Dear Brother Mike, being that Paul probably spoke Greek, Hebrew, and Italian for certain, tongues wouldn't seem to be those. And then what edification would Paul have derived by speaking in such a language?

1 Corinthians 14:4  He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself.
 
1 Corinthians 14:18  I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:

I do know that when I received the Holy Spirit, I spoke in a language that I did not know, and was joyful. At the same time my wife, being Hispanic heard a woman at another part of the altar speaking very good Spanish, and later asked her about it; the woman was Italian and didn't know Spanish. I do not know if the language I spoke was a literal earthly language or not, but I believe God knew it, and was pleased with it.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit gave me that feeling of joy unspeakable and full of glory: possibly that ecstatic language being a part of the edifying, or lifting up of my spirit; my praise became fervently unrestrained, and my singing passionate.

In Jesus' name.
 

Dear brother, I do not know of any since it seemed to not be common for many years in the dark ages. It seemed to come alive again in the twentieth century with the old Azusa Street church meetings in Los Angles in 1906. I've heard it described somewhere as the latter rain, and there is many testimonies of that pouring out of the Spirit.

Taken from WikipediA - The Azusa Street Revival was a historic Pentecostal revival meeting that took place in Los Angeles, California and was led by William J. Seymour, an African American preacher. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906 at the African Methodist Episcopal Church and continued until roughly 1915. The revival was characterized by ecstatic spiritual experiences accompanied by speaking in tongues, dramatic worship services, and inter-racial mingling. The participants received criticism from secular media and Christian theologians for behaviors considered to be outrageous and unorthodox, especially at the time. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for the spread of Pentecostalism in the 20th century.

In Jesus' name.

Larry,
Thanks again for your reply. I am familiar with the Azusa Street revival. I also agree that it seems that the widespread consistent description of tongues speaking as glossolalia extends from the Pentecostal movement of the early 1900s, and possibly somewhat from the preceding holiness churches in the mid to latter 1800s.

But the Bible says nothing about mad women in the church in Corinth.


The Bible specifies no such thing.  A tongue can be a major dialect.  The speaker's understanding was 'unfruitful.'  But even if the speaker couldn't understand, the assembly could be edified if the message were interpreted through a gift of the Spirit.


There is evidence in the text that the people Paul addressed were exercising gifts of the Spirit.  There is no evidence of man women or many of the other things you talk about in the text of Scripture.


Voodoo priests wash their hands.  Do you wash your hands?  Are you a voodoo priest?

Does the fact that the clapping of hands is mentioned in the Bible make any difference to you?

Yeah, interesting stuff.  Wesley had the vast, vast majority of cases of supernatural responses being women.  This is consisten throughout many religions and sects of religions.  It is very telling, when placed in comparative juxtaposition with the Word.  And as the previous poster stated, the majority being what seems to be fraudulent, doesn't make all such.  However, it is used by others to discredit all, both good and bad.  That's typical.

Appreciate L2's post.  Had a friend that got into the radical stuff: roaring like a lion, etc..  Not good.

Bumping this up to see if there are any others with knowledge on this topic.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

Hi Mike,

A few of the statements of the church fathers indicate that they were aware of some miraculous activity in their day, speaking in languages and prophecying particularly.  The History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff records that speaking in tongues occurred among the Camisards, the Cevennes in France, among the early Quakers and Methodists in the Irish revival of 1859, and among the Irvingites in 1831. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that glossolalia (speaking in tongues) has recurred in Christian revivals of every age — among the mendicant friars of the thirteenth century, among the Jasenists and early Quakers, the persecuted Protestants of the Cevennes, and the Irvingites.  

The fifth century church father, Augustine of Hippo, was very insightful about the beliefs held by the early church regarding speaking in tongues and supported this view. From his comments about Acts 8:17-19, it was his assumption, due to his own experience in such matters, that Simon must have seen the Samaritans speaking in tongues. Augustine wrote, "We still do what the apostles did when they laid hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them by laying on of hands. It is expected that new converts should speak with new tongues." (Augustine, vol. 4)  

Most Pentecostals and Charismatics generally agree that the baptism with the Holy Spirit is evidenced by speaking in tongues, and is separate and distinct from the birth of the Spirit (John 3:7), which occurs when faith is placed in Christ for salvation.

They believe that speaking in tongues is involved in four distinct functions: (1) As the initial, physical evidence of the baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:46), (2) as a spiritual prayer language which is used for personal edification (1 Cor. 14:4, Rom. 8:26-27), (3) as a special utterance gift to the church, which when interpreted, serves to edify the body (1 Cor. 12:10, 14:6), and as a miraculous sign for unbelievers (Acts 2:5-12, 1 Cor. 14:22).  Paul indicated that not all persons would have the latter "gift of tongues" used to edify the church or as a sign to unbelievers, but desired for all believers to be able to speak in tongues for personal edification. "I wish you all spoke with tongues..." (1 Cor. 14:5).

Sadly, as the church progressively fell into the "dark ages" the various manifestations of the spirit, including tongues, grew increasingly scarce, until the Reformation when there were small groups of Christians that began to once again believe that God desires to build his kingdom through the power of the Spirit.  The Huegenots (17th Century), Quakers (18th), and Methodists (19th) showed signs of such.  But the current Pentecostal beliefs concerning the baptism in the Holy Spirit did not find full expression until the early 20th Century.

Why did the church slip into the dark ages?  I believe much of it has to do with the church becoming the state religion, as well as the church rejecting it's Jewish roots and instead being based much upon Greek Philosophy, especially Plato which sought to elevate Reason and suppress Emotion and discredit those who appear emotional.  In many ways, Greco-Roman Christianity moved from being a religion of "being" to a religion of "thinking".  Instead of Christianity being primarily about character and how one lives one life, it degraded into simply mentally accepting the doctrines of the church, being obedient to church leadership, and performing the various sacred rites.  It lost it's vitality and became calcified.  

Salvation is far more than accepting a list of doctrines; it's embracing a real relationship with God!