Speaking in Tongues

Dear Mike,
Does speaking in tongues still take place today?

This is a complex issue which I will try to answer briefly here, however, if you want more detailed information, I suggest you view or read lesson #14 in the Luke/Acts for Beginners series.

First, we need to recognize that what the Apostles (and only the Apostles) were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do on Pentecost Sunday was to miraculously speak in languages that they had not previously known (Acts 2:6-8). This was required so that the Apostles would be able to proclaim the gospel in the native languages of the many different cultures gathered in Jerusalem for the Pentecost feast.

The "tongues" spoken by modern day Pentecostals (a movement that only began at the turn of the 20th century in California) is a form of gibberish that does not constitute a known language and is usually transmitted by public hallucination or the phenomenon of "mimicking".

It is true that some early disciples, aside from the Apostles had miraculous gifts (ie. Steven - Acts 6:8) however, he had received this ability from the Apostles by the laying on of their hands which is how other disciples received power to do miracles in the early church (Acts 6:1-6; Acts 8:18-20).

The Holy Spirit is given to each believer at baptism (Acts 2:38) in order to help the believer live in holiness and obedience but also to guarantee the believer's eventual resurrection from the dead (Romans 8:11). In other words, we're not given the Spirit to do miracles (that stage of Christianity has passed), we are given the Spirit to enable us to bear spiritual fruit and then raise us up on the last day.