[Cronos]

The sad thing about languages is that if you don't keep in touch regularly, they fade. I used to be able to speak street Arabic but now have forgotten all of that and can only remember the La Illah. I'm lucky that I can now keep in touch with my French but I've forgotten my German completely (which I was never very good at) since I started learning Polish.

Why do you think it was babbling as opposed to a real language or language of angels?

[Mr. K]

Because there are numerous example of people claiming to speak in tongues- record them and do some basic research to see if they are speaking a real language.

I absolutely hate deception in the name of religion. And some of the worst liars I ever met were the biggest bible thumpers.

My next door neighbor when I was growing up attending every mass every week and her son grew up to be a pastor. She was the meanest nastiest withc you ever met (out of church) and I think she killed my dog (seriously, I think she poisoned it)

[ExGeeEye]

popcorn bookmark

[aimhigh]

There are true and false teachings. And there are true and false tongues. Every true thing of God has an opposing counterfeit. The counterfeits don't nullify the true.

A couple verses are relevant here: "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

"If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord." 1 Cor 14:37. This verse, in context relates to the requirement that a church service follows this scriptural order:
"Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation." 1 Cor 14:26. Those who reject tongues have rejected a commandment of the Lord.

[Lx]

If I may ask, how many languages do you speak and how did you learn them? were you in the military and went to the linguistics school in Monterey?

I think it would be awesome to speak as many languages you listed.

[BikerJoe]

The sad thing about languages is that if you don't keep in touch regularly, they fade.

Yup. Used to be fluent in German...was even taken for a native in Germany and worked as a translator one summer, but that's all long gone. I can still read it and speak a little, but that's all.

Why do you think it was babbling as opposed to a real language or language of angels?

It's hard to say, maybe the way it actually sounded forced rather than natural, maybe because there was no discernable cadence or pattern like with a spoken language. Maybe because it DID resemble babbling.

[Fredgoblu]

Why do you think it was babbling as opposed to a real language or language of angels?

For me, it is a complete misread of the verses describing the Pentecost. The miracle was that the Holy Spirit descended upon the room, and as a result, everyone understood what each other was saying even though they were speaking in their native tongues. There's nothing about made-up languages. It's about understanding each other, despite our differences.

So, when I find myself at a charismatic church and hear people speaking in tongues, it only emphasizes to me that the Holy Spirit may not be in the room. If the Holy Spirit were in attendance, I should understand what these people are saying.

I'd like to believe that whenever I am at church or saying a prayer, that I've got a direct line to God the Father and God the Son via the Holy Spirit. In my church, I can tell you that this is true. At a charismatic church, I have doubts.

[RJR_fan]

Why do you think it was babbling as opposed to a real language or language of angels?

I hope my usual ping list doesn't mind being invited into this conversation -- these folks are erudite and opinionated!

Seriously, though -- different phonemes in different languages are -- different. Almost without exception, "tongues" in America = randomized English phonemes, scrambled to the point where meaning is lost. In my 40 years of hanging around with Pentecostals, I know of only one incident where someone was heard worshiping God in a real foreign language (Spanish) that he'd never studied.

Hey, people say it edifies them to pray in tongues, so perhaps (I strongly suspect) some form of interaction with God is in progress. I quite attending our church's prayer meetings, however, because of the unrepentant abuse of the microphone by tongues-talkers who felt no need to wait for an interpretation.