I WANT TO BELIEVE
I went to several Pentecostal and Charismatic churches for the first 25 years of my Christian walk (and 15 years prior), including: UPC, Independent Pentecostal, Apostolic Faith, Assemblies of God, Independent Charismatic, and Vineyard Movement. I spoke in tongues as it is taught by all those denominations. But after 45 years of studying the Bible, growing spiritually, and experiencing God, I found that I was deceived, and that what I was practicing was not of divine origin.
That knowledge did not come suddenly. But looking back on that experience, not once did I hear an authentic Biblical tongues in which a real and intelligible message was conveyed. Every time I heard tongues and interpretation, they did not have a semblance of comparison. I listened to this video:
which sounds like a language with a translation. Can someone with linguistic knowledge prove to me that it is? Otherwise, I have to assume that it's a Big Fish Story.
I also listened to this video:
It is unconvincing. The point of it is that the speech center of the man's brain was inactive while he was speaking in tongues. DUH!! It means he wasn't speaking anything that had meaning. One could say he was just moving his mouth and making noise, so of course the speech center of his brain was inactive. So it doesn't prove anything at all.
The problem with "sounding like..." doesn't make it true or authentic. In order for me (and millions of other Christians like me) to know that modern tongues is authentic and of God is to show its miraculous nature. Just claiming it is miraculous doesn't make it so. Neither does debating scripture and opinions cut the mustard, as has been proven by many posts in several forums.
What needs to happen is for someone with authentic Biblical tongues to make a video of them speaking in tongues, and let it be examined by linguists who have the ability to decode the message. Like the video above, tongues and interpretation would really be great, in which a linguist can figure out the message in tongues and verify that the interpretation is correct.
What I would like is for people to stop being lazy about this issue. If people started recording their tongues and transliterating what they said, and presented it to linguists for translation, think about how the churches could be edified. Pentecostals and Charismatics (P/Cs) everywhere would be greatly encouraged that this activity is proven miraculous. There would be no more excuses for cessationists to reject it, so it would bring unity to Christians everywhere. False tongues would be exposed and that would shut the mouths of pretenders and those deceived.
But according to this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Tongues-men-angels-religious-
Pentecostalism/dp/B0006C0R5U/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=samarin&qid=1561690737&s=books&sr=1-1
modern tongues is a pseudo-language. It sounds like a language, but lacks structure and vocabulary to convey any meaning. It also states that non-Christians can do it, and in fact, anyone can do it, if they try hard enough. I have done it myself (it was sincere), since at the time I was Pentecostal and firmly believed in it. That anyone can do it has been verified, since non-Christians have done it.
And according to P/C doctrine, every Christian could/should/may speak in tongues. The doctrinal statements go something like this: Every Christian can receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues, and speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. So if we examine these statements carefully, there is a clear assumption that anyone can speak in tongues (if baptized in the Spirit). This implies that anyone can do it, in fact, it is the expectation of P/Cs that every Christian ought to have this experience.
Yet, it is clearly NOT a Biblical expectation. The apostle Paul taught that the Holy Spirit is the one who decides who gets what gift, even if he said "desire earnestly the best gifts." Desiring a gift doesn't guarantee getting it, because it is given by God, not taken by people. Yet, it remains a P/C expectation, to the extent that it is a dogma in those denominations.
I claim that modern tongues is a human ability, and is not of divine origin (nor is it demonic). Let someone prove me wrong. Post a video of yourself speaking in tongues, and also post a transliteration of what you spoke in that video, along with the interpretation. Let's get some linguistic evaluation of it, to find out if there is a real message in it, or if it's merely random syllables that convey no meaning, and if the interpretation really corresponds to the "tongues." This action could edify the churches greatly, as it could prove (or disprove) the miraculous nature of modern tongues; provided, of course, that people aren't lying about not knowing the language they are speaking.
So far the stories I have heard about missionaries hearing words in English (or other known languages) that someone spoke who didn't know the language, are unconvincing. I have memorized psalms and other scriptures in other languages I didn't know and spoke them. It is easy for a missionary to learn "praise Jesus" or other short phrases in the indigent language and repeat them while "speaking in tongues." Such anecdotes simply are not convincing.
As long as people are kept in the dark, the controversy will never be resolved. Christians will continue to be divided on the issue. Counterfeit tongues will continue to cover up any authentic gift by virtue of sheer noise. So then, why continue to keep people in the dark about it? Is it too much work? Is there a fear of exposure, that it might show that "The Emperor Has No Clothes"? Is this why P/Cs want tongues to remain in the realm of the mysterious?
I get that P/Cs have a vested interest in keeping people in the dark about it. The Bible says "he who comes to the light does so, that it might be shown that what he has done has been done through God." So, if anyone wants to show that his gift of tongues is done through God, then the way to do that is the way I suggested above. But if people don't want to do that, it begs the question 'why'. Because if modern tongues is not miraculous and not of God, then anyone who does it and claims it is a gift of the Spirit is taking the Lord's name in vain. It's just like someone claiming to be a prophet and saying "thus saith the Lord" when the Lord did not speak to them - that person takes the Lord's name
in vain (in other words, misusing God). So it is with someone who speaks random syllables with no inherent meaning, and says "it's a miraculous gift of the Spirit". Such a person is taking the name of the Lord in vain, because it is neither miraculous, nor a gift of the Spirit. Just because a person sincerely believes that what they are speaking is the authentic gift of tongues, doesn't make it so, and it doesn't get them off the hook about taking the Lord's name in vain.
Come on, people. Stop the laziness. Do the work. Prove the miraculous nature of speaking in tongues. Real healings have been documented. I don't mean Big Fish Stories. I mean pictures, Xrays, before/after comparisons, doctors examining and diagnosing, and documenting the healings. Why can't this be done with tongues? The only documented evidence I've seen is such as in the book I referenced "Tongues of Men and Angels," that shows the marked non-miraculous nature of it. Let's get busy on the other side, doing the same evaluation of the authentic gift!
Anecdotal evidence is not enough. It's not enough that people have testimonies about it. P/Cs have been historically notorious for Big Fish stories (so have groups in other denominations). Hearsay is not valid evidence. Just because you believe a story doesn't make it true. What is valid evidence in this case is videos, transliterations, translations, and linguistic evaluations. I dare say that every video posted on youtube of people speaking in tongues is not authentic Biblical tongues. Prove me wrong. Do the work.
But this I say to people who respond badly to this post (which is likely): are you afraid that your so-called "gift" will be shown to be fraudulent? Will you lazily keep on arguing theory, conjecture, and urban legend? Such debates rely on the ignorance of people and exalts opinions as if those opinions are "God's word." Only clear physical evidence can bring Christians together on the issue. I WANT to believe, and I WANT to be proven wrong. But at this point, I think modern tongues is just a Big Fish Story.
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