Glossolalia

"Speaking in Tongues" redirects here. For other uses, see Speaking in Tongues (disambiguation).
"Tongues" redirects here. For other uses, see Tongue (disambiguation).
For the album by Steve Walsh, see Glossolalia (album).
The Theotokos & the Twelve Apostles — Fifty Days after the Resurrection of Christ, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit
Icon depicting apostles and the Theotokos filled with the Holy Spirit (notice fire symbol above their heads.)

Glossolalia or speaking in tongues, according to linguists, is the fluid vocalizing of speech-like syllables that lack any readily comprehended meaning, in some cases as part of religious practice in which it is believed to be a divine language unknown to the speaker.[1] The term derives from glōssais lalō, a Greek phrase used in the New Testament meaning "speak in, with, or by tongues [i.e., other languages]" (1 Corinthians 14:18). The related term “xenolalia” or "xenoglossy" is used to describe the phenomenon when the language being spoken is a natural language previously unknown to the speaker.[2] Glossolalia is practiced in Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity as well as in other religions.

Etymology

"Glossolalia" is constructed from the Greek word γλωσσολαλία, itself a compound of the words γλῶσσα (glossa), meaning "tongue" or "language"[3] and λαλέω (laleō), "to speak, talk, chat, prattle, or to make a sound".[4] The Greek expression (in various forms) appears in the New Testament in the books of Acts and First Corinthians.

The exact phrase "speaking in tongues" has been used at least since the translation of the New Testament into Middle English in the Wycliffe Bible in the 14th century.[5] Frederic Farrar first used the word "glossolalia" in 1879.[6]

Linguistics

In 1972, William J. Samarin, a linguist from the University of Toronto, published a thorough assessment of Pentecostal glossolalia that became a classic work on its linguistic characteristics.[7] His assessment was based on a large sample of glossolalia recorded in public and private Christian meetings in Italy, The Netherlands, Jamaica, Canada and the USA over the course of five years; his wide range included the Puerto Ricans of the Bronx, the Snake Handlers of the Appalachians and the Spiritual Christians from Russia in Los Angeles (Pryguny, Dukhizhizniki).

Samarin found that glossolalic speech does resemble human language in some respects. The speaker uses accent, rhythm, intonation and pauses to break up the speech into distinct units. Each unit is itself made up of syllables, the syllables being formed from consonants and vowels taken from a language known to the speaker:

It is verbal behaviour that consists of using a certain number of consonants and vowels[...]in a limited number of syllables that in turn are organized into larger units that are taken apart and rearranged pseudogrammatically[...]with variations in pitch, volume, speed and intensity.[8]

[Glossolalia] consists of strings of syllables, made up of sounds taken from all those that the speaker knows, put together more or less haphazardly but emerging nevertheless as word-like and sentence-like units because of realistic, language-like rhythm and melody.[9]

That the sounds are taken from the set of sounds already known to the speaker is confirmed by others. Felicitas Goodman, a psychological anthropologist and linguist, also found that the speech of glossolalists reflected the patterns of speech of the speaker's native language.[10]

Samarin found that the resemblance to human language was merely on the surface and so concluded that glossolalia is "only a facade of language".[11] He reached this conclusion because the syllable string did not form words, the stream of speech was not internally organized, and – most importantly of all – there was no systematic relationship between units of speech and concepts. Humans use language to communicate but glossolalia does not. Therefore, he concluded that glossolalia is not "a specimen of human language because it is neither internally organized nor systematically related to the world man perceives".[11] On the basis of his linguistic analysis, Samarin defined Pentecostal glossolalia as "meaningless but phonologically structured human utterance, believed by the speaker to be a real language but bearing no systematic resemblance to any natural language, living or dead".[12]

