Featured Babbling against Speaking in Tongues

Revmitchell: "When one does not have a basic understanding of proper exegesis they can come up with all kinds of wild doctrines to fit their presuppositions."

But your negative attitude towards tongues is birthed in an uneducated Baptist Ghetto that ignores Greek nuance and the relevant cultural background that applies "glossai" to oracular ecstatic speech that is mere gibberish in need of interpretation. My positive attitude is based on solid academic Bible commentaries written by scholars with no dog in this fight. I remind readers that my opponents freeze liken Bambi in the headlights when faced with my OP's detailed exegesis that they are unable to address, and so, ignore.

Revmitchel: "Paul did not say the tongues in Corinth were the tongues of angels, nor did he say that we would even be able to do so. His comment on his not speaking in angels tongues was hyperbole."

Academic commentaries with no pro-Pentecostal bias refute your arbitrary claim. Typical are Hans
Conzelmann's observations on 1 Cor 13:1 in his magisterial commentary "! Corinthians, p. 221:

"Paul is..after all thinking realistically of the language of angels., cf. 2 Cor 12:4, and further Ascension of Isaiah 7:15-25; Testament of Job 48-50: Job's daughters speak in the dialect of various classes of angels. A realistic interpretation is also indicated by the word order (glossais and lalo separated by ton anthropon; kai thereby acquires an intensifying effect."

Conzelmann might have added the example of first-century rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai who is famous for his ability to interpret angel speech. Also you overlook my point that Paul refers to the Corinthian tongues speakers as "zealots of spirits" (14:12) and "spirits" (pneumata) is a standard term for "angels" (see Hebrews 1:7). No hyperbole exists yet in Paul's phrase, "Though I speak in the tongues of men and of angels..."

 

Some Baptist readers are frustrated by the Baptist Ghettospeak of some of their brethren and want me to more fully expand on the biblical purpose and benefits of speaking in tongues. So I will defer my refutations of my critics until I have given a more complete treatment of the gift.

I have shared my personal testimony about how an incident of speaking in tongues was the most life-changing, emotionally nourishing, and intimate encounter with divine love, power and sweetness in my life. Much could be said about the value of tongues to the believer. But in this post I will explain just one of the most empowering functions of tongues. btw, I read a doctoral seminar paper on the point I make below to the 5 Harvard New Testament professors and it was well received.

In Romans 8:26-27 Paul expands on his command in Eph 6:18 to "pray in the Spirit:"

"Likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us with groans too deep for words (stenagmoi alaletai) ...the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

In other words, the Holy Spirit can take over our prayers and pray through us for what we need to pray for rather than for what we want to pray for or think we need to pray for. What this means more specifically depends on a more precise understanding of stenagmoi alaletai, a Greek phrase that is hard to translate. The meaning becomes clear when the Latin equivalent of the phrase in Lucan's Civil Wars (a work from Paul's day) and the Latin Vulgate is taken in to account. Lucan uses this phrase to describe the inarticulate gibberish or speaking in tongues of the prophetess at Delphi that must be interpreted by the male resident prophet. So in Romans 8:26-27 stenagmoi alaletai refers to intercessory prayer in tongues through which the Spirit offers petitions that satisfy God's will and are more effective for that very reason.

 

In my observation, cessationist Baptists relegate speaking in tongues and miracles to the age of the apostles because their own prayer lives are so anemic and impotent and they loathe the thought that Charismatics have far more effective and successful prayer lives than they do.

Let me offer a recent testimony that demonstrates how effective praying in the Spirit, that is, in tongues can be. My friend Dave had a life-threatening blood clot that extended from his groin area to his ankle. He was in great pain and doctors warned him not to move around much because a piece of the clot might break lose and go to his heart or his brain and kill him. Well, Dave didn't want his life to be paralyzed; so he decided to take his wife to Maverick's, a restaurant I can see from my living room window.

Meanwhile, Mark (another acquaintance of mine) had been baptized in the Spirit so powerfully that he had trouble desisting from speaking in tongues. His praying in the Spirit led him to Maverick's when Dave and his wife were there. Mark didn't know Dave, but felt prompted by the Spirit to approach him and ask, "Excuse me, but do you have a serious physical condition that needs prayer?" Dave was a bit taken aback by this question, but meekly said "Yes," because he couldn't lie about his serious condition. Mark then asked, "Would you like me to pray for healing?" Again, Dave felt obliged to say Yes, but felt self-conscious because other stunned customers were looking on. Dave hoped Mark would pray quietly so as not to draw too much attention, but Mark prayed loudly for his healing. As astonished doctors would later confirm, Dave was instantly healed and freed from all pain! Praise God! Only later did I learn that James, the owner of the restaurant, also had a blood clot and Mark's discernment discovered that fact and his prayer instantly healed James as well. This testimony illustrates the unique apostolic-like power that can be released by praying in tongues.

Fresh from his healing miracle, Dave felt constrained to pray for his mother-in-law who had a case of macular degeneration so severe that she could only see a blur. Dave and his wife prayed for a healing touch for this elderly woman. He brought her to see her ophthalmologist and a nurse was doing a routine check-up on her eyes, when she suddenly blurted out, "I can now read the eye chart!" The nurse ignored her comment, having established on other visits that she saw only a faint blur. But when Dave's mother-in-law read several lines from the chart, the shocked nurse began screaming and jumping around in dismay, disturbing the other patients and bringing the doctor out to quell the disorder. The doctor simply noted that he had no explanation for her amazing vision improvement, but insisted that she continue taking her eye drops just in case she needed this.