It is now time for me to conclude by rebuttal on Robert Morris’ message on “Praying in Tongues.” I appreciate his ministry and how God is using him to do mighty things in order to build the kingdom of God. I do not want to insinuate that just because I do not agree with his views on praying in tongues, that the man himself is not a godly man who does not love and serve the Lord from a genuine heart. That part I cannot judge, only the Lord judges us all with regards to our hearts.
But for those of you who still persist in praying in tongues, good for you. I got no issue with that. Pray gibberish all you want. It is no skin off of my back. I do not make praying in tongues an organized issue unless someone brings it up to me personally and ask for my thoughts on it, which is what occurred here when a good friend of mine, Roy Graham asked me to listen to Robert Morris’ message.
So in conclusion, I have some questions for those who are passionate tongue praying enthusiasts.
1. Why do different charismatic groups have different vowels and accents of praying in tongues?
Russian is always Russian no matter who speaks it. French is always French no matter who speaks it. My point? Whatever language is spoken, it does not change from culture to culture in its basic natural linguistic sense. But when it comes to praying in tongues, whatever nationality does it, they impose on it their own vowels and accents. Maybe there are various forms of gibberish!
2. Why did praying in tongues exist prior to the birth of Christianity?
The birth of the church can be biblically traced back to Acts 2 -- on the Day of Pentecost. This is where the Pentecostal movement traces its origin. This is the time speaking in tongues (2:4) was first introduced in the Bible as a gift from the Holy Spirit. This phenomenon was the result of people speaking languages that had not been previously known.
Yet praying in gibberish can be traced back for hundreds of years since then. Praying in gibberish had been practiced for many years along with other ecstatic phenomena by the prophets of the ancient religions of the Near East. Prophets and mystics of Assyria, Egypt, and Greece reportedly spoke in gibberish during states of ecstasy and uttered unintelligible phrases said to be revelations from the gods…The practice was known in ancient India and China, and ethnographies describe glossolalia in almost every area of the world. How can this be if this gibberish praying is said to be from the Holy Spirit?
3. Why did Jesus forbid gibberish praying if He knew what one day soon the Holy Spirit would give it as a gift?
Matthew 6:7: “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition (battalogeó) as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.”
The Greek word that was translated into “meaningless repetition” means “to blubber nonsensical repetitions; to chatter, using empty (vain) words.” and “to repeat the same things over and over, to use many idle words, to babble, prate.” Here Jesus clearly tells us this is what the “pagans” (Gentiles) do. So pagans can pray in tongues without the aid and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
4. Why do non Christian religions include praying in tongues as part of their worship?
To make matters even worse or more confusing, not only are forms of praying in tongues present before the advent of Christianity, but are even now practiced in the more ecstatic fringe elements of other religions. In a large scale survey of American Christianity, the Pew Forum found that not only did 24% of Orthodox and 18% of Catholic responders claim to have spoken in tongues, but also groups like Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses have 11% and 8% of their adherents engaged in the practice of praying in a tongue.
Now it may be argued that the above are merely examples of the real gift being counterfeited. But remember, tongue praying was taking places years before the birth of Christianity. So why was there a need to counterfeit gibberish since Christianity had not yet been born?
5. If interpretation is said to be the missing ingredient mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14, then why don’t we see more of it?
This is what Paul said: “If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret: but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church and speak to himself and to God” (1 Cor. 14:28). So Paul clearly states that if there is no one to interpret, keep silent!
6. If praying in tongues is the same as in the Book of Acts, then why isn’t it identified as a language?
Some would say, “It is a language. The language of angels!” Please, every time an angel in the Bible spoke, he spoke with a language that was understood by the listener. We have no account anywhere in the Bible where angels are babbling.
7. If praying in tongues is a bona fide language, then when interpretations are given, why different interpretations are given for the same vowels, accents and syllables?
If you ever been part of a praying in tongues gathering and someone who claims to have the gift of interpretation will interpret the meaning, and then sometime later, the same person saying the same gibberish will have it interpreted with a different meaning by someone else. How can this be?
8. If praying in tongues is a supernatural gift from the Holy Spirit, then why are so many who practice it are trained beforehand to do so?
When I prayed in tongues for six years, I simply learned how to do so. I could pray in a tongue while being deep in sin! Why? Because I learned how to.
9. If praying in tongues is so much a part of Christianity and a vital communication with God, then why didn’t Jesus show us the way?
In fact, of all the three places where spiritual gifts are mentioned -- Romans 12; 1 Cor. 12-14; Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 4 -- tongues is never mentioned by Peter, James, John, Jude, and only mentioned by Paul because he had to correct the Corinthians who were abusing it.
And how is this: Tithing is mentioned in the Bible but hardly practiced. Praying in tongues is not mentioned and widely practiced!
10. Why do most of those who pray in tongues are only able to justify their practice by their experiences and not by using correct hermeneutical methods?
Every person praying in tongues that I have spoken to and listened to, always spent more times justifying their practice with their experiences than with sound hermeneutical principles of seeking truth from the Bible.
Then when they try to use the Bible, they do the following:
Leave out the context of the passage they use.
Skip over verses that goes contrary to what they are practicing.
Come up using eisegesis by which they add their interpretation to the text of Scripture.
Simply rely on the voice and wisdom from their favorite bible teacher or some well-respected personality within Christendom.
Conclusion: There is so much that just isn’t right and too many questionable areas regarding praying in tongues. I find it ironic that for some reason, tongues prayers believe that the highest point and potential of their prayers to God is to use gibberish that no one can understand, including the one praying, rather than simply pray in a language that can be understood.
Can I serve alongside of those who pray in tongues? Absolutely. Can I fellowship with those who pray in tongues? I do! I simply cannot support the practice of those who pray in tongues because I do not find scriptural support to do so.
End of Part 11 - Series Complete
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