Speaking in Tongues (Part 2)

Were miraculous tongues understood by the one who was speaking? In 1 Corinthians 14:4, Paul answers this question: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself….” What Paul meant by “edify” is that the speaker understood. This is clear when he says, “he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” Paul compared the spiritual gift of tongues with the spiritual gift of prophecy. Tongues were not always understood by others, so they did not edify others. Without a translator, they edified the speaker of the tongue only. The gift of prophecy always edified because it was spoken in a language everyone understood. So, if speech edifies (whether it is a foreign tongue or a prophecy), then it is a language heard and understood. Tongues edified the speaker, so tongues were always understood by the person speaking them. That’s not true of people speaking tongues today. They often claim not to know what they said. So, they are not really “speaking in tongues.”

What about the emotional aspect to speaking in tongues? The scriptures never speak of them as being accompanied by an emotional experience. One would think that if speaking in tongues was such an emotional event that it would be described as accompanying the gift. There was joy when a person was baptized (Acts 8:39). The Ethiopian nobleman went on his way rejoicing. They rejoiced at the conversion of the gentiles (Acts 15:3). They received the word of God with joy (1 Thessalonians 1:6). Paul prayed with joy (Philippians 1:4). Why wasn’t the gift of speaking in tongues described accompanied with joy? Was it because there was not an extraordinary emotional experience necessarily attached to the gift of tongues? Why would there be? Simply speaking words isn’t an emotional experience in and of itself. It had nothing to do with speaking in tongues.

God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley