Speaking in Tongues?

[mystichuntress]

I'm not religious. I'm not Christian. I'm not allowed to study religion, but I still want to learn about Christianity.
My friend has been telling me Bible stories and explaining about Jesus and everything. Then he came to the part about "speaking in tongues" and it got really awkward for him. He suggested I search it up on YouTube first before coming back to ask him but my computer is crap so YouTube doesn't load.
So what does it mean, "speaking in tongues" ? I know there are a lot of websites on the topic, but I want to know about actual experiences and ask questions when I don't understand.
Can someone explain this to me please?

[VenusInChains]

This is kinda a tough thing to talk about because not all churches agree with this practice. The ones that do "speak in tongues" believe it is a gift from God. When they pray, the Holy Spirit is supposed to take over your body and help you pray. God is supposed to understand what you are saying, when you yourself probably have no idea, although I have been told that understanding tongues is another gift.

In my personal view, whenever I've heard people speaking in tongues during prayer, it just sounds like jibberish. I don't buy it as a gift of any sort. I don't really want to go further into what I think about it because I'm not Christian and I don't want to offend anyone who does that thinks this is ok to do.

[mystichuntress]

oh ok then. Thanks for the info anyway.
So those who "speak in tongues" don't understand what they're saying? What I'm curious about is how it came to be that some people have this gift - like how it came about.

[Nostalgic]

I was curious
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia

[ambigUne]

"For anyone who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." 1 Corinthians 14:2

Origin of speaking in tongues comes from the book of Acts during the initial forming of the 1st century's infantile development of the Christian Church. The event recorded in Acts is known as Pentecost:

"They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
Acts 2:3,4

Pentecost is sort of the scriptural foreshadowing for the spreading of faith across all peoples on Earth. The ancient prophets, specifically Isiah, spoke of a time when the Lord would speak to not just the Jews but would reveal himself as God to the Gentiles as well. Isiah foretold of a point in history at which God would make himself known as God of all peoples, when salvation would be offered to the whole world. Pentecost marks the fulfillment of this prophesy.

Speaking in tongues is a "practice" found in mainly the strict conservative Christian church environments. However, as a spiritual gift as it's described in 1 Corinthians, the Spirit is impartial to particularities of varying denominations when it chooses to evoke the use of one speaking in tongues. It is common to occur during Catholic Adoration or Pentecostal services, but can happen to practically any man or woman of faith.

I went to a concert event at a very contemporary nondenominational church in my city. The band was called Luminous. The lead singer was filled with the Holy Spirit, clearly, on fire for the Lord as they say. She started reading from scripture at one point in the show, and i saw a gleaming golden light grow in her aura and surround her as her spirit moved though the Word. After that, she went into prayer and everyone in the audience was linked with arms over their neighbors shoulders or hands on the backs of people in front of them. A guy i knew from church stood a couple people away from me, and he began speaking softly and fluidly in some unrecognizable language during the prayer. Another guy who was standing right next to him at the time, asked him about it after the show. A bit timid about it at first, the young man described to us his experience with speaking in tongues. He said the first time it happened he was driving by himself in his car, going thru something really difficult and troubling and really struggling with his faith, when suddenly he felt this stirring from deep inside his gut like a swelling of emotion about to spew out reflexively. He said even if he had tried to hold it back, the words would have naturally erupted out of his mouth involuntarily almost. Although he didn't understand what he was saying, he felt as though he were speaking directly into the ears of God, and although the words were indecipherable to him, the emotion that the utterances carried were representative of the anguish that his soul was trying to release. He was embarrassed of the gift at first whenever it would start to happen in front of other people, always during a spiritually charged and emotionally heightened situation. It happened to him infrequently, but over time he accepted it as a unique expression of the Spirit through him. I knew the guy well enough to know that he was not faking it or making it up; he was not aiming for attention of trying to look special. He was no zealot--he played poker and drank beer on weekends. The phenomenon is very real in people like this, apparently, and has been for centuries. It is spontaneous. It is part of the mystery of faith. Kind of weird to witness, and yet wondrous at the same time.

[7Believer]

I think speaking in tongues simply refers to speaking another language.

"Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up."

