English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- To speak in tongues is to speak, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, in a language you never learned, as the disciples did at Pentecost in Acts 2.
- The Assemblies of God, the Church of God and the Church of God in Christ teach that tongues are the first sign of being baptized in the Spirit, and Oneness Pentecostals make that sign part of the new birth.
- Charismatic Catholics, Episcopalians and Methodists pray in tongues without making it a required sign, and the Catholic Catechism counts tongues among the charisms that serve the common good.
- The Church of the Nazarene, the Salvation Army, the Missouri Synod Lutherans, the Presbyterian Church in America and the Evangelical Friends all teach that tongues are not the sign of the Spirit.
- Jehovah’s Witnesses and many Reformed Christians hold that the gift has ended, as does a teaching journal among the Churches of Christ, and they read 1 Corinthians 13:8 that way.
- The Greek Orthodox and Coptic churches honor the miracle of Pentecost but do not encourage tongues in their prayer today.
- Paul put his chapter on love between his two chapters on the gifts, and church after church, whatever it teaches about tongues, comes back to love as the mark of the Spirit.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture is quoted from the King James Version: Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4–6, 2:39, 10:46, 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10–11, 12:30, 13:1, 13:8–10, 14:2, 14:18–19, 14:27–28, 14:39–40.
- Assemblies of God, Statement of Fundamental Truths, articles 7 and 8.
- Assemblies of God General Presbytery, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, position paper adopted August 2010.
- Assemblies of God, history of the Assemblies of God (Topeka and Azusa Street).
- Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee), Declaration of Faith.
- Church of God in Christ, What We Believe.
- United Pentecostal Church International, Our Beliefs and its page on Oneness Pentecostalism.
- Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Spirit and Power: A 10-Country Survey of Pentecostals (2006).
- The Christian Century, Charismatic and Mainline (2006); Pneuma Review, Touched by the Wind: The Charismatic Movement in the Episcopal Church (2000); biography of Dennis Bennett (Christian Renewal Association, Oral Roberts University).
- Episcopal Church, Book of Common Prayer (1979), Catechism.
- Church of England House of Bishops, guidelines for good practice in the healing ministry.
- Anvil 20:3 (2003), Canal, River and Rapids: Contemporary Evangelicalism in the Church of England, for the General Synod report The Charismatic Movement in the Church of England (Church Information Office, 1981), which we have not read.
- National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, About Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
- Pope Francis, Vigil on the eve of Pentecost, Circus Maximus, 3 June 2017, and address to the Renewal in the Holy Spirit, 1 June 2014.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 799–801 and 2003.
- Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium, 12 (1964).
- United Methodist Church, Guidelines: The UMC and the Charismatic Movement (Book of Resolutions, readopted 2024), and the Articles of Religion.
- The Salvation Army, Handbook of Doctrine (2010), The Church, section D.
- Evangelical Friends Church Mid-America Yearly Meeting, Faith and Practice (2022).
- Church of the Nazarene, Manual 2023, paragraph 926, and Articles of Faith, XIV.
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, Commission on Theology and Church Relations, The Lutheran Church and the Charismatic Movement (1977).
- Presbyterian Church in America, A Pastoral Letter Concerning the Holy Spirit (1975).
- Christianity Today, report on the 1970 United Presbyterian General Assembly.
- Southern Baptist Convention, The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), article II.C.
- Christianity Today, International Mission Board Drops Ban on Speaking in Tongues (2015); Baptist News Global, IMB drops ban on “private prayer language” (2015).
- Christian Courier, Can Christians Speak in Tongues Today? and Modern Miracles: True or False?
- Jehovah’s Witnesses, What Does the Bible Teach About Speaking in Tongues?
- Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, What are the Tongues in 1 Corinthians?; Fundamental Belief 18.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Guide to the Scriptures, “Tongues, Gift of”; Articles of Faith 1:7.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies V.6; John Chrysostom, Homily 29 on First Corinthians; Augustine, Homily 6 on the First Epistle of John. Dates from the Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Department of Religious Education, Did You Know: Speaking in Tongues and Spiritual Gifts.
- Pope Shenouda III, Comparative Theology; Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, Questions and Answers: Charismatic Movements.
- United Church of Christ, Evangelical Catechism (1929), questions 76–77.
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Church for Disciples of Christ (1997), and Theological Foundations and Policies and Criteria for the Ordering of Ministry (2016).
- Mennonite Church USA, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective (1995), article 3.
Leave a Reply