Speaking in Tongues
• The position of speaking in tongues among the gifts.
• Its conditions according to the teaching of the Gospel.
• Its relationship to the edification of the Church in the Apostolic Age.
• The teaching of Scripture concerning the cessation of tongues.
• The silence of “the one who edifies himself.”
• The only gift that has conditions.
1- The gifts are not necessary for all believers:
Believers are required to live a life of holiness, but not everyone is required to have supernatural gifts. There are many saints who lived with purity of heart, and neither Scripture nor history mentions a single miracle performed by them.
Therefore, the Apostle said in amazement: “Are all workers of miracles?! Do all have gifts of healing?!” (1 Cor. 12:29, 30).
Thus, we see that many believers entered the Kingdom simply through works of love without miracles, as the Lord testified to them: “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me…” (Matt. 25:35).
Our teacher James the Apostle also says: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27), without mentioning the necessity of gifts and miracles.
2- The gift of tongues is not for everyone:
We note that the Apostle did not require speaking in tongues—even in the Apostolic Age—to be for all people.
He said: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given by the Spirit this, and to another this” (1 Cor. 12:7-10). He also said in the Epistle to the Romans: “…as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we… have different gifts according to the grace that is given to us” (Rom. 12:3-6).
Moreover, speaking in tongues was not among the miracles that the Lord gave His disciples in His first commission to them (Matt. 10):
For He “gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people,” and said to them, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons” (Matt. 10:1, 8), and throughout all of this there is no mention whatsoever of speaking in tongues.
But tongues appeared with the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and helped bring three thousand to faith on that day, as they were astonished and amazed at what happened.
3- Tongues are mentioned last among the gifts:
In chapter 12 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the gift of tongues (speaking and interpretation) is mentioned at the end of the gifts three times:
In (1 Cor. 12:8-10), the gifts are mentioned as follows: the word of wisdom—the word of knowledge—faith—gifts of healing—the working of miracles—prophecy—discerning of spirits—different kinds of tongues—the interpretation of tongues.
And in (1 Cor. 12:28): “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles. Then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties
And in (1 Cor. 12:29), speaking in tongues and interpretation are mentioned at the end of the passage. And in (1 Cor. 13:1), love is mentioned as more important than speaking in the tongues of men and angels.
4- The gift of tongues is for the edification of the Church:
It was necessary for preaching, and for conveying the word of God to people of foreign languages, as happened on the Day of Pentecost. And in (1 Cor. 14), we see that the edification of the Church is the goal, as is evident in many places in the same chapter.
For example, he says: “Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound for the edification of the church,” and he also says, “Let all things be done for edification.”
For the sake of the edification of the Church, he makes the gift of prophecy better than speaking in tongues.
The gift of prophecy carried the meaning of teaching. And concerning this he says: “But he who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and comfort” (v. 3). Therefore, he says: “For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” (v. 5).
5- The Apostle placed conditions on the gift of tongues:
It is the only gift for which the Apostle laid down conditions among all the gifts he mentioned, in order to guard it against deviation and confusion.
He mentioned the gifts in detail in (1 Cor. 12). But in (1 Cor. 14), he focused on speaking in tongues and placed restrictions and conditions upon it, and gave it a specific purpose, which is edification, and commanded silence concerning speaking in a tongue in certain circumstances.
The three conditions that the Apostle laid down are: the edification of the Church, understanding, and interpretation:
We have spoken about the “edification of the Church”; now we speak about the remaining two conditions:
6- One of the conditions of speaking in tongues: understanding.
After the Apostle gave the example of musical instruments, and the importance of their giving a sound that has meaning which the listeners understand, he said concerning the language of tongues:
“Unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air” (v. 9).
He also said: “Therefore, if I do not know the power of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me” (v. 11).
Thus, the Apostle described the one who speaks in tongues without understanding as a foreigner, and as speaking into the air; he also described it as babbling:
For he said: “Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?!” (v. 23).
And the condition of understanding in speaking in tongues leads to the condition of interpretation.
7- The condition of interpretation in speaking in tongues:
The Apostle says: “Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret” (v. 13). And he connects this condition of interpretation with the edification of the Church. Thus he says: “He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification” (v. 5). He also said: “If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret” (v. 27).
And if there is no interpreter, what does the Apostle say?
8- If there is no interpreter, let him keep silent:
The Apostle says explicitly: “But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God” (v. 28).
That is because a person may not speak words that are incomprehensible and that people do not understand, because this is not beneficial for their edification and teaching. Therefore, the Apostle followed this by saying: “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace” (v. 23).
And concerning the superiority of understanding, the Apostle says: “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all, yet in the church…”
“I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (v. 19).
9- Tongues are a sign for unbelievers:
Thus the Apostle teaches: “Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” (v. 22). They are so because their work is preaching and persuading unbelievers to enter the faith. As for believers who need exhortation and consolation, prophecy is appropriate for them. Therefore the Apostle says: “But prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe” (v. 22).
For this reason, tongues were useful in the Apostolic Age.
10- Tongues in the Apostolic Age:
Tongues led people to faith, as happened on the Day of Pentecost, and as happened in the acceptance of the Gentiles in the story of Cornelius accepting the faith and baptism. The Apostolic Age, which witnessed within a few years the spread of Christianity throughout all the continents of the world—“Their words have gone out to the ends of the inhabited world”—was supported by such a miracle. Thus it was said at the beginning of that age: “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues. They will take
11- Tongues Will Cease:
Thus the Apostle said, “But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease…” (1 Cor. 13:8). If this was said in the Apostolic Age itself, then what can we say about our age, in which the world languages have spread, and tongues are no longer necessary for preaching as they were in the first Apostolic Age? If God grants them today, He grants them for preaching in the remote regions of Africa, where there are dozens of local languages, and not for us, where we all know one language, since tongues are a sign for unbelievers.
12- The Meaning and Conditions of the Phrase “He Who Speaks in a Tongue Edifies Himself”:
Some say that tongues may have another purpose (perhaps a secondary purpose), namely that tongues are for prayer and hymns. They support this by the Apostle’s statement: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (v. 4). But the Apostle places this matter under certain conditions:
(a) First, he requires that it be with understanding, with the mind participating together with the spirit:
He says concerning this: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15).
Prayer in a tongue, without understanding, is without fruit.
(b) Even if the prayer is in a tongue and with understanding, it is “between the person and God”; the one praying speaks to God, and his voice is not heard:
Concerning this, the Apostle says: “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (v. 2).
What business do people have with these mysteries? They are in silence; no one hears them. No one knows them or perceives them.
But to make them heard by people would be to depart from the teaching of the Gospel.
The Apostle says, “But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God” (v. 28). Therefore, the one who does not keep silent is violating the instruction.
And he would be like one who advertises himself, contrary to the principle of praying in secret.
It remains to ask: Is every strange sound speaking in tongues…?! It may be a tongue from the Spirit of God, or it may be from Satan, or it may be an illness, or a claim, or self-advertisement.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III — published in Keraza Magazine — Ninth Year, Issue No. 24, June 16, 1978.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