Practitioners of glossolalia may disagree with linguistic researchers and claim that they are speaking human languages (xenoglossia). Felicitas Goodman studied a number of Pentecostal communities in the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico; these included English-, Spanish- and Mayan-speaking groups. She compared what she found with recordings of non-Christian rituals from Africa, Borneo, Indonesia and Japan. She took into account both the segmental structure (such as sounds, syllables, phrases) and the supra-segmental elements (rhythm, accent, intonation) and concluded that there was no distinction between what was practised by the Pentecostal Protestants and the followers of other religions.[13]

History

Classical antiquity

It was a commonplace idea within the Greco-Roman world that divine beings spoke languages different from human languages, and historians of religion have identified references to esoteric speech in Greco-Roman literature that resemble glossolalia, sometimes explained as angelic or divine language. An example is the account in the Testament of Job where the daughters of Job were given sashes enabling them to speak and sing in angelic languages.[14]

According to Dale B. Martin, glossolalia accorded high status in the ancient world due to its association with the divine. Alexander of Abonoteichus may have exhibited glossolalia during his episodes of prophetic ecstasy.[15] Neoplatonist philosopher Iamblichus linked glossolalia to prophecy, writing that prophecy was divine spirit possession that "emits words which are not understood by those that utter them; for they pronounce them, as it is said, with an insane mouth (mainomenό stomati) and are wholly subservient, and entirely yield themselves to the energy of the predominating God."[16]

As part of his attack on early Christianity, the Greek philosopher Celsus may include an account of Christian glossolalia. Celsus describes prophecies made by several Christians in Palestine and Phoenicia of which he writes, "Having brandished these threats they then go on to add incomprehensible, incoherent, and utterly obscure utterances, the meaning of which no intelligent person could discover: for they are meaningless and nonsensical, and give a chance for any fool or sorcerer to take the words in whatever sense he likes."[15]

References to speaking in tongues by the Church fathers are rare. Except for Irenaeus' 2nd-century reference to many in the church speaking all kinds of languages "through the Spirit", and Tertullian's reference in 207 AD to the spiritual gift of interpretation of tongues being encountered in his day, there are no other known first-hand accounts of glossolalia, and very few second-hand accounts among their writings.[17]

400 to 1900

And another night – God knows, I do not, whether within me or beside me – most words which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech it was represented thus: 'He who gave his life for you, he it is who speaks within you.' And thus I awoke, joyful.[18]
And on a second occasion I saw Him praying within me, and I was as it were, inside my own body , and I heard Him above me—that is, above my inner self. He was praying powerfully with sighs. And in the course of this I was astonished and wondering, and I pondered who it could be who was praying within me. But at the end of the prayer it was revealed to me that it was the Spirit. And so I awoke and remembered the Apostle's words: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we know not how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for utterance [Romans 8:26]." And again: "The Lord our advocate intercedes for us [Romans 8:27].[18]

20th century

Main article: Azusa Street Revival
Headline about the "Weird babel of tongues" and other behavior at Azusa Street, from a 1906 Los Angeles Times newspaper.

During the 20th century, glossolalia would primarily become associated with Pentecostalism and the later charismatic movement. The holiness preachers Charles Parham and William Seymour are credited as co-founders of the movement. It was Parham who formulated the doctrine of "initial evidence". After studying the Bible, Parham came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the Bible evidence that one had received the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

In 1900, Parham opened Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas, where he taught initial evidence. During a service on 1 January 1901, a student named Agnes Ozman asked for prayer and the laying on of hands to specifically ask God to fill her with the Holy Spirit. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, coincidentally in the first hours of the 20th century. Parham followed within the next few days. Parham called his new movement the Apostolic Faith. In 1905, he moved to Houston and opened a Bible school there. One of his students was William Seymour, an African-American preacher. In 1906, Seymour traveled to Los Angeles where his preaching ignited the Azusa Street Revival. This revival is considered the birth of the global Pentecostal movement. Witnesses at the Azusa Street Revival wrote of seeing fire resting on the heads of participants, miraculous healings in the meetings, and incidents of speaking in tongues being understood by native speakers of the language. According to the first issue of William Seymour's newsletter, "The Apostolic Faith", from 1906:

