Thursday, June 11, 2009

Speaking in Tongues in the Book of Acts:

Should Modern Churches Imitate the First Century Church’s Practice of Speaking in Tongues?

Marian English

The Book of Acts, Bibl 364

Liberty University

October 4, 2008

Speaking in Tongues in the Book of Acts:

Should Modern Churches Imitate the First Century Church’s Practice of Speaking in Tongues?

The Arrival of the Holy Spirit to the First Disciples

His arrival was unmistakable and His presence illuminated the room. The author of Acts said that it sounded like a rushing mighty wind as the Spirit of the living God filled the bodily temples of every believer in the Upper Room that Pentecost morning. The faithful had been earnestly praying for forty days and as always God did not disappoint. The Spirit of God appeared as tongues of fire resting upon each disciple giving them the ability to speak in different languages. Assuming the authorship of Acts to be Luke, this letter to the excellent Theophilus is the only record of what happened immediately following the execution of Christ Jesus. Serving as part two to the book of Luke, we see the church at its infancy, at the crucial moment in History when Jesus is ascended and the Holy Spirit descended. Jesus told them to wait on the Holy Spirit who would empower them to be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). They could not fully realize how the living Spirit of God would enable their witness to travel through both space and time. Because of their obedience the world and its new generations continue to be evangelized. The readers of Luke’s report are empowered today by the same sovereign Spirit that fell upon the first disciples. Now the modern church struggles to determine the significance and doctrinal implications surrounding the miracle of speaking in tongues among the three occurrences recorded in the Book of Acts.

The Context of Acts

The book of Acts is a letter that most scholars agree was written by Luke to Theophilus. Like with any letter read by a party who is not the intended addressee, the subjects, topics, intent and overall purpose of the letter must be read in its intended context to be fully understood. Reading a letter is a lot like overhearing one side of a conversation between two other parties. As modern readers of Acts we must use Historical context, consider the literary genre and biblical context surrounding the subject to reveal the context of this piece of literature (Duvall 2005).

So what was Luke trying to convey in this letter? Bock reveals,

Acts narrates God’s work in establishing the church through Jesus’ activity… Luke, a sometime companion of Paul, put the content of tradition into His own words. He did this in order to indicate how a new movement emerging out of Judaism came to incorporate Gentiles into the community of God. At the core of the activity and preaching stands the work of God through the now exalted Jesus, who in turn distributes the Spirit as a sign that the new era and salvation have come to both Jews and Gentiles (Bock 2007).

Luke, by the Spirit, records the History of the early church in a letter to Theophilus, illustrating how God established His church including both Jews and Gentiles in salvation plan set forth from the beginning. Acts’ theme can be found in the first chapter of Acts in verse 8, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Luke beautifully narrates how the Holy Spirit moves the gospel from region to region beginning with the Jews and ending with the Gentiles in Rome. With this theme in mind, Luke immediately moves to the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

What was the significance of tongues in Acts in relationship to the purpose of the letter? Now that we have established the context Acts let us examine more carefully the content. There are three occurrences of speaking in tongues in Acts. The first happens when Jews and proselytes gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost forty days after the resurrection of Jesus (Acts 2:1-5). Jesus tells His companions to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit who would empower them to be His witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Luke sets the in this introduction the foundation for the entire book of Acts and the purpose of the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the upper room the disciples experience the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Luke says there was a sound like a rushing mighty wind. Boice says that there is symbolism in the use of the term wind which in Hebrew is ruach. This word represents the spirit or wind and symbolizes the creative, moving, dynamic breath of God. He says that this breath is a divine, life giving wind that blew across the waters in the beginning (Boice 1997). Johns 3:5-8 says, “…No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and spirit. Flesh gives birth to Flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit… the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going, so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” According to Boice,

Just as the beginning God breathed into Adam so that he became a living physical being, so also in our day if a person is to be saved God must breath into him or her by His Spirit once again from above, just like the first time so that the person might become spiritually alive.” With this symbolism Luke demonstrates the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. God uses His spirit who is able to carry out His will to evangelize the earth. The very first act was to enable the disciple to speak in a new tongue.

