Pentecostalism

=====Tongues and interpretation=====
[[File:Centro de Fe Emanuel, culto.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Pentecostals pray in tongues at an Assemblies of God church in [[Cancún]], [[Mexico]]]]
A Pentecostal believer in a spiritual experience may vocalize fluent, unintelligible utterances ([[glossolalia]]) or articulate a natural language previously unknown to them ([[xenoglossy]]). Commonly termed "speaking in tongues", this vocal phenomenon is believed by Pentecostals to include an endless variety of languages. According to Pentecostal theology, the language spoken (1) may be an unlearned human language, such as the Bible claims happened on the Day of Pentecost, or (2) it might be of heavenly ([[angel]]ic) origin. In the first case, tongues could work as a sign by which witness is given to the unsaved. In the second case, tongues are used for praise and prayer when the mind is superseded and "the speaker in tongues speaks to God, speaks mysteries, and ... no one understands him".<ref name=foundations341>Duffield and Van Cleave 1983, p. 341.</ref>

Within Pentecostalism, there is a belief that speaking in tongues serves two functions. Tongues as the ''initial evidence'' of the third work of grace, baptism with the Holy Spirit,<ref name="TWTHS2002"/> and in individual prayer serves a different purpose than tongues as a spiritual gift.<ref name=foundations341/><ref name=emergingmagisteriumpg177>Robeck 2003, p. 177.</ref> All Spirit-filled believers, according to initial evidence proponents, will speak in tongues when baptized in the Spirit and, thereafter, will be able to express prayer and praise to God in an unknown tongue. This type of tongue speaking forms an important part of many Pentecostals' personal daily devotions. When used in this way, it is referred to as a "prayer language" as the believer is speaking unknown languages not for the purpose of communicating with others but for "communication between the soul and God".<ref name=emergingmagisteriumpg174-175>Robeck 2003, pp. 174–175.</ref> Its purpose is for the spiritual edification of the individual. Pentecostals believe the private use of tongues in prayer (i.e. "prayer in the Spirit") "promotes a deepening of the prayer life and the spiritual development of the personality". From [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%208:26-27&version=NIV Romans 8:26–27], Pentecostals believe that the Spirit [[Intercession|intercedes]] for believers through tongues; in other words, when a believer prays in an unknown tongue, the Holy Spirit is supernaturally directing the believer's prayer.<ref name=foundations345>Duffield and Van Cleave 1983, p. 345.</ref>

Besides acting as a prayer language, tongues also function as the ''gift of tongues''. Not all Spirit-filled believers possess the gift of tongues. Its purpose is for gifted persons to publicly "speak with God in praise, to pray or sing in the Spirit, or to speak forth in the congregation".<ref name=foundations342>Duffield and Van Cleave 1983, p. 342.</ref> There is a division among Pentecostals on the relationship between the gifts of tongues and prophecy.<ref name=divisionontongues>Aker, Benny C. [http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/top/Holy_Spirit/200701.cfm "The Gift Of Tongues In 1 Corinthians 14:1–5"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928015326/http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/top/Holy_Spirit/200701.cfm |date=2011-09-28 }}. ''[http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/ Enrichment Journal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919022720/http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/ |date=2010-09-19 }}''. Accessed May 24, 2011.</ref> One school of thought believes that the gift of tongues is always directed from man to God, in which case it is always prayer or praise spoken to God but in the hearing of the entire congregation for encouragement and consolation. Another school of thought believes that the gift of tongues can be prophetic, in which case the believer delivers a "message in tongues"—a prophetic utterance given under the influence of the Holy Spirit—to a congregation.

Whether prophetic or not, however, Pentecostals are agreed that all public utterances in an unknown tongue must be interpreted in the language of the gathered Christians.<ref name="foundations346"/> This is accomplished by the [[Interpretation of tongues|gift of interpretation]], and this gift can be exercised by the same individual who first delivered the message (if he or she possesses the gift of interpretation) or by another individual who possesses the required gift. If a person with the gift of tongues is not sure that a person with the gift of interpretation is present and is unable to interpret the utterance themself, then the person should not speak.<ref name=foundations346/> Pentecostals teach that those with the gift of tongues should pray for the gift of interpretation.<ref name=foundations342/> Pentecostals do not require that an interpretation be a literal word-for-word translation of a glossolalic utterance. Rather, as the word "interpretation" implies, Pentecostals expect only an accurate explanation of the utterance's meaning.<ref name=foundations343>Duffield and Van Cleave 1983, p. 343.</ref>

Besides the gift of tongues, Pentecostals may also use glossolalia as a form of praise and worship in corporate settings. Pentecostals in a church service may pray aloud in tongues while others pray simultaneously in the common language of the gathered Christians.<ref name=Crossroads83>Poloma 1989, p. 83.</ref> This use of glossolalia is seen as an acceptable form of prayer and therefore requires no interpretation. Congregations may also corporately sing in tongues, a phenomenon known as [[singing in the Spirit]].

Speaking in tongues is not universal among Pentecostal Christians. In 2006, a ten-country survey by the [[Pew Forum]] on Religion and Public Life found that 49 percent of Pentecostals in the US, 50 percent in Brazil, 41 percent in South Africa, and 54 percent in India said they "never" speak or pray in tongues.<ref name=Pew16-17/>