I DO NOT WANT A DEBATE ON THIS SUBJECT
Why Most Churches do not believe the Charismatic experiences are Real.
A NON-CHARISMATIC UNDERSTANDING OF TONGUES
SEGMENT 1 of 9- - By: VCO
My purpose for writing this Bible Study is not to argue with my Pentecostal brothers and sisters, whom I love and respect sincerely. The sole purpose is to present what most non-charismatic Churches teach and believe on this highly controversial subject, showing how we arrive at our Biblical understanding concerning the
gift of tongues and why we do not believe in the modern day tongues movement
. First and Foremost, I consider the “gift of tongues” a very minor issue that certainly is not worth arguing about. As I have heard Dr. John MacArthur Jr. say, “I am much more concerned about those who gossip in a language that we all understand, than those who speak in an ‘unknown tongue’ that no one understands.” It saddens me however, to realize that this issue has been so blown out of proportion, that it has caused great splits in the Church. Despite the splits, we are still one body (
1 Cor. 12:13), even if some of us don’t like to admit it. The following is what I believe to be the truth about this confusion (
1 Cor. 14:33) over the “
Gift of Tongues”.
In this Bible Study, I will strive to back up any statements that I make, with as much Biblical proof as possible. I absolutely believe the Bible, being the inspired Word of God,
is the ultimate authority. The wisdom of men, opinions apart from Biblical proof, feelings, personal experiences, what we have seen with our eyes, etc.; are of little or no value when trying to prove something Biblically. Why, because all of those things can be manipulated by the human mind or Satan, but he cannot change the Word of God (
1 Pet. 1:25). 2 Cor. 5:7 NIV, “We live by faith, not by sight.”
Rom. 10:17 NKJV, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
Mat. 24:35 NIV, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Since most of us can agree that the Bible is the ultimate authority, I urge you to personally check everything I say, against what the Bible says. I believe it is our duty as Christians to
put our faith in the Word of God, not in men. No matter how learned or how famous the Bible Teacher, he must withstand the test of Scripture. The Bereans even checked the Scriptures daily, to make sure Paul was teaching it right.
Acts 17:11 NIV, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and
examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” What this verse tells me, is not only is every Bible teacher to be put to the test by the Scriptures, but we through the Holy Spirit in us, have the ability to discern the truth and understand what the Bible means by what it says;
if we will diligently search the Scriptures daily, (
1 Cor. 2:14).
Job 32:8 NIV, “But it is the Spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding.”
Mat. 7:7 NIV, “. . .
seek” {
diligently in the Greek} “and you will find . . .”
One of the most important ways we do this is by comparing what one verse says, to what other verses pertaining to the same subject say.
You cannot ever use a verse in a way that contradicts another verse. God did not make any mistakes! God is perfect; therefore, His Word is perfect!
Deut. 32:4,
Ps. 18:30,
Ps. 19:7,
James 1:25, etc. God never changes (
Mal. 3:6); therefore, His Word never changes. What it meant when it was written is what it means today.
Mat. 24:35,
Isa. 40:8,
Heb. 13:8, &
1 Pet. 1:25. If a man uses a verse in a way that contradicts another verse on the exact same subject, it most certainly is that man who made the mistake,
not God.
With all of this in mind, let us get in the study of what the Bible says about the “
Gift of Tongues”. There are at least two types of “tongues” speaking. The ability to miraculously speak an earthly language that they had never learned is one {which is what I believe the apostles did on the day of Pentecost,
Acts 2:6}. I will for the purpose of this study call that the “
Gift of Tongues” with a capital T, or the “
Gift of Languages”. The other type of “
tongues”, is the ecstatic speech or ecstatic utterances that are not a translatable earthly language {some times called “private prayer language”, “heavenly language that only God understands”, “
tongues of angels”, “Baptism in the Spirit”, “the Holy Spirit offering up Utterances”, “ecstatic babble”, etc.} I will for the purpose of this study refer to this as “unknown
tongues” with a small t in Italics, or “ecstatic utterances”.
We already know that the “
Gift of Tongues or Languages” was first manifested or originated on the day of Pentecost by the apostles. When and where did the
gift of “unknown
tongues” or “ecstatic utterances” originate? Were the Corinthians the first to manifest “unknown
tongues”, or did it begin before the Corinthian Church was founded?
If we start studying the history of religions in the world during the Bible times, we will discover that “unknown
tongues”, actually began centuries before the day of Pentecost, in the pagan “mystery religions”, (the worship of Ashtoreth and her son Baal, the worship of Isis and her son Osiris, the worship of Aphrodite and her son Eros, the worship of Venus and her son Cupid, etc.). {Ref: historian Samuel Angus’s book “The Mystery Religions”.} The mystery religions all had their origin at the “Tower of Babel”, where the high priestess, Semiramis, demanded that the people worship her and her son Tammuz, whom she claimed was conceived by a sunbeam. That was a counterfeit of the “virgin birth”, and later she even claimed that Tammuz was killed by a wild boar and rose from the dead; another counterfeit of Christ. {Satan has always liked to imitate what God does, such as when Pharaoh’s magicians turning their staffs into snakes,
Ex. 7:9-13.} When God destroyed the Tower of Babel,
Gen. 11:1-9; and confused the language and scattered the people all over the world; they took with them their pagan counterfeit virgin and son system of religion. Because of the new languages, Semiramis and Tammuz now had new names. In Greece they were called Aphrodite and Eros, the goddess and god of love.
Now you must remember, that most of the Congregation at the Church of Corinth, had been involved in the worship of one of these “mystery religions”, before they were saved.
1 Cor. 12:2 NIV, “You know that when you
were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.” These pagan “mystery religions”, {such as the worship of Aphrodite, Eros, and Zeus}, were very popular in Greece, not only because of the orgies that sometimes followed the worship service; but mainly because of the exciting feelings that were generated in the service itself. They indulged in what they called “ecstasy” or “ecstasis” in the Greek language, which meant “to cultivate a magical, sensuous communion with deity”. They also sought after “enthusiasm” or “enthousiasmos”, which in the Greek language means “a state of euphoria induced on someone to make them semiconscious” (“slain in the spirit”), a trance-like state of mind. While under the control of these feelings and emotions, they frequently “danced out of control” (danced in the spirit), and spoke in “unknown
tongues” that only the gods could understand. They were sure that this was definite proof that they had personally communed with the deity they were worshipping. Plato, the Greek philosopher, who lived from
427-347 B.C., referred to this euphoric state of ecstasy as
“divine frenzy”.
