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Speaking in Tongues Speaking in Tongues Dr. Joseph Speciale, Instructor A ministry of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Lee Swor, Pastor The Bible Truth Speaking In Tongues Speaking In Tongues Introduction • Speaking in tongues (Gr. glossa laleo or Glossolalia) is a practice espoused by CHARISMATIC Christians • The word CHARISMATIC is derived from the transliteration of the Greek word charisma meaning "gifted" • For about 1,800 years of church history, instances of people “speaking in tongues” were extremely rare unless a person was accused of being demon-possessed • Demoniacs often exhibit the ability to speak in unknown tongues (i.e.- a language they do not know and their hearers do not understand); often in ANCIENT (e.g.- Sumerian; Old Egyptian) or alleged ANGELIC (e.g.- Enochian) languages • The Charismatic doctrine of “speaking in tongues” originated with Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) in the late 19th century • Parham is called “the father of the modern Pentecostal movement” and was the first to associate glossololia (“speaking in tongues”) with the baptism of the Holy Spirit Speaking In Tongues o He gave his students an assignment to research what it meant to “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38) and what the evidence was that this gift was received o The unanimous conclusion was that “speaking in tongues” was the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost • The first person in the USA to speak in tongues is Agnes Ozman o On New Year ’s Eve 1900, Parham and his students gathered to pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost with initial evidence of speaking in tongues o After midnight on January 1, 1901, one of Parham’s students Agnes Ozman, asked him to pray specifically for her to be baptized with the Holy Ghost through laying on of hands, so that she might speak in tongues o Ozman’s fellow students reported that a halo surrounded her head and face as she began speaking in tongues, specifically Chinese o Not long thereafter, Parham and 34 of his other students also began speaking in tonuges Speaking In Tongues • Out of this experience, Parham established the Lucy F. Farrow Houston Bible School (1905) in Houston, Texas where two of his students were black Holiness preachers Lucy Farrow and William J. Seymour (1870-1922) o Farrow was born into slavery and was the niece of Frederick Douglass o She was “pastor” of a small Holiness church in Houston when she met Charles Parham and went to work for him, first as a governess and then as a cook at the College o While working for Parham, she asked her friend William Seymour to pastor the church o While attending meetings conducted by Parham, Farrow became the first African-American to speak in tongues o Farrow shared her experiences with Seymour and convinced him to enroll at Parham’s college in 1906 o While Seymour rejected Parham’s support of “British Israelism” he did embrace his teachings on the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues • Seymour spent just six weeks at the school because he was asked to pastor a church in Los Angeles, CA Speaking In Tongues • The church expelled Seymour in less than two weeks and padlocked the door due to outrage over his teaching on speaking in tongues • Seymour began conducting a prayer group at the house of a man named Edward Lee and when the group grew too large, it was moved to the home of Richard Asberry • It was there during a meeting in April 1906 that Lee spoke in tongues after Seymour laid hands on him signifying the beginning of what would become the “Azusa Street Revival” • Later in April 1906, the prayer group moved from Asberry’s house to an old African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church building on Azusa Street and organized as the Azusa Street Mission • Seymour preached his doctrines during the revival meetings at the Mission and people from all races and stations experienced speaking in tongues, including Charles Mason, the founder of the Church of God in Christ • Seymour rejected the racial barriers that existed at the time as well as the barriers against women holding leadership positions in the church (e.g.- pastors and deacons), on the basis that “the Spirit” was bringing people together across all social lines and boundaries • The “Azusa Street Revival” meetings would run from 1906-1909 (although many Pentecostals believe the revival is still going today) Speaking In Tongues • Seymour sent for Lucy Farrow to join him in Los Angeles to assist him- Farrow would become known as the “anointed handmaiden” who laid her hands on many who received the Holy Ghost and the gift of speaking in tongues • The leaders of the revival began publishing the Apostolic Faith newsletter in September 1906 • The movement came under scrutiny and investigation by mainstream Protestants who believed that Seymour’s teachings were heresy Speaking In Tongues • In October 1906, Charles Parham came to preach at the Azusa Street revival • Parham became disgusted by the state of revival as he observed the form of worship, particularly the ecstatic practice of speaking in tongues • Parham even went to the pulpit and began to preach that God was disgusted with what was taking place • Parham believed that the gift of tongues had to be RECOGNIZABLE HUMAN language but Seymour’s doctrine allowed for language that could not be understood (i.e.