I think what this quote actually refers to is the difference between talking emphatically and talking ambiguously (greetings AmbigUne! You're username helped me decide which word to use, but I don't mean any disrespect by it), with prophesying being what the speakers in tongues would be doing, just in a different language. Perhaps I may have the context wrong. This link can help you decide for yourself: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+14&version=ESV

I am unsure if this is inappropriate to ask or not, since it is off-topic, but concerns something that I have just done on this thread. If it is, nobody needs to answer it. I've seen people reword their links however they please. Can somebody please teach me how to do that?

[VenusInChains]

I think speaking in tongues simply refers to speaking another language.

That is how I interpret the refrences in the Bible, it would have sounded like jibberish to other people but the audience who needed to listen to what was being said would have understood it. I don't see how speaking in tongues can be refered to as a "gift" these days if no one nearby can understand what the person is saying. I knew a guy who used to do this at work and people didn't know what he was doing/saying. They thought he had some mental problems so most people avoided him.

[SamZee]

7Believer: "I've seen people reword their links however they please. Can somebody please teach me how to do that?"

When you click the URL button, this comes up: [url][/url]
So if I were to link to google.com with whatever text, it would look like this: [url=http://www.google.com]alsdkhasldfhalksgh[/url]

Remember the = before the address. And in case you're wondering, it didn't convert the above example to an active link because checked "Disable BBcode" in the options below. That's also why I couldn't use the quote function.

[7Believer]

Thank you, Samzee. You're post was very helpful.

[SamZee]

Quite welcome, good sir. =]

[Hannahljmr]

"For anyone who speaks in tongues does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit." 1 Corinthians 14:2

Origin of speaking in tongues comes from the book of Acts during the initial forming of the 1st century's infantile development of the Christian Church. The event recorded in Acts is known as Pentecost:

"They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
Acts 2:3,4

Pentecost is sort of the scriptural foreshadowing for the spreading of faith across all peoples on Earth. The ancient prophets, specifically Isiah, spoke of a time when the Lord would speak to not just the Jews but would reveal himself as God to the Gentiles as well. Isiah foretold of a point in history at which God would make himself known as God of all peoples, when salvation would be offered to the whole world. Pentecost marks the fulfillment of this prophesy.

Speaking in tongues is a "practice" found in mainly the strict conservative Christian church environments. However, as a spiritual gift as it's described in 1 Corinthians, the Spirit is impartial to particularities of varying denominations when it chooses to evoke the use of one speaking in tongues. It is common to occur during Catholic Adoration or Pentecostal services, but can happen to practically any man or woman of faith.

I went to a concert event at a very contemporary nondenominational church in my city. The band was called Luminous. The lead singer was filled with the Holy Spirit, clearly, on fire for the Lord as they say. She started reading from scripture at one point in the show, and i saw a gleaming golden light grow in her aura and surround her as her spirit moved though the Word. After that, she went into prayer and everyone in the audience was linked with arms over their neighbors shoulders or hands on the backs of people in front of them. A guy i knew from church stood a couple people away from me, and he began speaking softly and fluidly in some unrecognizable language during the prayer. Another guy who was standing right next to him at the time, asked him about it after the show. A bit timid about it at first, the young man described to us his experience with speaking in tongues. He said the first time it happened he was driving by himself in his car, going thru something really difficult and troubling and really struggling with his faith, when suddenly he felt this stirring from deep inside his gut like a swelling of emotion about to spew out reflexively. He said even if he had tried to hold it back, the words would have naturally erupted out of his mouth involuntarily almost. Although he didn't understand what he was saying, he felt as though he were speaking directly into the ears of God, and although the words were indecipherable to him, the emotion that the utterances carried were representative of the anguish that his soul was trying to release. He was embarrassed of the gift at first whenever it would start to happen in front of other people, always during a spiritually charged and emotionally heightened situation. It happened to him infrequently, but over time he accepted it as a unique expression of the Spirit through him. I knew the guy well enough to know that he was not faking it or making it up; he was not aiming for attention of trying to look special. He was no zealot--he played poker and drank beer on weekends. The phenomenon is very real in people like this, apparently, and has been for centuries. It is spontaneous. It is part of the mystery of faith. Kind of weird to witness, and yet wondrous at the same time.

I'm a Christian, and agree with everything Amb says. I know a few who have spoken in tongues, my church is all about love and our fellowship is very tight. The emotion is described as freeing, as before you go into speaking in tongues you are so filled and heavy with the Holy Spirit, to speak in tongues gives you a relief and my friend describes a fluttery light feeling. You do not understand the words, only the powerful emotion which is your connection with God. It is a gift, because many people of faith cannot do this on command.