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Gift_Of_Tongues 1911encyclopedia.org: Gift of Tongues]
{{Private revelation}}
* [http://www.bad-language.com/tongues Speaking in Tongues] by Linguist Karen Stollznow

* [http://www.bible411.com/glossolalia/ Glossolalia] bible411.com
{{Authority control}}
* [http://www.james-dave.com/tongues1.html Speaking in Tongues: Frequently Asked Questions] by James H. Boyd
* [http://www.trf.org.au/Speaking_in_Tongues.asp Speaking in Tongues]
* [http://www.unicaen.fr/services/puc/ecrire/ouvrages/psychiatries_histoire/11psychiatries_histoire.pdf Understanding the Glossolalia of Hélène Smith, the Famous Spiritist Medium] by Huub Engels
* "[http://www.routledge-ny.com/ref/religionandsociety/pentecostal/gloss.html Glossolalia]" (draft) by Frank D. Macchia, in ''Encyclopedia of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity'' ed. Stanley M. Burgess (Routledge, 2006)
* [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1974/JASA3-74Tappeiner.html "The Function of Tongue-Speaking for the Individual: A Psycho-Theological Model]. Daniel A. Tappeiner. ''JASA''. Vol. 26. March 1974. pp.&nbsp;29–32.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5KjNH3AAkU Scene from ''Holy Ghost People''], featuring glossolalia.
* [http://www.cantieresanbernardo.it/node/1128 I Vostri Bambini (IT)] An example of Glossolalia in a theater play.
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2010}}


[[Category:Constructed languages]]
[[Category:Constructed languages]]
[[Category:Language and mysticism]]
[[Category:Language and mysticism]]
[[Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity]]
[[Category:Spiritual gifts]]
[[Category:Spiritual gifts]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Macaronic language]]
[[Category:Acts of the Apostles]]
[[Category:Christian terms]]
[[Category:Pneumatology]]
[[Category:Book of Acts]]
[[Category:Christianity in Appalachia]]
[[Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal worship]]

[[Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity]]
[[ca:Glossolàlia]]
[[cs:Glosolálie]]
[[da:Tungetale]]
[[de:Zungenrede]]
[[et:Glossolaalia]]
[[el:Γλωσσολαλιά]]
[[es:Glosolalia]]
[[eo:Glosolalio]]
[[fr:Glossolalie]]
[[ko:방언 (종교)]]
[[id:Glossolalia]]
[[ia:Glossolalia]]
[[os:Глоссолали]]
[[it:Glossolalia]]
[[he:גלוסולליה]]
[[lt:Glosolalija]]
[[nl:Glossolalie]]
[[ja:異言]]
[[no:Tungetale]]
[[nn:Tungetale]]
[[pl:Glosolalia]]
[[pt:Glossolalia]]
[[ru:Глоссолалия]]
[[simple:Glossolalia]]
[[sk:Glosolalia]]
[[fi:Kielilläpuhuminen]]
[[sv:Tungomålstalande]]
[[zh:說方言]]

Latest revision as of 14:56, 29 December 2024

The Theotokos and the Twelve Apostles – Fifty Days after the Resurrection of Christ, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit
An icon depicting the Theotokos with the apostles filled with the Holy Spirit, indicated by "cloven tongues like as of fire" (Acts 2:3) above their heads
People speaking in tongues and in Portuguese during a Christian event in Brazil

Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is an activity or practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehensible meaning. In some cases, as part of religious practice, some believe it to be a divine language unknown to the speaker.[1] Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity,[2][3] as well as in other religions.[4][5]

Sometimes a distinction is made between "glossolalia" and "xenolalia" or "xenoglossy", which specifically relates to the belief that the language being spoken is a natural language previously unknown to the speaker.[6]

Etymology

[edit]

Glossolalia is a borrowing of the γλωσσολαλία (glossolalía), which is a compound of the γλῶσσα (glossa) 'tongue, language'[7] and λαλέω (laleō) 'to speak, talk, chat, prattle, make a sound'.[8] The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the New Testament in the books of Acts and First Corinthians. In Acts 2, the followers of Christ receive the Holy Spirit and speak in the languages of at least fifteen countries or ethnic groups.

The exact phrase speaking in tongues has been used at least since the translation of the New Testament into Middle English in the Wycliffe Bible in the 14th century.[9] Frederic Farrar first used the word glossolalia in 1879.[10]

Linguistics

[edit]

In 1972, William J. Samarin, a linguist from the University of Toronto, published a thorough assessment of Pentecostal glossolalia that became a classic work on its linguistic characteristics.[11] His assessment was based on a large sample of glossolalia recorded in public and private Christian meetings in Italy, the Netherlands, Jamaica, Canada, and the United States over the course of five years; his wide range of subjects included the Puerto Ricans of the Bronx, the snake handlers of the Appalachians and the spiritual Christians from Russia in Los Angeles (Pryguny, Dukh-i-zhizniki).

Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels found in a language known to the speaker:

It is verbal behaviour that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels ... in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically ... with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.[12]

[Glossolalia] consists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.[13]

That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others. Felicitas Goodman, a psychological anthropologist and linguist, also found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language.[14] These findings were confirmed by Kavan (2004).[15]

Samarin found that the resemblance to human language was merely on the surface and so concluded that glossolalia is "only a facade of language".[16] He reached this conclusion because the syllable string did not form words, the stream of speech was not internally organized, and – most importantly of all – there was no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Humans use language to communicate but glossolalia does not. Therefore, he concluded that glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives".[16] On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead".[17]

Felicitas Goodman studied a number of Pentecostal communities in the United States, the Caribbean, and Mexico; these included English-, Spanish- and Mayan-speaking groups. She compared what she found with recordings of non-Christian rituals from Africa, Borneo, Indonesia and Japan. She took into account both the segmental structure (such as sounds, syllables, phrases) and the supra-segmental elements (rhythm, accent, intonation) and concluded that there was no distinction between what was practised by the Pentecostal Protestants and the followers of other religions.[18]

History

[edit]

Classical antiquity

[edit]

It was a commonplace idea within the Ancient world that divine beings spoke languages different from human languages, and historians of religion have identified references to esoteric speech in Greco-Roman literature that resemble glossolalia, sometimes explained as angelic or divine language.[19] An example is the account in the Testament of Job, a non-canonical elaboration of the Book of Job, where the daughters of Job are described as being given sashes enabling them to speak and sing in angelic languages.[20]

According to Dale B. Martin, glossolalia was accorded high status in the ancient world due to its association with the divine. Alexander of Abonoteichus may have exhibited glossolalia during his episodes of prophetic ecstasy.[21] Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus linked glossolalia to prophecy, writing that prophecy was divine spirit possession that "emits words which are not understood by those that utter them; for they pronounce them, as it is said, with an insane mouth (mainomenό stomati) and are wholly subservient, and entirely yield themselves to the energy of the predominating God".[22]

In his writings on early Christianity, the Greek philosopher Celsus includes an account of Christian glossolalia. Celsus describes prophecies made by several Christians in Palestine and Phoenicia of which he writes, "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent, and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover: for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes".[21]

References to speaking in tongues by the Church fathers are rare. Except for Irenaeus' 2nd-century reference to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages "through the Spirit", and Tertullian's reference in 207 AD to the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues being encountered in his day, there are no other known first-hand accounts of glossolalia, and very few second-hand accounts among their writings.[23]

1100 to 1900

[edit]
  • 12th century – Bernard of Clairvaux explained that speaking tongues was no longer present because there were greater miracles – the transformed lives of believers.[24]
  • 12th century – Hildegard of Bingen is said to have possessed the gift of visions and prophecy and to have been able to speak and write in Latin without having learned the language.[25]
  • 1265 – Thomas Aquinas wrote about the gift of tongues in the New Testament, which he understood to be an ability to speak every language, given for the purposes of missionary work. He explained that Christ did not have this gift because his mission was to the Jews, "nor does each one of the faithful now speak save in one tongue"; for "no one speaks in the tongues of all nations, because the Church herself already speaks the languages of all nations".[26]
  • 15th century – The Moravians are referred to by detractors as having spoken in tongues. John Roche, a contemporary critic, claimed that the Moravians "commonly broke into some disconnected Jargon, which they often passed upon the vulgar, 'as the exuberant and resistless Evacuations of the Spirit'".[27]
  • 17th century – The French Prophets: The Camisards also spoke sometimes in languages that were unknown: "Several persons of both Sexes", James Du Bois of Montpellier recalled, "I have heard in their Extasies pronounce certain words, which seem'd to the Standers-by, to be some Foreign Language". These utterances were sometimes accompanied by the gift of interpretation exercised, in Du Bois' experience, by the same person who had spoken in tongues.[28][29]
  • 17th century – Early Quakers, such as Edward Burrough, make mention of tongues-speaking in their meetings: "We spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us".[30]
  • 1817 – In Germany, Gustav von Below, an aristocratic officer of the Prussian Guard, and his brothers, founded a religious movement based on their estates in Pomerania, which may have included speaking in tongues.[31]
  • 19th century – Edward Irving and the Catholic Apostolic Church. Edward Irving, a minister in the Church of Scotland, writes of a woman who would "speak at great length, and with superhuman strength, in an unknown tongue, to the great astonishment of all who heard, and to her own great edification and enjoyment in God".[32] Irving further stated that "tongues are a great instrument for personal edification, however mysterious it may seem to us".[33]
  • 19th century – The history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), contains extensive references to the practice of speaking in tongues by Brigham Young, Joseph Smith and many others.[34][35] Sidney Rigdon had disagreements with Alexander Campbell regarding speaking in tongues, and later joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Speaking in tongues was recorded in contemporary sources, both hostile and sympathetic to Mormonism, by at least 1830.[36] The practice was soon widespread amongst Mormons, with many rank and file church members believing they were speaking the language of Adam; some of the hostility towards Mormons stemmed from those of other faiths regarding speaking in tongues unfavorably, especially when practiced by children.[36] At the 1836 dedication of the Kirtland Temple the dedicatory prayer asked that God grant them the gift of tongues and at the end of the service Brigham Young spoke in tongues, another elder interpreted it and then gave his own exhortation in tongues. Many other worship experiences in the Kirtland Temple prior to and after the dedication included references to people speaking and interpreting tongues. In describing the beliefs of the church in the Wentworth letter (1842), Joseph Smith identified a belief of the "gift of tongues" and "interpretation of tongues". The practice of glossolalia by the Latter-day Saints was widespread but after an initial burst of enthusiastic growth circa 1830–34, seems to have been somewhat more restrained than in many other contemporary religious movements.[36] Young, Smith, and numerous other early leaders frequently cautioned against the public exercise of glossolalia unless there be someone who could exercise the corresponding spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues, so that listeners could be edified by what had been said. Although the Latter-day Saints believe that speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues is alive and well in the Church, modern Mormons are much more likely to point to the way in which LDS missionaries are trained and learn foreign languages quickly, and are able to communicate rapidly on their missions, as evidence of the manifestation of this gift. This interpretation stems from a 1900 General Conference sermon by Joseph F. Smith which discouraged glossolalia; subsequent leaders echoed this recommendation for about a decade afterwards and subsequently the practice had largely died out amongst Mormons by the 1930s and '40s.[36]

20th century

[edit]
Headline about the "Weird babel of tongues" and other behavior at Azusa Street, from a 1906 Los Angeles Times newspaper

During the 20th century, glossolalia primarily became associated with Pentecostalism and the later charismatic movement. Preachers in the Holiness Movement preachers Charles Parham and William Seymour are credited as co-founders of the movement. Parham and Seymour taught that "baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues".[3] It was Parham who formulated the doctrine of "initial evidence". After studying the Bible, Parham came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence that one had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

In 1900, Parham opened Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, America, where he taught initial evidence, a Charismatic belief about how to initiate the practice. During a service on 1 January 1901, a student named Agnes Ozman asked for prayer and the laying on of hands to specifically ask God to fill her with the Holy Spirit. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, in the first hours of the 20th century. Parham followed within the next few days. Parham called his new movement the apostolic faith. In 1905, he moved to Houston and opened a Bible school there. One of his students was William Seymour, an African-American preacher. In 1906, Seymour traveled to Los Angeles where his preaching ignited the Azusa Street Revival. This revival is considered the birth of the global Pentecostal movement. According to the first issue of William Seymour's newsletter, The Apostolic Faith, from 1906:

A Mohammedan, a Soudanese by birth, a man who is an interpreter and speaks sixteen languages, came into the meetings at Azusa Street and the Lord gave him messages which none but himself could understand. He identified, interpreted and wrote a number of the languages.[37]

Parham and his early followers believed that speaking in tongues was xenoglossia, and some followers traveled to foreign countries and tried to use the gift to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking people. From the time of the Azusa Street revival and among early participants in the Pentecostal movement, there were many accounts of individuals hearing their own languages spoken 'in tongues'. The majority of Pentecostals and Charismatics consider speaking in tongues to primarily be divine, or the "language of angels", rather than human languages.[38] In the years following the Azusa Street revival Pentecostals who went to the mission field found that they were unable to speak in the language of the local inhabitants at will when they spoke in tongues in strange lands.[39]

The revival at Azusa Street lasted until around 1915. From it grew many new Pentecostal churches as people visited the services in Los Angeles and took their newfound beliefs to communities around the United States and abroad. During the 20th century, glossolalia became an important part of the identity of these religious groups. During the 1960s, the charismatic movement within the mainline Protestant churches and among charismatic Roman Catholics adopted some Pentecostal beliefs, and the practice of glossolalia spread to other Christian denominations. The discussion regarding tongues has permeated many branches of Protestantism, particularly since the widespread charismatic movement in the 1960s. Many books have been published either defending[40] or attacking[41] the practice.

Christianity

[edit]

Theological explanations

[edit]

In Christianity, a supernatural explanation for glossolalia is advocated by some and rejected by others. Proponents of each viewpoint use the biblical writings and historical arguments to support their positions.

  • Glossolalists could, apart from those practicing glossolalia, also mean all those Christians who believe that the Pentecostal/charismatic glossolalia practiced today is the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. They believe that it is a miraculous charism or spiritual gift. Glossolalists claim that these tongues can be both real, unlearned languages (i.e., xenoglossia)[42][43] as well as a "language of the spirit", a "heavenly language", or perhaps the language of angels.[44]
  • Cessationists believe that all the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased to occur early in Christian history, and therefore that the speaking in tongues as practiced by Charismatic Christians is the learned utterance of non-linguistic syllables. According to this belief, it is neither xenoglossia nor miraculous, but rather taught behavior, possibly self-induced. These believe that what the New Testament described as "speaking in tongues" was xenoglossia, a miraculous spiritual gift through which the speaker could communicate in natural languages not previously studied.
  • A third position claims that glossolalia does exist, but it is a form of prelest, not the "speaking in tongues" described in the New Testament. It believes glossolalia is part of a mediumistic technique where practitioners are manifesting genuine spiritual power, but this power is not necessarily of the Holy Spirit.[4]
  • A fourth position conceivably exists, which believes the practice of "glossolalia" to be a folk practice and different from the legitimate New Testament spiritual gift of speaking/interpreting real languages. It is therefore not out of a belief that "miracles have ceased" (i.e., cessationism) that causes this group to discredit the supernatural origins of particular modern expressions of "glossolalia", but it is rather out of a belief that glossolalists have misunderstood Scripture and wrongly attributed to the Holy Spirit something that may be explained naturalistically.[45]

Biblical practice

[edit]

There are five places in the New Testament where speaking in tongues is referred to explicitly:

  • Mark 16:17 (though this is a disputed text), which records the instructions of Christ to the apostles, including his description that "they will speak with new tongues" as a sign that would follow "them that believe" in him.
  • Acts 2, which describes an occurrence of speaking in tongues in Jerusalem at Pentecost, though with various interpretations. Specifically, "every man heard them speak in his own language" and wondered "how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?"
  • Acts 10:46, when the household of Cornelius in Caesarea spoke in tongues, and those present compared it to the speaking in tongues that occurred at Pentecost.
  • Acts 19:6, when a group of approximately a dozen men spoke in tongues in Ephesus as they received the Holy Spirit while the apostle Paul laid his hands upon them.
  • 1 Cor 12, 13, 14, where Paul discusses speaking in "various kinds of tongues" as part of his wider discussion of the gifts of the Spirit; his remarks shed some light on his own speaking in tongues as well as how the gift of speaking in tongues was to be used in the church.

Other verses by inference may be considered to refer to "speaking in tongues", such as Isaiah 28:11, Romans 8:26 and Jude 20.

The biblical account of Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and "divided tongues like fire" coming to rest on the apostles.[46] The text further describes that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages". It goes on to say in verses 5–11 that when the Apostles spoke, each person in attendance "heard their own language being spoken". Therefore, the gift of speaking in tongues refers to the Apostles' speaking languages that the people listening heard as "them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God". Glossolalists and cessationists both recognize this as xenoglossia, a miraculous ability that marked their baptism in the Holy Spirit. Something similar (although perhaps not xenoglossia) took place on at least two subsequent occasions, in Caesarea and Ephesus.

Glossolalists and cessationists generally agree that the primary purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues was to mark the Holy Spirit being poured out. At Pentecost the Apostle Peter declared that this gift, which was making some in the audience ridicule the disciples as drunks, be the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel, which described that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh (Acts 2:17).[43]

Despite these commonalities, there are significant variations in interpretation.

  • Universal. The traditional Pentecostal view is that every Christian should expect to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, the distinctive mark of which is glossolalia.[47] While most Protestants agree that baptism in the Holy Spirit is integral to being a Christian, others[48] believe that it is not separable from conversion and no longer marked by glossolalia. Pentecostals appeal to the declaration of the Apostle Peter at Pentecost, that "the gift of the Holy Spirit" was "for you and for your children and for all who are far off" (Acts 2:38–39). Cessationists reply that the gift of speaking in tongues was never for all (1 Cor 12:30). In response to those who say that the baptism in the Holy Spirit be not a separate experience from conversion, Pentecostals appeal to the question asked by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian believers "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" (Acts 19:2).
  • One gift. Different aspects of speaking in tongues appear in Acts and 1 Corinthians, such that the Assemblies of God declare that the gift in Acts "is the same in essence as the gift of tongues" in 1 Corinthians "but different in purpose and use".[47] They distinguish between (private) speech in tongues when receiving the gift of the Spirit, and (public) speech in tongues for the benefit of the church. Others assert that the gift in Acts was "not a different phenomenon" but the same gift being displayed under varying circumstances.[49] The same description – "speaking in tongues" – is used in both Acts and 1 Corinthians, and in both cases the speech is in an unlearned language.
  • Direction. The New Testament describes tongues largely as speech addressed to God, but also as something that can potentially be interpreted into human language, thereby "edifying the hearers" (1 Cor 14:5, 13). At Pentecost and Caesarea the speakers were praising God (Acts 2:11; 10:46). Paul referred to praying, singing praise, and giving thanks in tongues (1 Cor 14:14–17), as well as to the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor 14:5), and instructed those speaking in tongues to pray for the ability to interpret their tongues so that others could understand them (1 Cor 14:13). While some people limit speaking in tongues to speech addressed to God – "prayer or praise",[42] others claim that speaking in tongues be the revelation from God to the church, and when interpreted into human language by those embued with the gift of interpretation of tongues for the benefit of others present, may be considered equivalent to prophecy.[50]
  • Music. Musical interludes of glossolalia are sometimes described as singing in the Spirit. Some hold that singing in the Spirit is identified with singing in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:13–19,[51][52] which they hold to be "spiritual or spirited singing", as opposed to "communicative or impactive singing" which Paul refers to as "singing with the understanding".[53]
  • Sign for unbelievers (1 Cor 14:22). Some assume that tongues are "a sign for unbelievers that they might believe",[54] and so advocate it as a means of evangelism. Others point out that Paul quotes Isaiah to show that "when God speaks to people in language they cannot understand, it is quite evidently a sign of God's judgment"; so if unbelievers are baffled by a church service they cannot understand because tongues are spoken without being interpreted, that is a "sign of God's attitude", "a sign of judgment".[55] Some identify the tongues in Acts 2 as the primary example of tongues as signs for unbelievers.
  • Comprehension. Some say that speaking in tongues was "not understood by the speaker".[42] Others assert that "the tongues-speaker normally understood his own foreign-language message".[56] This last comment seems to have been made by someone confusing the "gift of tongues" with the "gift of the interpretation of tongues" , which is specified as a different gift in the New Testament, but one that can be given to a person who also has the gift of tongues. In that case, a person understands a message in tongues that he has previously spoken in an unknown language.