The coming of the Holy Spirit was a pivotal moment in church History, marking transition into fulfilled prophecy. How significant is the miracle of tongues in relationship to the pivotal moment? When the Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost, he empowered the first church to do the extraordinary including speak in tongues. There is no doubt that the speaking of tongues was used to communicate the gospel to the people on the day of Pentecost. Strauss writes,

This purpose of the gift of tongues, namely to communicate God’s message to Israel, is verified in the three passages in Acts where speaking in tongues is mentioned. In Acts 2 tongues-speaking was used as a missionary or evangelistic tool in fulfillment of Isaiah 28:11. There was no need for the disciples to learn other languages before they could communicate the Gospel. God overcame the language barrier through the miracle-gift of tongues. … Observe that they were “Jews” from other countries who spoke many languages and dialects, and yet each heard the Gospel in His own tongue.

Some scholars believe that when the events in the Book of Acts ended so the practice of speaking in tongues should have ended as well. The reasons include the fact that they first disciples did not have the completed word of God and therefore needed signs and miracles. Now that the scriptures are completed, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Strauss n.d.). The second reason has to do with the overall cessation of the sign miracles in this day in age.

The second and third occurrences of speaking in tongues occur in Acts 10:46 and 19:6. Both incidences happen when Gentiles are converted. One conversion happened with Peter and the other with Paul’s conversion of twelve Gentiles. These occurrences are taught to be validations of the Spirit accepting the Gentiles as the Jews were accepted. Strauss argues that the tongues that were spoken amongst the Gentiles were a sign to the Jews who were always present at their conversions. So not only was the tongues used to convey the gospel message, they were also a confirmatory sign. The manner in which Luke structure acts is to show the parallelism between Peter’s ministry and Paul’s ministry perhaps in order to validate Paul’s apostleship. So the latter display of tongues by the Gentiles parallels the conversion of Cornelius.

The Tongues in Acts vs. Tongues Other NT Scriptures

Some confusion about tongues stems from the other scriptures on the subject chapters 12-14 of 1 Corinthians is dedicated to spiritual gifts and how the gift of tongues rank among the other gifts of the Spirit. Paul says that all do not have the gift of tongues and others have the gift of interpretation, but they do not supersede the gift of prophesy in the edification of the body (chapter 12). Chapter 13 begins,”Though I speak with tongues of men and angels…” What is the tongue of angels? How does Paul know it? 1 Corinthians speak of two types of spiritual tongues. There was obviously the kind that should be spoken alone and one that should be spoken in assembly. There has to be a heavenly language somehow imparted to men by the Holy Spirit with which men can communicate more effectively with God. 1 Corinthians 14:2 says that “he who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him: however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.” Paul tells us to keep tongues to ourselves when there is no interpreter in church. Verses 13-15 and 28 implies instances when the Holy Spirit will impart the gift only to be used between that individual and God.

The book of Acts does not make clear if the tongues that the gentiles spoke were incomprehensible or interpreted, but they were used as a sign to those who were skeptical of their conversion. Assuming that the tongues spoken by the gentile converts were speaking were interpretable, the utterances had to sound like babbling to the speaker and to those who did not speak the language.

Jesus says in Mark 16:17 the His believers will speak with new tongues and cast out demons. The believers in the Book of Acts did both. That was the sign to the new believers, especially where the scriptures were not available.

Pentecostalism

Some scholars argue that though tongues were prevalent in Acts with regards to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, that tongues was not the focal point of the book. But that the prophecy was fulfilled validating further Jesus as the Messiah and the power of the Holy Spirit to further the gospel to the ends of the earth through His disciples. The Spirit arrived as a helper and that the result of the having been filled was that they were able on this occasion to speak in languages other than Aramaic (Smith 1948). Perhaps, if God them to do something else maybe the Holy spirit would have empowered them with a different gift. In other words the ability to speak in tongues in acts was a byproduct of the mission given to the disciples.

Is the modern church supposed to imitate the church in Acts? Pentecostalism, a movement in the US in early 1900’s, is mostly responsible for today’s trend of speaking in tongues among some churches. The belief that manifestations of the Holy Spirit should play a major role in the life of the church is held by Charismatic churches today and has its roots in Pentecostal Movement (Hill 2006). Hill writes:

[Pentecostalism] had its roots in the Holiness movement, a trend that spread through the churches of the USA- especially the Methodists – in the second half of the nineteenth century. .. Its members stressed that the evangelical life involves two conversions… repentance and forgiveness of sins and the second involves full sanctification, the dedication of oneself to God and the living of a holy life.

...Charles Parham (1872-1929), Ran a Bible school in Topeka, Kansas. Here, on 1 January 1901, His student Agnes Ozman started speaking in tongues’, strange languages that made no sense. It began when Parham had His students study what the New Testament said about the blessings of the Holy Spirit, and Parham became convinced that that those blessings were being suddenly bestowed upon His group.

At what was called the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles in 1906, the preaching of William Seymour (1870-1922), had an extraordinary effect on the people in attendance. Miracles, speaking in tongues and dancing overtook the services everyday for three years. People were healed and there crutches covered the wall of the church. New churches sprang up all over the United states, including the Church of God in Christ, and the Assemblies of God (Hill 2006).

Pentecostalism inspired what is called the Charismatic Movement among other churches but they are usually the voice of reform among the larger denominations without seeking to start new denominations (Hill 2006).

So do the Pentecostals and Charismatics have the correct view of a new dispensation that involves the manifestations of spiritual gifts as evidence of the Holy Spirit? Gordon Fee, an ordained Assemblies of God minister, believes that Pentecostals were incorrect in their theological exegesis of the scripture surrounding the baptism of the Holy Spirit and says that they needed biblical foundation for the experience that they were having. However, he maintains that they are correct in their quest to experience the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the modern church (Fee 1985).

Strauss argues that:

It is a mistake to assume that speaking in tongues is synonymous with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.” …All the believers at Corinth received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, however all did not speak in tongue.” The baptizing work of the Spirit is not an experience in the believer subsequent to salvation. Rather it is that act of the Holy Spirit which joins the believing sinner to the Body of Christ. More emphatically, there is no other means whereby one can become a member of the Church which is Christ’s Body. All saved persons have been baptized by the Holy Spirit, but not all saved persons speak in tongues. The baptizing work of the Spirit places the believer in the Body positionally.

What Fee says makes sense that the early church was used to see the Holy Spirit make His presence known. The writers of the New Testament were writing to the first century church not to later churches that are not used to a demonstrative Spirit. Fee writes:

I think it is fair to note that if there is one thing that differentiates the early church from its twentieth century counterpart, it is in the level of awareness and experience of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Ask any number of people today from all sectors of Christendom to define or describe Christian conversion or Christian life, and the most noticeable feature of that definition would be its general lack of emphasis on the active, dynamic role of the Spirit (Fee 1985).

Some scholars argue that the word of God is the final authority and fulfillment of revelation to the church. There is no need for God to speak directly to individuals through signs, dreams, miracles and such because His word is complete in the canon. Within this battle about the sufficiency of the Bible, scholars question whether accepting new revelations of the Holy Spirit implies that the bible is no longer the infallible sovereign word of God (Allen 1998). Arguments for modern spiritual manifestations like speaking in tongues made by Jonathan Edwards include:

1. The Holy Spirit did not die with the first century church.

2. The emphasis of depersonalization of God by the church is causing emphasis on knowledge over relationship.

3. The Holy Spirit’s guidance is still needed in discerning the will of God.

Charismatic churches today say that there is a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in their services and their lives that others characterize as mere emotionalism. Dr. Matthew Allen makes the case that there should be balance in churches today. “We are responsible to offer ‘something more’ than either sterile rationalism or destructive emotionalism. We must offer a person, real relationship with Jesus Christ.”

When the Holy Spirit arrived on the day of Pentecost, he empowered the first church to do the extraordinary including speak in tongues. The modern church struggles to find answers about the mystery of speaking in tongues among the scarce accounts in the book of acts. The modern church needs to know where to place the importance of speaking in tongues in relationship to the evidence of the Holy Spirit.

It is not determined what created that cessation of Spiritual gifts from the time of Acts until today, but I conclude that cessation alone is not reason to discount that speaking in tongues and any other work of the Holy Spirit. God is sovereign and he gave Spirit to be a helper to us to the church to spread the gospel. The facts are that the entire world is not yet evangelized, it has been two thousand years since the writings of the canon and God is still moving in the lives of His believers. God has not stopped speaking to us because His word is living, eternal, and is inside of every believer. Jesus said the woman at the well , “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24. Jesus prophesied in Mark 16: 16-17, "Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;”

As believers, we cannot limit God; we must worship God in spirit and truth. I agree that we must be temperate and balanced in our worship. Sterile, stoic worship was not representative of the worship that the Father expected from the chosen Israelites; why then would He expect it from His Church today?

Furthermore, we should judge that our worship is in truth and if the gift of tongues is displayed that it is to be done according to the guidelines that the Word mandates. God’s inspiration in the book of Acts intended to show us that the presence of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable. You don’t have to wonder whether the Spirit has arrived because when He falls he empowers the believer to be his witness. Speaking in tongues is not the evidence of the Holy Spirit, a born again life that bears the fruit of witness is the evidence of the Holy Spirit. However, only the Holy Spirit can give the power to speak in tongues that is new to the speaker and interpreted by another.

When one learns to read the bible daily for oneself, it is understood that His Holy Spirit aids in interpretation and revelation of His word. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ever ask or think. With the age of the internet we can evangelize faster and further than ever before. Perhaps God empowered this generation with his spirit because of its ability to go to the ends of the earth. The Bible is patterned by events that show how God moves after centuries of being silent. The call of Samuel, The birth of John the Baptist, and Israel’s freedom from bondage in Egypt are all examples of this. God has a way of showing up big after long periods of time. Two thousand years after the church in Acts later God could be pouring out His Spirit on His church to expedite the coming of Christ by our witness.


Bibliography

Allen, Matthew. Excited Utterances: A Historical Perspective On Prophecy, Tongues and other manifestations of Spiritual Extasy. Tampa, Florida: Biblical Studies Press, 1998.

Bock, Darrell. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Acts: an expositional commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus. New York,: Harper Collins Books, 1998.

Damboriena, Prudencio. Tongues As of Fire. Washington & Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969.

Davies, G. Henton, Alan Richardson, Charles Wallace, ed., ed. The Twentieth Century Bible Commentary. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1955.

Durasoff, Steve. Bright Wind of the Spirit: Pentecostalism Today. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Duvall, J. Scott, Hayes, J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word: A Hands'on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Graad Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Fee, Gordon D. "Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Issue of Separability and Subsequence." PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 1985.

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc., 2006.

Hindson, Edward E., General Editors., ed. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary. . Nashville , TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.

McCone, R. Clyde. Culture and Contoversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentcost. Philidelphia and Ardmore, PA: Dorrance & Company, 1978.

Melbourne, Bertram L. Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 Its Fulfillment? Atlas.

Ralph, Margaret Nutting. Discovering the First Century church: The Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.

Schwartz, Daniel R. The End of the ΓΗ (ACTS 1:8): Beginning or End of the Christian Vision? Jerusalem, Israel: Department of Jewish History, Hebrew University, 1986.

Smith, Miles w. On Whom the Spirit Came: A study of the Acts of the Apostles. Philidelphia: The Jusdson Express, 1948.

Strauss, Lehman. "www.bible.org." www.bible.org. http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=393 (accessed September 30, 2008).

Works Cited

Allen, Matthew. Excited Utterances: A Historical Perspective On Prophecy, Tongues and other manifestations of Spiritual Extasy. Tampa, Florida: Biblical Studies Press, 1998.

Bock, Darrell. Acts: Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2007.

Boice, James Montgomery. Acts: an expositional commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997.

Crossan, John Dominic. The Birth of Christianity: Discovering the Years Immediately Following the Execution of Jesus. New York,: Harper Collins Books, 1998.

Damboriena, Prudencio. Tongues As of Fire. Washington & Cleveland: Corpus Books, 1969.

Davies, G. Henton, Alan Richardson, Charles Wallace, ed., ed. The Twentieth Century Bible Commentary. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers, 1955.

Durasoff, Steve. Bright Wind of the Spirit: Pentecostalism Today. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972.

Duvall, J. Scott, Hayes, J. Daniel. Grasping God's Word: A Hands'on Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Graad Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

Fee, Gordon D. "Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Issue of Separability and Subsequence." PNEUMA: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies. 1985.

Hill, Jonathan. Zondervan Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford, England: Lion Publishing Plc., 2006.

Hindson, Edward E., General Editors., ed. The KJV Parallel Bible Commentary. . Nashville , TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1994.

McCone, R. Clyde. Culture and Contoversy: An Investigation of the Tongues of Pentcost. Philidelphia and Ardmore, PA: Dorrance & Company, 1978.

Melbourne, Bertram L. Acts 1:8 Re-Examined: Is Acts 8 Its Fulfillment? Atlas.

Ralph, Margaret Nutting. Discovering the First Century church: The Acts of the Apostles, Letters of Paul, and the Book of Revelation. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991.

Schwartz, Daniel R. The End of the ΓΗ (ACTS 1:8): Beginning or End of the Christian Vision? Jerusalem, Israel: Department of Jewish History, Hebrew University, 1986.

Smith, Miles w. On Whom the Spirit Came: A study of the Acts of the Apostles. Philidelphia: The Jusdson Express, 1948.

Strauss, Lehman. "www.bible.org." www.bible.org. http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=393 (accessed September 30, 2008).