A Mohammedan, a Soudanese by birth, a [m]an who is an interpreter and speaks six[t]een languages, came into the meetings at Azusa Street and the Lord gave him messages which none but himself could understand. He identified, interpreted and wrote [a] number of the languages.[29]

Parham and his early followers believed that speaking in tongues was xenoglossia, and some followers traveled to foreign countries and tried to use the gift to share the Gospel with non-English-speaking people. These attempts consistently resulted in failure and many of Parham's followers rejected his teachings after being disillusioned with their attempts to speak unlearned foreign languages. Despite these setbacks, belief in xenoglossia persisted into the latter half of the 20th century among Pentecostal groups.[30]

The revival at Azusa Street lasted until around 1915. From it grew many new Pentecostal churches as people visited the services in Los Angeles and took their newfound beliefs to communities around the United States and abroad. During the 20th century, glossolalia became an important part of the identity of these religious groups. During the 1960s, the charismatic movement within the mainline Protestant churches and among charismatic Roman Catholics would adopt some Pentecostal beliefs, and the practice of glossolalia would spread to other Christian denominations. The discussion regarding tongues has permeated many branches of the Protestantism, particularly since the widespread Charismatic Movement in the 1960s. Many books have been published either defending[31] or attacking[32] the practice.

Christianity

Theological explanations

In Christianity, a supernatural explanation for glossolalia is advocated by some and rejected by others.

Proponents of each viewpoint use the biblical writings and historical arguments to support their positions.

Biblical practice

There are five places in the New Testament where speaking in tongues is referred to explicitly:

Other verses by inference may be considered to refer to "speaking in tongues", such as Isaiah 28:11, Romans 8:26 and Jude 20.

The biblical account of Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and "divided tongues like fire" coming to rest on the apostles. The text further describes that "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages". It goes on to say in verses 5-11 that when the Apostles spoke, each person in attendance "heard their own language being spoken". Therefore, the gift of speaking in tongues refers to the Apostles' speaking languages that the people listening heard as "them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God". Glossolalists and cessationists both recognize this as xenoglossia, a miraculous ability that marked their baptism in the Holy Spirit. Something similar (although perhaps not xenoglossia) took place on at least two subsequent occasions, in Caesarea and Ephesus.

Glossolalists and cessationists generally agree that the primary purpose of the gift of speaking in tongues was to mark the Holy Spirit being poured out. At Pentecost the Apostle Peter declared that this gift, which was making some in the audience ridicule the disciples as drunks, was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Joel which described that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh (Acts 2:17).[34]

Despite these commonalities, there are significant variations in interpretation.

Pentecostal and charismatic practice

Because Pentecostal and charismatic beliefs are not monolithic, there is not complete theological agreement on speaking in tongues. Generally, however, it is agreed that speaking in tongues is a spiritual gift that can be manifested as either a human language or a heavenly supernatural language in three ways. The "sign of tongues" refers to xenoglossia, wherein one speaks an actual language he has never learned. The "gift of tongues" refers to a glossolalic utterance spoken by an individual and addressed to a congregation of, typically, other believers. Lastly, "praying in the spirit" is typically used to refer to glossolalia as part of personal prayer. Many Pentecostals and charismatics adhere to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 14 which established guidelines on the public use of glossolalia in the church at Corinth.

The gift of tongues is often referred to as a "message in tongues". This use of glossolalia requires an interpretation so that the gathered congregation can understand the message. This is accomplished by the interpretation of tongues, another spiritual gift. There are two schools of thoughts concerning the nature of a message in tongues. One school of thought believes it is always directed to God as prayer, praise, or thanksgiving but is spoken in for the hearing and edification of the congregation. The other school of thought believes that a message in tongues can be a prophetic utterance inspired by the Holy Spirit. In this case, the speaker delivers a message to the congregation on behalf of God.

In addition to praying in the Spirit, many Pentecostal and charismatic churches practice what is known as singing in the Spirit.

Non-Christian practice

Other religious groups have been observed to practice some form of theopneustic glossolalia. It is perhaps most commonly in Paganism, Shamanism, and other mediumistic religious practices.[45] In Japan, the God Light Association believed that glossolalia could cause adherents to recall past lives.[46]

Glossolalia has even been postulated as an explanation for the Voynich manuscript.[47]

Certain Gnostic magical texts from the Roman period have written on them unintelligible syllables such as "t t t t n n n n d d d d d...". It is conjectured that these may be transliterations of the sorts of sounds made during glossolalia. The Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians also features a hymn of (mostly) unintelligible syllables which is thought to be an early example of Christian glossolalia.

In the 19th century, Spiritism was developed by the work of Allan Kardec, and the phenomenon was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of xenoglossia.

Glossolalia has also been observed in the Voodoo religion of Haiti,[48] as well as in the Hindu Gurus and Fakirs of India.[49][50]

Some Jewish groups sing or chant nigunim, which are often melodies not consisting of recognizable words, but of repetitive or other syllables. Sometimes, they are repetitive singing of recognizable words.[51][52]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Glossolalia n." A Dictionary of Psychology. Edited by Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press 2009. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  2. ↑ Cheryl Bridges Johns and Frank Macchia, “Glossolalia,” The Encyclopedia of Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI; Leiden, Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans; Brill, 1999–2003), 413.
  3. ↑ γλῶσσα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. ↑ λαλέω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  5. ↑ Mark 16:17 in Wycliffe's Bible
  6. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed, 1989
  7. ↑ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 308527.
  8. ↑ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 120. OCLC 308527.
  9. ↑ Samarin, William J. (1972). "Sociolinguistic vs. Neurophysiological Explanations for Glossolalia: Comment on Goodman’s Paper". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 11 (3): 293–296. doi:10.2307/1384556. JSTOR 1384556.
  10. ↑ Goodman, Felicitas D. (1969). "Phonetic Analysis of Glossolalia in Four Cultural Settings". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 8 (2): 227–235. doi:10.2307/1384336. JSTOR 1384336.
  11. 1 2 Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 128. OCLC 308527.
  12. ↑ Samarin, William J. (1972). Tongues of Men and Angels: The Religious Language of Pentecostalism. New York: Macmillan. p. 2. OCLC 308527.
  13. ↑ Goodman, Felicitas D. (1972). Speaking in Tongues: A Cross-Cultural Study in Glossolalia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-30324-6. OCLC 393056.
  14. ↑ Martin 1995, pp. 88-89.
  15. 1 2 Martin 1995, p. 90.
  16. ↑ Martin 1995, p. 91.
  17. ↑ Warfield, Benjamin B. (1918). Counterfeit Miracles. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 10. ISBN 0-85151-166-X. OCLC 3977281. The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers contain no clear and certain allusions to miracle working or to the exercise of the charismatic gifts, contemporaneously with themselves.
  18. 1 2 Saint Patrick. Confessio, sections 24 and 25
  19. ↑ Bernard, Serm. i. de Ascens., 2
  20. ↑ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Question 176.
  21. ↑ Burgess, Stanley M. (1991). "Medieval and Modern Western Churches". In Gary B. McGee. Initial evidence: historical and biblical perspectives on the Pentecostal doctrine of spirit baptism. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-943575-41-4. OCLC 24380326.
  22. ↑ Lacy, John (1707). A Cry from the Desert. p. 32. OCLC 81008302.
  23. ↑ Hamilton, Michael Pollock (1975). The charismatic movement. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8028-3453-9. OCLC 1008209.