Pentecostal and charismatic practices

[edit]

Baptism with the Holy Spirit is regarded by the Holiness Pentecostals as being the third work of grace, following the new birth (first work of grace) and entire sanctification (second work of grace).[57][3] Holiness Pentecostals teach that this third work of grace is accompanied with glossolalia.[57][3]

Because Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs are not monolithic, there is not complete theological agreement on speaking in tongues.[citation needed] Generally, followers believe that speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift that can be manifested as either a human language or a heavenly supernatural language in three ways:[58]

  • The "sign of tongues" refers to xenoglossia, wherein followers believe someone is speaking a language they have never learned.
  • The "gift of tongues" refers to a glossolalic utterance spoken by an individual and addressed to a congregation of, typically, other believers.
  • "Praying in the spirit" is typically used to refer to glossolalia as part of personal prayer.[59]

Many Pentecostals and charismatics quote Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14 which established guidelines on the public use of glossolalia in the church at Corinth although the exegesis of this passage and the extent to which these instructions are followed is a matter of academic debate.[60]

The gift of tongues is often referred to as a "message in tongues".[61] Practitioners believe that this use of glossolalia requires an interpretation so that the gathered congregation can understand the message, which is accomplished by the interpretation of tongues.[citation needed] There are two schools of thought concerning the nature of a message in tongues:

  • One school of thought believes it is always directed to God as prayer, praise, or thanksgiving but is spoken in for the hearing and edification of the congregation.[citation needed]
  • The other school of thought believes that a message in tongues can be a prophetic utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit.[62] In this case, the speaker delivers a message to the congregation on behalf of God.[citation needed]

In addition to praying in the Spirit, many Pentecostal and charismatic churches practice what is known as singing in the Spirit.[63][64][65]

Interpretation of tongues

[edit]

In Christian theology, the interpretation of tongues is one of the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. This gift is used in conjunction with that of the gift of tongues – the supernatural ability to speak in a language (tongue) unknown to the speaker. The gift of interpretation is the supernatural enablement to express in an intelligible language an utterance spoken in an unknown tongue. This is not learned but imparted by the Holy Spirit; therefore, it should not be confused with the acquired skill of language interpretation. While cessationist Christians believe that this miraculous charism has ceased, Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians believe that this gift continues to operate within the church.[66] Much of what is known about this gift was recorded by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 14. In this passage, guidelines for the proper use of the gift of tongues were given. In order for the gift of tongues to be beneficial to the edification of the church, such supernatural utterances were to be interpreted into the language of the gathered Christians. If no one among the gathered Christians possessed the gift of interpretation, then the gift of tongues was not to be publicly exercised. Those possessing the gift of tongues were encouraged to pray for the ability to interpret.[66]

Non-Christian practice

[edit]

Other religious groups have been observed to practice some form of theopneustic glossolalia. It is perhaps most commonly in Paganism, Shamanism, and other mediumistic religious practices.[4] In Japan, the God Light Association believed that glossolalia could cause adherents to recall past lives.[5]

Glossolalia has been postulated as an explanation for the Voynich manuscript.[67]

In the 19th century, Spiritism was developed by the work of Allan Kardec, and the practice was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of xenoglossia.

Medical research

[edit]

In most cases tongues speakers have no underlying neuropsychiatric disorder precipitating the manifestations, although it rarely occurs in neurogenic conditions.[68] Speakers report finding personal meaning in the utterances, although they are unintelligible and have no linguistic structure. The link to psychopathology has been disproven - tongues speakers are not over-representend in those with depression or psychosis, nor other disorders and one study found tongues speaking negatively associated with neuroticism - emotional stability was greater amongst the speakers.[69]: 69  Nevertheless the language spoken by the speakers is devoid of semantic meaning, although the utterances appear to be derived from the language of the speaker.[70]: 505  Studies have thus suggested this could be learned behaviour by the speakers.[71]

Neuroimaging of brain activity during glossolalia does not show activity in the language areas of the brain.[69][72] In other words, it may be characterized by a specific brain activity.[73][74]

A 1973 experimental study highlighted the existence of two basic types of glossolalia: a static form which tends to a somewhat coaction to repetitiveness and a more dynamic one which tends to free association of speech-like elements.[75][73]

A study done by the American Journal of Human Biology found that speaking in tongues is associated with both a reduction in circulatory cortisol, and enhancements in alpha-amylase enzyme activity – two common biomarkers of stress reduction that can be measured in saliva.[76] Several sociological studies report various social benefits of engaging in Pentecostal glossolalia,[77][78] such as an increase in self-confidence.[78]

As of April 2021, further studies are needed to corroborate the 1980s view of glossolaly with more sensitive measures of outcome, by using the more recent techniques of neuroimaging.[73] [better source needed]

Cessationism

[edit]

Various Christian groups have criticized the Pentecostal and charismatic movement for paying too much attention to mystical manifestations, such as glossolalia.[79] In certain evangelical and other Protestant Churches, this experience was understood as a gift to speak foreign languages without having learned them (xenoglossy) for evangelization, and cessationism is the theological position that argues that this and other spiritual gifts were meant only for the apostolic age, and thereafter withdrawn.[80][81]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Colman, Andrew M., ed. (2009). "Glossolalian". A Dictionary of Psychology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  2. ^ Lum, Kathryn Gin; Harvey, Paul (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Race in American History. Oxford University Press. p. 801. ISBN 978-0190856892. ... would prove influential on the development of black Pentecostalism in the early twentieth century, as glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, would be understood as a third work of grace following Holiness and receipt of the Holy Spirit.
  3. ^ a b c d The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1999. p. 415. ISBN 978-9004116955. While in Houston, Texas, where he had moved his headquarters, Parham came into contact with William Seymour (1870–1922), an African-American Baptist-Holiness preacher. Seymour took from Parham the teaching that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was not the blessing of sanctification but rather a third work of grace that was accompanied by the experience of tongues
  4. ^ a b c Rose, Seraphim (1997). Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future. St Herman Press. p. 137. ISBN 188790400X. There is scarcely to be found an example of "speaking in tongues" in any even nominally Christian context for over 1,600 years after the time of Paul...and yet this "gift" is possessed by numerous shamans and witch doctors of primitive religions, as well as by modern spritistics mediums and the demonically possessed.
  5. ^ a b Whelan, Christal (2007). "Shifting Paradigms and Mediating Media: Redefining a New Religion as "Rational" in Contemporary Society". Nova Religio. 10 (3): 54–72. doi:10.1525/nr.2007.10.3.54.
  6. ^ Cheryl Bridges Johns and Frank Macchia, "Glossolalia", The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI; Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 413.
  7. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). "γλῶσσα". In Jones, Henry Stuart; McKenzie, Roderick (eds.). A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  8. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). "λαλέω". In Jones, Henry Stuart; McKenzie, Roderick (eds.). A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  9. ^ Mark 16:17
  10. ^ "glossolalia". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). 1989.
  11. ^ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 308527.[page needed]
  12. ^ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 120. OCLC 308527.
  13. ^ Samarin, William J. (1972). "Sociolinguistic vs. Neurophysiological Explanations for Glossolalia: Comment on Goodman's Paper". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 11 (3): 293–296. doi:10.2307/1384556. JSTOR 1384556.
  14. ^ Goodman, Felicitas D. (1969). "Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 8 (2): 227–35. doi:10.2307/1384336. JSTOR 1384336.
  15. ^ New Zealand Linguistic Society: Heather Kavan Massey University: Heather Kavan "We don't know what we're saying, but it's profound"
  16. ^ a b Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 128. OCLC 308527.
  17. ^ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 2. OCLC 308527.
  18. ^ Goodman, Felicitas D. (1972). Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study in Glossolalia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226303246. OCLC 393056.[page needed]
  19. ^ Petruzzello, Melissa. "Glossolalia". Encyclopedia Britannice. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  20. ^ Martin 1995, pp. 88–89.
  21. ^ a b Martin 1995, p. 90.
  22. ^ Martin 1995, p. 91.
  23. ^ Warfield, Benjamin B. (1918). Counterfeit Miracles. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 10. ISBN 978-0851511665. OCLC 3977281. The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers contain no clear and certain allusions to miracle working or to the exercise of the charismatic gifts, contemporaneously with themselves.
  24. ^ "Premier Serrmon Pour Le Jour de L'Ascension. Sur l'Evangile du jour." Archived 7 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine "3. Il y des signes plus certains et des miracles plus salutaires que ceux-là, ce sont les mérites. Et je ne crois pas qu'il soit difficile de savoir en quel sens on doit entendre les miracles dont il est parlé en cet endroit, pour qu'ils soient des signes certains de foi, et par conséquent de salut. En effet, la première oeuvre de la foi, opérant par la charité, c'est la componction de l'âme, car elle chasse évidemment les démons, en déracinant les péchés de notre coeur. Quant aux langues nouvelles que doivent parler les hommes, qui croient en Jésus-Christ, cela a lieu, lorsque le langage du vieil homme cesse de se trouver sur nos lèvres, et que nous ne parlons plus la langue antique de nos premiers parents, qui cherchaient dans des paroles pleines de malice à s'excuser de leurs péchés".
  25. ^ L. Carlyle, May (February 1956). "A Survey of Glossolalia and Related Phenomena in NonChristian Religions". American Anthropologist. 58 (1): 75. doi:10.1525/aa.1956.58.1.02a00060.
  26. ^ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 176.
  27. ^ Burgess, Stanley M. (1991). "Medieval and Modern Western Churches". In Gary B. McGee (ed.). Initial evidence: historical and biblical perspectives on the Pentecostal doctrine of spirit baptism. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. p. 32. ISBN 978-0943575414. OCLC 24380326.
  28. ^ Lacy, John (1707). A Cry from the Desert. p. 32. OCLC 81008302.
  29. ^ Hamilton, Michael Pollock (1975). The charismatic movement. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 75. ISBN 978-0802834539. OCLC 1008209.
  30. ^ Burrough, Edward (1831) [1659]. "Epistle to the Reader" in Fox, George. The great mystery of the great whore unfolded; and Antichrist's kingdom revealed unto destruction. The Works of George Fox. 3. p. 13. OCLC 12877488.
  31. ^ Hogue, Richard (2010). Tongues: A Theological History of Christian Glossolalia. Tate Publishing. p. 211.
  32. ^ Irving, Edward (January 1832). "Facts Connected With Recent Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts". Fraser's Magazine. 4 (24): 754–761. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  33. ^ Carlyle, Gavin, ed. (1865). "On the Gifts of the Holy Ghost". The Collected Writings of Edward Irving (Volume 5 ed.). Alexander Strahan. p. 548. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  34. ^ "Speaking in Tongues and the Mormon Church". www.frontiernet.net. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000.
  35. ^ "Speaking in Tongues". Archived from the original (MediaWiki) on 17 October 2008.
  36. ^ a b c d Copeland, Lee. "Speaking in Tongues in the Restoration Churches" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 24 (1).
  37. ^ Square brackets indicate faded parts that are no longer readable.
  38. ^ D. Swincer, Tongues: Genuine Biblical Languages: A Careful Construct of the Nature, Purpose, and Operation of the Gift of Tongues for the Church (2016) pp. 88–90 [ISBN missing]
  39. ^ Faupel, D. William. Glossolalia as Foreign Language: An Investigation of the Twentieth-Century Pentecostal Claim. "31-1-05". Archived from the original on 29 April 2005. Retrieved 27 April 2005.
  40. ^ Example: Christenson, Laurence, Speaking in tongues: and its significance for the church, Minneapolis, MN : Dimension Books, 1968.[ISBN missing][page needed]
  41. ^ Example: Gromacki, Robert Glenn, The Modern Tongues Movement, Nutley, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1973, ISBN 0875523048 (Originally published 1967)[page needed]
  42. ^ a b c Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1070. ISBN 978-0851106526. OCLC 29952151.
  43. ^ a b General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God (11 August 2000). "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Initial Experience and Continuing Evidences of the Spirit-Filled Life" (PDF). General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  44. ^ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1072. ISBN 978-0851106526. OCLC 29952151.
  45. ^ Carey, Benedict (7 November 2006). "A Neuroscientific Look at Speaking in Tongues". The New York Times.
  46. ^ Geisler, Norman L. (11 February 2022). "Was it Only the Apostles Who Spoke in Tongues at Pentecost?". Christian Publishing House. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  47. ^ a b Assemblies of God (1961). "Statement of Fundamental Truths" (PDF). General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  48. ^ "Baptism with the Holy Spirit". christians.eu. 22 July 2015.
  49. ^ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1073. ISBN 978-0851106526. OCLC 29952151.
  50. ^ Masters, Peter; John C. Whitcomb (1988). The Charismatic Phenomenon. London: Wakeman Trust. p. 49. ISBN 978-1870855013. OCLC 20720229.
  51. ^ Bible 1 Corinthians 14:13–19
  52. ^ Johns, Donald A. (1988). Stanley M. Burgess; Gary B. McGee; Patrick H. Alexander (eds.). Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 788. ISBN 978-0310441007. OCLC 18496801. Cited by Riss, Richard M. (28 July 1995). "Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements". Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  53. ^ Alford, Delton L. (1988). Stanley M. Burgess; Gary B. McGee; Patrick H. Alexander (eds.). Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 690. ISBN 978-0310441007. OCLC 18496801. Cited by Riss, Richard M. (28 July 1995). "Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements". Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  54. ^ "Questions about Tongues". General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  55. ^ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1075. ISBN 978-0851106526. OCLC 29952151.
  56. ^ Masters, Peter; John C. Whitcomb (1988). The Charismatic Phenomenon. London: Wakeman Trust. p. 106. ISBN 978-1870855013. OCLC 20720229.
  57. ^ a b The West Tennessee Historical Society Papers – Issue 56. West Tennessee Historical Society. 2002. p. 41. Seymour's holiness background suggests that Pentecostalism had roots in the holiness movement of the late nineteenth century. The holiness movement embraced the Wesleyan doctrine of "sanctification" or the second work of grace, subsequent to conversion. Pentecostalism added a third work of grace, called the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which is often accompanied by glossolalia.
  58. ^ Casanova, Amanda (6 April 2018). "10 Things Christians Should Know about the Pentecostal Church". Christianity.com. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  59. ^ Wright, N. T. (2008). Acts for Everyone, Part One. Louisville: WJK. pp. 210–211.
  60. ^ Richardson, William Edwin (June 1983). "Liturgical Order and Glossolalia. 1 Corinthians 14:26c–33a and its Implications". Andrews University. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  61. ^ Gee, Donald (1993). Pentecostal Experience. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House. p. 154. ISBN 978-0882434544.
  62. ^ Chantry, Walter J. (1973). Signs of the Apostles. Edinburgh, Scotland: Banner of Truth Trust. pp. 22–23. ISBN 978-0851511757.
  63. ^ Mookgo S. Kgatle (2019). "Singing as a therapeutic agent in Pentecostal worship". Verbum et Ecclesia. 40 (1). doi:10.4102/ve.v40i1.1910. hdl:10500/26433. S2CID 150696864.
  64. ^ Harper, Michael (January 1986). "Releasing the Spirit: the Pentecostals". Christianity Today. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  65. ^ "Religion – Christianity – Pentecostalism". BBC. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  66. ^ a b Guy P. Duffield and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, 1983, (Los Angeles: Foursquare Media, 2008), pp. 342–343.
  67. ^ Gerry Kennedy, Rob Churchill (2004). The Voynich Manuscript. London: Orion. ISBN 978-0752859965.[page needed]
  68. ^ Mendez, Mario F. (1 January 2018). "Non-Neurogenic Language Disorders: A Preliminary Classification". Psychosomatics. 59 (1): 28–35. doi:10.1016/j.psym.2017.08.006. ISSN 0033-3182. PMC 5748000. PMID 28911819.
  69. ^ a b Newberg, Andrew B.; Wintering, Nancy A.; Morgan, Donna; Waldman, Mark R. (22 November 2006). "The measurement of regional cerebral blood flow during glossolalia: A preliminary SPECT study". Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging. 148 (1): 67–71. doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2006.07.001. ISSN 0925-4927. PMID 17046214. S2CID 17079826.
  70. ^ Wells, Rulon (December 1973). "William J. Samarin. Tongues of Men and Angels. The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. (New York, Macmillan, and London, Collier-Macmillan Ltd, 1972.) $7.95". Religious Studies. 9 (4): 503–506. doi:10.1017/S0034412500007307. ISSN 1469-901X.
  71. ^ Spanos, Nicholas P.; Cross, Wendy P.; Lepage, Mark; Coristine, Marjorie (1986). "Glossolalia as learned behavior: An experimental demonstration". Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 95 (1): 21–23. doi:10.1037//0021-843X.95.1.21. {{cite journal}}: External link in |doi= (help)
  72. ^ "Language Center of the Brain Is Not Under the Control of Subjects Who "Speak in Tongues" – PR News". www.pennmedicine.org. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  73. ^ a b c Kent, Ray D. (1 November 2015). "Nonspeech Oral Movements and Oral Motor Disorders: A Narrative Review". Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 24 (4): 763–789. doi:10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0179. ISSN 1058-0360. OCLC 8146899752. PMC 4698470. PMID 26126128. (at Appendix A)
  74. ^ Cave, David Sachs; Norris, Rebecca (2012). Religion and the Body. Modern Science and the Construction of Religious Meaning. Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004225343. hdl:20.500.12657/45980. ISBN 9789004225343. OCLC 1238010307. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  75. ^ H A Osser; P F Ostwald; B Macwhinney; R L Casey (1 March 1973). "Glossolalic speech from a psycholinguistic perspective". J Psycholinguist Res. 2 (1): 9–19. doi:10.1007/BF01067109. ISSN 0090-6905. OCLC 4664154487. PMID 24197793. S2CID 36005466.
  76. ^ Lynn, Christopher Dana; Paris, Jason; Frye, Cheryl Anne; Schell, Lawrence M. (2010). "Salivary Alpha-Amylase and Cortisol Among Pentecostals on a Worship and Nonworship Day". American Journal of Human Biology. 22 (6): 819–822. doi:10.1002/ajhb.21088. ISSN 1042-0533. PMC 3609410. PMID 20878966.
  77. ^ Wood, William W. (1965). Culture and personality aspects of the Pentecostal holiness religion. Mouton (IS). OCLC 797731718.[page needed]
  78. ^ a b Hine, Virginia H. (1969). "Pentecostal Glossolalia toward a Functional Interpretation". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 8 (2): 211–226. doi:10.2307/1384335. ISSN 0021-8294. JSTOR 1384335.
  79. ^ Wolfgang Vondey, Pentecostalism: A Guide for the Perplexed, T&T Clark, UK, 2012, p. 37-38
  80. ^ Gerald R. McDermott, The Oxford Handbook of Evangelical Theology, Oxford University Press, UK, 2013, p. 332
  81. ^ Mal Couch, A Bible Handbook to the Acts of the Apostles, Kregel Academic, USA, 1999, p. 38

Bibliography

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Further reading

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  • Cartledge, Mark J., ed. (2006). Speaking in Tongues: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives. Paternoster Press.
  • Ensley, Eddie (1977). Sounds of wonder: Speaking in tongues in the Catholic tradition. New York: Paulist Press.
  • Goodman, Felicitas D. (1972). Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-cultural Study of Glossolalia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Gromacki, Robert G. (1976). The Modern Tongues Movement. Baker Books. ISBN 978-0801037085.
  • Harris, Ralph W. (1973). Spoken by the Spirit: Documented Accounts of 'Other Tongues' from Arabic to Zulu. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House.
  • Hoekema, Anthony A. (1966). What about tongue-speaking?. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
  • Johnson, Luke Timothy (1998). Religious Experience in Earliest Christianity: A Missing Dimension in New Testament Studies. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ISBN 0800631293.
  • Keener, Craig (2011). Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. Vol. 1–2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.
  • Kelsey, Morton T. (1964). Tongue-Speaking: An Experiment in Religious Experience. New York: Doubleday.
  • Kostelnik, Joseph (1981). Prayer in the Spirit: The Missing Link. Prophetic Voice Publications. ISBN 9798764898568.
  • MacArthur, John F. (1993). Charismatic Chaos. Zondervan. ISBN 978-0310575726.
  • Malony, H. Newton; Lovekin, A. Adams (1985). Glossolalia: Behavioral Science Perspectives on Speaking in Tongues. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195035690.
  • May, Jordan D. (2013). Global Witness to Pentecost: The Testimony of 'Other Tongues'. Cleveland, TN: CPT Press.
  • Mills, Watson E. (1986). Speaking in Tongues: A Guide to Research on Glossolalia. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
  • Roberson, Dave (22 January 1999). The Walk of the Spirit — The Walk of Power: The Vital Role of Praying in Tongues (PDF). Dave Roberson Ministries. ISBN 978-1-929339-10-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 February 2013.
  • Roybal, Rory (2005). Miracles or Magic?. Xulon Press. ISBN 9781597812504.
  • Ruthven, Jon (2012). On the Cessation of the Charismata: The Protestant Polemic on Post-biblical Miracles (2nd ed.). Word & Spirit Press.
  • Sadler, Paul M. (2001). The Supernatural Sign Gifts of the Acts Period (PDF). Berean Bible Society. ISBN 1-893874-28-1. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011.
  • Sherrill, John L. (1964). They Speak with Other Tongues. New York: McGraw Hill.
  • Stronstad, Roger (1984). The charismatic theology of St. Luke. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.
  • Tarr, Del (2010). The Foolishness of God: A Linguist Looks at the Mystery of Tongues. Springfield, MO: Access Group Publishers.
  • Yun, Koo D. (2003). Baptism in the Holy Spirit. New York: University Press of America.
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