1 CORINTHIANS: MOVING FROM THE CARNAL TO THE SPIRITUAL STATE

Part XXXI: The Identity Of The Biblical Gift Of Tongues

(1 Corinthians 14:1-2)

I. Introduction

A. One of the most debated Scripture passages in evangelical circles is 1 Corinthians 14:2, for many Charismatic Christians claim they speak in humanly unintelligible utterances to the Lord in private, and they support this practice, citing 1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV that claims, "(H)e that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."

B. In view of the great divisiveness that exists in Christendom over the issue of tongues, we need to discern if Paul was sanctioning speaking unintelligible utterances to the Lord in private or if he meant something else, and if so, what. Thus, we view 1 Corinthians 14:1-2 in its Biblical contexts for our insight and edification:

II. The Identify Of The Biblical Gift Of Tongues, 1 Corinthians 14:1-2.

A. The immediate context shows Paul did not condone tongues as unintelligible utterances to the Lord in private:

1. In making the transition from 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul urged his readers to follow after love and to desire spiritual gifts, but "rather, to a greater degree" (mallon, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 608; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 490) that they might prophesy, 1 Corinthians 14:1 KJV.

2. To support his preference for prophecy among the gifts, Paul introduced 1 Corinthians 14:2 with an explanatory conjunction gar, "for, you see," Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 151.

3. Paul thus explained that prophecy is preferred to a gift like tongues since prophecy communicates truth to other people that they can understand unlike tongues that are not translated, for an untranslated ministry of tongues leaves one speaking only to God in mysteries and not being understood by others, 1 Cor. 14:2.

4. Thus, the immediate context argues that Paul was not condoning the use of the gift of tongues to communicate mysteries only to God in private, unintelligible speech, for that would fail the expressed goal of spiritual gifts to edify other people, not one's self in private devotion to the Lord, cf. 1 Corinthians 14:5.

B. The broad context shows Paul did not condone tongues as unintelligible utterances to the Lord in private:

1. Those who support speaking in unintelligible speech to God often refer to the well-known ecstatic speech practiced by pagan "sibylla, or female prophetesses" of Paul's day such as (a) the Cumaen sibyl (cf. Virgil Aenid 6. 77-102), (b) Pythia, the female oracle at Delphi (Plutarch Moralia 5. 409e) or (c) the maenads of Dionysus (Ovid Metamorphoses 3. 534, 710-30; cf. Euripedes Bacchae), Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 537.

2. They argue that Paul referred to this pagan background to condone the practice of unintelligible speech to God in private as a ministry of devotion to the Lord, Ibid.

3. However, "Paul's theological concepts and the usual source of his terms was the Old Testament," Ibid.:

a. Paul used the Greek term glossa that is interpreted "unknown tongue" in 1 Corinthians 14:2 KJV 21 times in 1 Corinthians 12-14 but only 3 other times in his other letters, Ibid.

b. Each of these 3 other uses of glossa in Paul's letters cite an Old Testament passage (Ps. 5:9 in Rom. 3:13; Isa. 45:23 in Rom. 14:11) or allude to an Old Testament passage (Isa. 45:23 in Phil. 2:11), Ibid.

c. Also, in each of these 3 cases, Paul "used the word 'tongue' as a figure of speech for the statement or confession made," and the statement or confession "was clearly intelligible" speech, Ibid.

4. Then, glossa as used elsewhere in the New Testament, whether literally of the physical organ of the tongue or figuratively of human language, "nowhere" refers to unintelligible "ecstatic speech," Ibid., p. 537-538.

C. In addition, the word "unknown" that modifies "tongue" (glossa) in the King James Version at 1 Corinthians 14:2 is italicized to signify that it does not translate a word in the New Testament Greek text, but that it was provided by the English translators! The presence of the italicized word "unknown" in the King James Version at 1 Corinthians 14:2 cannot be used to support the claim that glossa refers to unintelligible speech!

D. Thus, the gift of tongues mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:2 as well as in the rest of the New Testament is the same gift mentioned in Acts 2:1-13 -- the supernatural ability to speak the truths of God in an intelligible Gentile language that the speaker had not known before God's gifting to him to speak in that language.

E. This gift is to be used to edify others by communicating truth in a human language they know and understand.

Lesson: Paul did NOT condone the use of ecstatic, humanly unintelligible speech, but the spiritual gift from God to communicate in a known human language God's truth that others could understand to their edification.

Application: May we understand the Biblical identity and use of the gift of tongues as clarified in the Word of God.