  24. ↑ Burrough, Edward (1831) [1659]. "Epistle to the Reader" in Fox, George. The great mystery of the great whore unfolded; and Antichrist's kingdom revealed unto destruction. The Works of George Fox. 3. p. 13. OCLC 12877488.
  25. ↑ Irving, Edward (January 1832). "Facts Connected With Recent Manifestations of Spiritual Gifts". Fraser's Magazine 4 (24): 754–761. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  26. ↑ http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin/tongue1.htm[]
  27. ↑ http://www.mormonwiki.com/Speaking_in_Tongues[]
  28. 1 2 3 4 Copeland, Lee. "Speaking in Tongues in the Restoration Churches", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol 24, No. 1
  29. ↑ Square brackets indicate faded parts that are no longer readable.
  30. ↑ Faupel, D. William. GLOSSOLALIA AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE:AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY PENTECOSTAL CLAIM.
  31. ↑ Example: Christenson, Laurence, Speaking in tongues : and its significance for the church, Minneapolis, MN : Dimension Books, 1968.
  32. ↑ Example: Gromacki, Robert Glenn, The modern tongues movement, Nutley, N.J. : Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1973, ISBN 0-87552-304-8 (Originally published 1967)
  33. 1 2 3 Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1070. ISBN 978-0-85110-652-6. OCLC 29952151.
  34. 1 2 General Presbytery of the Assemblies of God (11 August 2000). "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit: The Initial Experience and Continuing Evidences of the Spirit-Filled Life" (PDF). General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  35. ↑ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1072. ISBN 978-0-85110-652-6. OCLC 29952151.
  36. 1 2 Assemblies of God (1961). "Statement of Fundamental Truths" (PDF). General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  37. ↑ "Baptism with the Holy Spirit". christians.eu.
  38. ↑ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1073. ISBN 978-0-85110-652-6. OCLC 29952151.
  39. ↑ Masters, Peter; John C. Whitcomb (1988). The Charismatic Phenomenon. London: Wakeman Trust. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-870855-01-3. OCLC 20720229.
  40. ↑ Johns, Donald A. (1988). Stanley M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee and Patrick H. Alexander, eds. Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 788. ISBN 978-0-310-44100-7. OCLC 18496801. Cited by Riss, Richard M. (28 July 1995). "Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements". Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  41. ↑ Alford, Delton L. (1988). Stanley M. Burgess, Gary B. McGee and Patrick H. Alexander, eds. Dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. p. 690. ISBN 978-0-310-44100-7. OCLC 18496801. Cited by Riss, Richard M. (28 July 1995). "Singing in the Spirit in the Holiness, Pentecostal, Latter Rain, and Charismatic Movements". Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  42. ↑ "Questions about Tongues". General Council of the Assemblies of God of the United States. 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  43. ↑ Grudem, Wayne A. (1994). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. p. 1075. ISBN 978-0-85110-652-6. OCLC 29952151.
  44. ↑ Masters, Peter; John C. Whitcomb (1988). The Charismatic Phenomenon. London: Wakeman Trust. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-870855-01-3. OCLC 20720229.
  45. ↑ Fr. Seraphim Rose: Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future, St Herman Press
  46. ↑ "Page Moved -- UC Press: Journals". ucpress.net.
  47. ↑ Gerry Kennedy, Rob Churchill (2004). The Voynich Manuscript. London: Orion. ISBN 0-7528-5996-X.
  48. ↑ "Tongue Speaking". scionofzion.com.
  49. ↑ "Sri Sri Anandamayi Ma's Spiritual Heritage". anandamayi.org.
  50. ↑ "Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future". orthodoxphotos.com.
  51. ↑ Haida Touchstone Sacred Dance Library, Accessed February 2014
  52. ↑ Music In Kaballah , The Nigun's Influence on the Soul From the book Shirat HaLev (The Song of the Heart) by Shmuel Stern - Translated by Gita Levi.Accessed February 2014

References

Further reading

External links

Look up glossolalia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Religious perspectives

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