Thursday, April 29, 2010

Speaking in Tongues

I've been having an online discussion with a man who claims that "Speaking in Tongues" involves speaking in an angelic, divine or invented language without understanding anything you're saying. I've countered that the Biblical examples of Speaking in Tongues, such as when the apostles spoke in tongues on Pentecost, involved speaking a language despite having never been taught it, but understanding what was being said. He countered by asking, "why bother to mentioned if it is just understandable language?"

I responded by pointing out they were speaking in a language they had not learned, but was a real language. one has to remember that 1st century Palestine was a melting pot of cultures, but not everyone understood each other. Traveling more than a few days or weeks away would require you to find a translator. Traveling more than a few months would mean it would be nearly miraculous to even FIND someone who spoke both your language and the native language. Even traveling within the Roman Empire and knowing Latin would only let you speak to the educated, not the masses.

Remember the Tower of Babel? When the apostles spoke in tongues on Pentecost they were undoing that curse.

The ease with which one can find a translator these days and the mind boggling scope of a few spoken languages makes it easy to discount the amazing power of the Pentecost miracle of speaking in tongues. I can understand why false prophets try and claim the gift involves speaking in an angelic language despite the complete lack of Biblical support for the claim. When you can enroll at the local university and learn just about any language you want it's easy to forget just how incredible the gift of tongues, speaking to people in their own language despite having never been taught it, really is.

They didn't HAVE university courses in other languages back then. You couldn't go to Borders, pick up a "Spanish 101" DVD series and have a rudimentary understanding of the language in a few months. You needed to either travel to a place and immerse yourself for months to years, or hire one or more tutors. Most people only spoke the languages of their immediate neighbors. Only the wealthy and traders could afford to learn more languages than they grew up with.

And here were these fishermen, these uneducated working class stiffs running around speaking the language of the people who had traveled for weeks or months to be in Jerusalem for passover. The travelers would have been blown away by this. Here they were, needing translators or speaking a pidgin Latin or Hebrew, desperately trying to communicate even the most rudimentary ideas, suddenly being approached by a fisherman who spoke their language with the fluency of a native speaker yet were obviously working class men from the immediate area.

The miracle looses all substance if the Apostles didn't understand what they were saying. Instead of being miraculously connected to visiting foreigners they'd be nothing but a marionette. The visitors would have seen uneducated nobodies reciting a memorized speech. That's not a miracle. That's no better than rote memorization.

3 comments:

DM said...

they thought BOOBIES had no effect... WRONG!


see, I just want to make it clear to the rest of you:


jen is unable to see that there is a CONFLICT BETWEEN EROS & SCIENCE....

________________

http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html

ETA: follow-up

http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/quick-clarification-about-boobquake.html

see how we take a term and convert it into its AUTHENTIC POLITICAL DIMENSION - THAT
OF LIBERATION - not just merely harmless expression...

they thought BOOBIES had no effect... WRONG!
____________



FOR THE *HEADLESS IDIOT* called m.shermer


http://www.skeptic.com/Merchant2/graphics/audio_video/av558_lg.jpg


his is your *FINAL WARNING*



____________________________________
the really SHARP END OF OCCAM’S RAZOR…


they mix SKEPTICISM with ATHEISM…


KABOOM…


Now I want you to listen to this little f*cker...


http://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.html


Randi:


When I see your UGLY FACE I understand why you are an atheist

_________________________________


now I want you to watch this video of DELUSION...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW2zsobxJDU


with the atheists:


they start begging when they start dying...


_____________________


Atheists,


but you have NO ANSWER TO DEATH... therefore you FAIL...


the Death of Ath*ism


*********************************


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8-Yxdphsg


DEATH TRAP


**********************************


THE REAL QUESTION:


DOES ATHEISM HAVE A FUTURE?


AND THE ANSWER - NO!


Atheists,


GET OUT OF MY UNIVERSE


you little liars do nothing but antagonize…


and you try to eliminate all the dreams and hopes of humanity…


but you LOST…


THE DEATH OF ATH*ISM - SCIENTIFIC PROOF OF GOD


Crystal Night, Atheists!


FINALE:


Have I said this before?


***********************************

http://theatheistwars.free0host.com/

***********************************


PULLING THE PLUG on atheism


http://www.firstscience.com/site/articles/coles.asp




http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3332/3228845133_3599f8108f.jpg


bye


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090126/as-indonesia-solar-eclipse/images/c52d9d50-7ca2-4c3a-b13c-c866836298c8.jpg




Einstein puts the final nail in the coffin of atheism…


*************************************


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vpw4AH8QQ


*************************************


atheists deny their own life element…


LIGHT OR DEATH, ATHEISTS?


********************************

***************************LIGHT*********

************************************


___________


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC7Sg41Bp-U


E=MC2


____________


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmtK-X_MV0k&feature=fvw


DOWN THE TOILET!!!


_____________

http://open.salon.com/blog/sandra_no_longer_miller/2009/02/13/files/lamb1234553042.jpg



LAMB POWER!


_____________________

UNDERSTAND!!!?

Shermer - Randi - Myers - Harris - Dawkins VS. NOSTRADAMUS - EINSTEIN - MARKUZE

you are ANNIHILATED!!!

crystal night is a reference to when the SUN IS ECLIPSED...

--------------------------------------

Repent and turn to God or be destroyed...

LIGHT OR DEATH, ATHEISTS?


********************************
***************************LIGHT*********
************************************ or death...

LIGHT!

DM said...

THE BOOBQUAKE - 911!

hey, atheists don't even BELIEVE IN BOOBIES!!!

they thought BOOBIES had no effect... WRONG!


see, I just want to make it clear to the rest of you:

jen is unable to see that there is a CONFLICT BETWEEN EROS & SCIENCE....
________________

http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html

ETA: follow-up

http://www.blaghag.com/2010/04/quick-clarification-about-boobquake.html

see how we take a term and convert in into its AUTHENTIC POLITICAL DIMENSION - THAT
OF LIBERATION - not just merely harmless expression...

they thought BOOBIES had no effect... WRONG!
____________

the really SHARP END OF OCCAM’S RAZOR…

they mix SKEPTICISM with ATHEISM…

KABOOM…

Now I want you to listen to this little f*cker...

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_randi.html

Randi:

When I see your UGLY FACE I understand why you are an atheist

_________________________________

Visit for the BOOBQUAKE

http://www.freethought-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22932

DM said...

how about I believe in WHATEVER I want - even in the FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTER! - and you have nothing to say!

let me show you the end results of this particular *ONE-DIMENSIONAL
SCIENTIFIC MODE* of thinking that is called *CRITICAL THINKING*, which is completely
divorced from any human objectives...

this style has been perfected by dawkins, pz, randi and the other *NEW
ATHEISTS*

**

THE BOOBQUAKE - 911!

***

hey, atheists don't even BELIEVE IN BOOBIES!!!

they thought BOOBIES had no effect... WRONG!

see, I just want to make it clear to the rest of you:

jen is unable to see that there is a CONFLICT BETWEEN EROS &
SCIENCE....

blaghag.com/2010/04/in-name-of-science-i-offer-my-boobs.html

see how we take a term and convert it into its AUTHENTIC POLITICAL
DIMENSION - THAT OF LIBERATION - not just merely harmless expression...

Visit for the BOOBQUAKE:

dissidentphilosophy.lifediscussion.net/philosophy-f1/the-boobquake-911-t1310.htm