- gibberish; babble) • Seymour refused to back down from his beliefs so Parham denounced the Azusa Street revival as false, which led to his prompt dismissal from the revival • Shortly thereafter, Parham accused Seymour and the Azusa Street revival as being FROM THE DEVIL Speaking In Tongues • While issues and challenges would come to Seymour and the Azusa Street Mission, many missions were established across the country (and the world) that modeled themselves after Azusa’s doctrines and practices • In spite of the SCRUTINY placed on the Charismatic/Tongues movement it rapidly SPREAD throughout the USA and world during the 20th century • Many notable “preachers” arose spreading the Charismatic “gospel”, that included receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost with initial evidence of speaking in tongues- Aimee Semple McPherson (founder of the Foursquare Church), Kathryn Kuhlman, Marilyn Hickey, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, Frederick Price, Jesse Duplantis, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, John Avanzini, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, Morris Cerullo, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, Paul Crouch, Perry Stone, Rod Parsley, Rodney Howard-Browne, RW Schambach, etc. • Many Charismatic denominations formed based on the belief that the gifts of speaking in tongues and healing by laying on of hands were available to those who prayerfully sought them from God, most notably the Assemblies of God, Pentecostal (Holiness), Apostolic, Church of God, and Church of God in Christ Speaking In Tongues • The explosive growth of the Charismatic movement since the 1970s is mostly due to dominant media access and global communication • The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) and the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), founded by Paul Crouch and Pat Robertson respectively, has preached the Charismatic version of speaking in tongues and healing by laying of hands for decades and reached hundreds of millions of viewers (if not billions) across the world • The 10 largest church memberships in the world are Charismatic churches • Charismatic Christianity has become mainstream Christianity, and this is reflected by the books sold in Christian bookstores, the music played on Christian radio stations, and the programming presented on Christian television • One renowned statistician estimated that 80% of all “conversions” to Christianity are Charismatic and that approximately 372,000,000 people in the world identify themselves as “Charismatic Christians” • The Azusa Street Mission, where it all began, continues to this day under the leadership of “Apostle” Fred & Wilma Berry Speaking In Tongues Speaking In Tongues Speaking In Tongues • The Charismatic movement is very appealing because it is based on a sensational EXPERIENCE; it is ecumenical because it often interprets the Bible in light of these experiences instead of interpreting these experiences in light of the Bible (i.e.- if there is a conflict between “the Spirit” and the Bible, “the Spirit” trumps the Bible) • There is no doubt that many Charismatic Christians and those who speak in tongues are true born again believers who love the Lord and want to live for him • But the essential question is, with all feelings, experiences, and sincerity aside- Are Charismatic tongues BIBLICAL tongues? • We need to understand what the Bible says about tongues and then compare what the Bible says with what is believed and practiced by Charismatic Christians • The issue is not trivial or preferential because the ramifications are most serious- either the Baptists or the Charismatics are teaching false doctrine regarding the Holy Spirit and tongues; either the Baptists are missing out on an integral part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit or the Charismatics are following the lead of a false Holy Spirit Speaking In Tongues • TONGUES appears 36x (6 x 6= # of MAN) • SPEAK and TONGUES appear together in the same verse 11x (# of CONFUSION) • The first appearance of TONGUES is associated with the division of humanity into NATIONS at Babel cf. (Gen 10:5) Gen 10:20,31 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations. 31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. WHAT TONGUES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH 1) Nations and peoples (Gen 10:20,31; Isa 66:15; Rev 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 17:15) 2) Strife and pride (Psa 31:20) 3) Violence and strife (Psa 55:9) 4) Lying (Psa 78:36; Jer 9:3) 5) A serpent and his poison (Psa 140:3) 6) False prophets (Jer 23:31) 7) Deceit (Rom 3:13) Speaking In Tongues • It is no coincidence that TONGUES are directly associated with THE PRIDE OF MAN because the entire tongues movement is fueled by spiritual pride Psa 31:20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
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