Speaking in tongues Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Theological explanations=== 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> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page