The Holy Spirit · The Gifts
Speaking in Tongues
No gift of the Spirit is more argued over, and none comes with more of Paul’s own regulation attached. Tongues opened the church’s first morning — Galileans praising God in the languages of the crowd — and twenty-five years later Paul was governing its use in Corinth with rules the church still reads aloud. This page holds the whole question the site’s way: what the texts say, the two settings Paul treated differently, and every position at its strongest — with the two commands he refused to drop standing over all of it: decently and in order, and forbid not.
The First Morning
— Acts 2 — known languages, heard and namedWhatever else tongues is, Luke tells us exactly what it was at Pentecost: the crowd names fifteen regions and says “we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” Real languages, unlearned by the speakers, understood by the hearers. Clarke heard Babel running in reverse — languages confounded to scatter the nations, languages given to gather them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.Astounded and amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? How is it then that each of us hears them in his own native language?And this family praising God together, with the tongues of all the world, was an earnest that the whole world should in due time praise God in their various tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance - Moses, the type of the law, was of a slow tongue; but the Gospel speaks with a fiery and flaming one.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on Acts 2:4
To speak with other tongues - At the building of Babel the language of the people was confounded; and, in consequence of this, they became scattered over the face of the earth: at this foundation of the Christian Church, the gift of various languages was given to the apostles, that the scattered nations might be gathered; and united under one shepherd and superintendent (επισκοπος) of all souls. As the Spirit gave them utterance - The word αποφθεγγεσθαι seems to imply such utterance as proceeded from immediate inspiration, and included oracular communications.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on Acts 2:4
Corinth, and the Two Settings
— 1 Corinthians 14 — the chapter that governs the giftIn Corinth the picture shifts: the tongue-speaker “speaketh not unto men, but unto God,” no man understands him, he edifies himself — and Paul, who spoke in tongues “more than ye all,” would still rather speak five understood words in church than ten thousand unexplained ones. Whether Corinth’s tongues were the same known languages as Pentecost (Calvin’s reading, below) or Spirit-given utterance of another kind (the common Pentecostal reading of 14:2 and 13:1) is one of the page’s honest open questions. What is not open is the chapter’s architecture — Paul governs the gift by its setting.
ONE GIFT, TWO SETTINGS — THE CHAPTER’S OWN ARCHITECTURE
the assembly is governed · the closet is free
IN THE ASSEMBLY
- ITS PURPOSE THERE
- a sign — and edification only through interpretation · 1 Cor 14:22, 5→
- ITS GOVERNING RULE
- “by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret” — else “keep silence in the church” · 1 Cor 14:27-28→
- THE FLOOR UNDER IT
- “Let all things be done decently and in order” (14:40)
BETWEEN THE SOUL AND GOD
- ITS PURPOSE THERE
- “he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself… he speaketh… unto God” · 1 Cor 14:4, 2→
- ITS GOVERNING RULE
- “let him speak to himself, and to God” — Paul's own practice: “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” · 1 Cor 14:28, 18→
- THE FLOOR UNDER IT
- “forbid not to speak with tongues” (14:39)
For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries in the Spirit. But he who prophesies speaks to men for their edification, encouragement, and comfort. The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I wish that all of you could speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be edified.I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church, I would rather speak five coherent words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.both truths in Paul's own practice — more than ye all, AND five words rather.
He says in the outset -- He that speaketh in another tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto God: that is, according to the proverb, "He sings to himself and to the Muses." In the use of the word tongue, there is not a pleonasm, as in those expressions -- "She spake thus with her mouth," and "I caught the sound with these ears." The term denotes a foreign language.
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554), on 1 Cor 14:2
Many who spoke in tongues could not explain what they themselves were saying. Therefore they were useful only to themselves. But the one who prophesies is useful to all listeners. Therefore, as great as the distance between benefit to one person and benefit to the
Theophylact of Ohrid· Commentary on 1 Corinthians (1107), on 1 Cor 14:4
Note, That is the best and most eligible gift which best answers the purposes of charity and does most good; not that which can edify ourselves only, but that which will edify the church. Such is prophesying, or preaching, and interpreting scripture, compared with speaking in an unknown tongue. Indeed, no gift is to be despised, but the best gifts are to be preferred.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on 1 Cor 14:4
I had rather--The Greek verb more literally expresses this meaning, "I WISH to speak five words with my understanding (rather) than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue"; even the two thousandth part of ten thousand. The Greek for "I would rather," would be a different verb.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), on 1 Cor 14:19
A Sign, and an Ordered House
— 14:22 and 14:27-28 — purpose and protocolPaul calls tongues “a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not” — arresting attention the way Pentecost arrested Jerusalem — and then writes the assembly’s protocol in numbers: two, at most three; in turn; one interpreting; silence if no interpreter is present. The rules assume the gift is real and present; rules are not written for things that never happen.
Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at most three, should speak in turn, and someone must interpret. But if there is no interpreter, he should remain silent in the church and speak only to himself and God.Tongues are intended for a sign to unbelievers - To engage their attention, and convince them the message is of God. Whereas prophecy is not so much for unbelievers, as for the confirmation of them that already believe.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on 1 Cor 14:22
I do not forbid speaking in tongues, but let it not be without interpretation. And let few speak in tongues, lest there be confusion and disorder; "and that in turn," that is, successively. But, in any case, there must be an interpreter.
Theophylact of Ohrid· Commentary on 1 Corinthians (1107), on 1 Cor 14:27
Let it be by two, or at the most by three - That is, two, or at most three in one day, or in one meeting. So Grotius, Rosenmuller, Doddridge, Bloomfield, and Locke, understand it. It is probable that many were endowed with the gift of tongues; and it is certain that they were disposed to exercise the gift even when it could be of no real advantage, and when it was done only for ostentation.
Albert Barnes· Notes on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869), on 1 Cor 14:27
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;'they shall speak with new tongues' — from the longer ending of Mark; the oldest manuscripts end at 16:8, a question the page states rather than hides.
(2.) They shall speak with new tongues, which they had never learned, or been acquainted with; and this was both a miracle (a miracle upon the mind ), for the confirming of the truth of the gospel, and a means of spreading the gospel among those nations that had not heard it.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710), on Mark 16:17
For Today? — the Positions, and Who Holds Each
— 'whether there be tongues, they shall cease' — but when?Paul himself said tongues would cease. The whole modern question is when— and it turns on 1 Corinthians 13:10: “when that which is perfect is come.” If “the perfect” is the completed canon of Scripture, the sign-gifts had a closing date in the first century. If it is the state of glory — Wesley’s plain reading below: when all things are fulfilled, and God is all in all— then the ceasing awaits the seeing face to face. Readers across every camp now largely grant the second reading of the verse; the cessationist case rests more broadly on the sign-purpose of the gifts, and it deserves to be heard in its own voice — Gregory the Great was already making it, with a gardener’s picture, in the sixth century.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal.Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.Love never faileth - It accompanies to, and adorns us in, eternity; it prepares us for, and constitutes, heaven. But whether there be prophecies, they shall fail - When all things are fulfilled, and God is all in all.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on 1 Cor 13:8
"Tongues will cease" when I express what I want to say with my mind.
Origen of Alexandria· Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4.52 (c. 253), on 1 Cor 13:8
What then, my brethren, because you do not these signs, do you not believe? But these things were necessary in the beginning of the Church. For that faith might grow, it needed to be nourished by miracles, because we also, when we plant shrubs, pour water on them only until we see that they have taken root in the ground; and once they have fixed their roots, we cease watering. Hence it is that Paul says: Tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to unbelievers.
Gregory the Great· Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 29 (604), on 1 Cor 14:22
The four positions, each at its bestnamed with their holders — the gracious rule governs
Classical Pentecostal— the gift continues in both settings: the congregational sign-gift with interpretation, and the personal prayer language that “edifieth himself” (14:4). This is the site’s own heritage — Smith Wigglesworth (Ever Increasing Faith, 1924), Kenneth Hagin, Derek Prince (The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Handbook), Reinhard Bonnke (Mighty Manifestations, 1994). The related conviction that tongues is the initial evidence of Spirit-baptism is weighed on its own page, where every position stands at full strength.
Continuationist, non-Pentecostal— the gift is real and for today, but is one gift among many, given “as he will” (12:11) and not to all (“do all speak with tongues?”, 12:30). John Piper and the continuationist Reformed stream hold here; Chuck Missler’s Calvary Chapel posture sits nearby.
Soft cessationist— J.I. Packer’s Keep in Step with the Spirit (1984): the New Testament sign-gift cannot be certainly identified with the modern experience, yet the modern practice may be a genuine species of prayer God blesses. A position built for honesty in both directions.
Cessationist— the sign-gifts authenticated the apostolic founding and ceased with it (R.C. Sproul; the functional posture of much of church history, as Gregory’s homily above shows). Its strongest ground is not 13:10 but the sign-logic of Hebrews 2:3-4 and 2 Corinthians 12:12. The site’s full-strength treatment of this case lives on the Baptism in the Holy Spirit page.
The Two Standing Rules
— how Paul ended the chapter — and how this page endsWhatever a reader concludes about the gift, Paul’s closing pair of commands binds every camp at once, and each guards against the other’s besetting temptation: the church that loves the gift must keep the order; the church that fears the disorder must not forbid. And over both stands the chapter he set between the gift chapters on purpose — without love, the tongues of men and of angels are sounding brass.
So, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner.Closing
A gift that opened the church’s first sermon, edifies the one who prays it, and required an apostle to write its house rules. The camps that divide over it all read the same chapter — and the chapter’s own last word on the subject is the one thing every reader can obey tonight: follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts.