Questions About Tongues

By Mike James

In Acts 2, we have the first example of the gift of tongues occurring. The Holy Spirit caused this miracle to occur (Acts 2:4), and the miracle was the ability to speak in foreign languages and to be understood by speakers of that language (Acts 2:5-12).

Later in 1 Corinthians 12:10, we read that some will have the gift of speaking in tongues (diverse languages) and others will have the gift of interpreting those languages. The same Greek word here, glossa, is used in Acts 2, where it was clear we are speaking about foreign languages.

Another example of this occurring happens in Acts 10:45-46, where the experience seems to be the same as that which occurred in Acts 2. Proof of this is found in Acts 11:15-17, where we read in verse 15 that what happened in Acts 10 was the same as what happened in Acts 2. We also see an example in Acts 19:6. We don't have a lot of detail in Acts 10 and 19, but since this is the same writer, we should assume the tongue experience was similar in all of these cases, especially with the details in Acts 11.

Further support for the idea that tongues in the New Testament refer to foreign human languages can be found in Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:6, and Revelation 17:15. In each of these verses, the context is clear that tongues are the languages of people on earth.

There are certain Christian denominations who believe that the gift of tongues includes unintelligible languages that are not human languages. But when we look for biblical evidence of this, we will see that the support for this is weak at best.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now, another scripture that pertains to tongues is 1 Corinthians 13:1, where the context seems consistent with what we have seen above. "Tongues" seems to be implying the languages of men. The tongues of angels are also mentioned here, but this verse does not say that the gift of tongues includes some angelic language no one has ever heard before. It is just saying men have certain tongues or languages, and angels do too, but no detail is provided on the tongues of angels. This is one of the scriptures used by proponents of the idea that the gift of tongues includes unintelligible languages that no one has ever heard before. But that is reading something into this scripture that is not there.

Yet another example of a debated scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 14:2. Notice this verse in two different translations.

"For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries" (KJV).

"For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries" (NASB 1995).

Note that the word "unknown" is not in most translations; it was added by some translators. Some read the word "unknown" here and interpret it to mean that this is an unintelligible language, not a foreign language like the example at Pentecost. They also find support for this idea in the fact it says that they don't speak unto men but to God. But it is possible if someone had the gift of tongues (speaking in a human foreign language) that in their local church, most would not understand a foreign language, but God could understand any language.

Notice that in 1 Corinthians 14:5, Paul is letting us know that if someone is speaking in tongues, he needs to interpret it for the people listening in order for it to be edifying. Putting this together with our original examples in Acts, we know there were people present on Pentecost who knew different languages. In Acts 10 and Acts 19, Gentiles spoke in tongues to prove to the disciples that the Holy Spirit was manifesting with them. So, the circumstances are a bit different in each of these examples, but no proof that tongues were "unknown" languages in any of these cases.

As you read further in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul emphasizes the importance of tongues being used only when they can be interpreted. If nobody understands it, there is no point to it.

Now there is a debate on 1 Corinthians 14. Some argue that Paul is talking here about unintelligible speech and that it is a different type of tongue than foreign languages. Be careful what you read about this, but note an important verse in this chapter that provides support for what we are saying.

In verse 21, Paul quotes from a prophecy in Isaiah 28:11 to add context to his discourse in this chapter. The quote from Isaiah addresses another tongue as the foreign language of another group of people and not a gibberish language that no one has heard before.

One other scripture used to suggest that tongues include unintelligible speech and not just foreign languages is 2 Corinthians 12:4. But there is no detail here to support the idea that the "unspeakable words" here relate to the speaking in tongues. You have to read that into the text.

The last scripture I'll mention in this discussion is Romans 8:26. Some find support in this to say that tongues is unintelligible speech, but the word "tongues" is not even being used here; it is talking about praying to God and how the Holy Spirit helps with that.