1 Corinthians 13-14 (On Prophecy and Tongues, Part 2)

Tongues in Acts

I take the gift of tongues in Acts 2 to have been the miraculous ability to hear in one’s own tongue — and I don’t know whether the apostles spoke in multiple languages or that’s how God allowed them to be heard, but it must have sounded odd or else why accuse the men of drunkenness?

But the tongues spoken by new converts in Acts — or “tongues and prophesying” — was surely ecstatic speech as in Numbers 11. For example,

(Act 19:6 ESV)  6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Notice that the laying on of hands was used to commission for a task of office.

And so I take the Numbers passage to be a precursor to the accounts in Acts of newly converted people speaking in tongues. It’s as though God ordains them for their Christian mission by giving them tongues, just as he did for the 70 in Numbers (the predecessors to the Jerusalem Sanhedrin — which was busy persecuting the church. Do you see the irony?). But it was for most a one-time experience to mark them as God’s people with a special office — as in Numbers 11 — the office of follower-of-Christ.

Tongues in Corinth

Now, even if we could prove with videotape evidence that the Christians in Corinth spoke in human languages, the fact would remain that the Bible records the Spirit prompting ecstatic speech — and so we could not rule out modern ecstatic speech as necessarily illegitimate. If the Spirit could prompt such speech in Numbers and 1 Samuel, the Spirit could do it today. Why not?

So the whole debate over the nature of tongues in Corinth proves very little. But the thin evidence we have suggests that tongues were not merely the translation of a sermon into a foreign language. After all, it appears that even the tongues speaker did not know what he was saying without an interpreter.

(1Co 14:9-13 ESV)  9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.  10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning,  11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.  12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.  13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

If the tongue speaker was in control of what he was saying, he’d know what he was saying with no gift of interpretation. Therefore, tongues communicated a message from the Spirit independent of the intentions of the speaker.

(1Co 14:14 ESV)  14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 

Why unfruitful? If you know what you are saying, then you can tell your listeners what you just said in fluent Swahili or angel-tongue. But if you don’t know, then you’ve only made noise — unless an interpreter is present.

(1Co 14:15-19 ESV) 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.  16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?  17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.  18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.  19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Paul contrasts “speaking with my mind” in v. 19 with “ten thousand words in a tongue.” Surely he means that speaking in a tongue is, well, mindless — the Spirit’s mind, not his — and inaccessible without an interpreter.

Hence, he means by “I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also” (v. 15) that he will not pray in a tongue (in the assembly), but will word the prayer himself (not relying on the Spirit as in tongues).

Conclusions

Efforts to “prove” by the scriptures that modern charismatic gifts are illegitimate fail. 1 Corinthians and Acts weren’t written to legitimate or illegitimate modern charismata. It’s not why we have those books. And when we use them this way, we find ourselves imposing conclusions foreign to the text — and we miss the real lessons that are there. (We have a long way to go before we’re done with chapters 13 and 14!)

On the other hand, there are elements of Pentecostal teaching that are properly criticized by the larger Christian community. An excellent resource is A Theology of the Holy Spirit by Frederick Dale Bruner. For many years, this was a standard text for Bible majors at Lipscomb University. (I bought a copy on the recommendation of a Bible major friend.) I imagine things have changed, but it remains an excellent resource.

The author develops a very thoughtful, well-reasoned theology of the Spirit, and then he discusses much Pentecostal teaching — especially the notion that attaining the gift of tongues requires attaining to a certain level of holiness or sinlessness — which is a very false teaching that has harmed many a young Christian desperate for the gift. It’s a works salvation — which is likely one reason many in the Churches of Christ bought into this brand of Pentecostalism in the 1970s. It met an emotional need while being legalistic in a new but nonetheless familiar way.

And I’m sure the readers are familiar with churches where gifts of the Spirit are misused in ways that plainly contradict 1 Corinthians 12 – 14.

(1Co 14:37-38 ESV) If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.  38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

A church that fails to honor Paul’s teachings regarding use of the Spirit in the assembly is not, well, very spiritual.

And, of course, many a faith healer has been proven to be a fraud. We should not be gullible.

(Mat 10:16 ESV) “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Nonetheless, boil it all down, and there is no scriptural basis to declare all contemporary ecstatic speech illegitimate. Even if you could prove that it’s not “tongues,” it still would fit within the biblical meaning of “prophecy.” Hence, we cannot simply declare it wrong — as though God made us Pope or something.

Rather, our charge is to credit the Spirit with the Spirit’s work.

(Mat 12:31-32 ESV) 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.  32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

I may not get every interpretation right, but I think I can correctly conclude that I’d better not be speaking ill of things that actually come from the Spirit! Jesus himself warns us in the most severe terms possible not to speak ill of the Spirit’s work — and many among us do exactly that. And they’ve been warned. I’ll not partake of that spirit.

Hence, I have an open mind because Jesus told me to have an open mind. If that makes me a liberal or a Pentecostal or a charismatic or whatever, well, I obey Jesus. But because I obey Jesus, I will not be naive or gullible. Rather, I will test the spirits.

(1Jo 4:1 ESV) Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

(Mat 7:15-20 ESV) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.  19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

Amen. These are the very words of God.