Having been raised in an especially charismatic denomination of Christianity (Oneness Pentecostalism), to which the doctrine of “speaking in tongues� is foundational, I’m still fascinated by this charismatic phenomenon.
Before describing some relevant experiences from my youth, I’ll provide a brief explanation of the doctrine (as it was taught to me).
The bible speaks of two kinds of SPIRITually-inspired tongue-speaking:
- -- First, in the second chapter of Acts: on The Day of Pentecost, Christ’s apostles were “filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages�, as everyone present in “the crowd� that “gathered� (this reportedly included Parthians, Medesians, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, Pontusians, Asians, Phrygians, Pamphylians, Egyptians, Libyans, and others) were somehow able to understand, as if the Galilean apostles were speaking in various languages …simultaneously.
- -- Secondly, in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians: there are “varieties of activities� mentioned (including but not limited to the speaking and interpreting of “various kinds of tongues�), which are “activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses�. This describes the practices that were common in early Christian churches …as well as those that remain in effect (to a lesser extent, in certain charismatic denominations) to this very day.
In my experience with this very strange doctrine, “the gift of tongues� was promoted as a “manifestation of salvation� (or as evidence of the “in-filling of the Holy Spirit�). As such, and in line with certain other teachings involving the consequences for failing to attain “salvation�, it was a gift after which I sincerely and frantically sought! The closest I ever got to receiving this “gift� (and to manifesting the evidence of reception) happened for me at the age of ten. While praying in earnest for the Holy Ghost to come into my heart, I began to tremble and rapidly mumble something to the effect of, “Bubba-bubba-bubba-bubba-bubba-bubba…�. But even though everyone else seemed absolutely convinced that I’d succeeded in my endeavor, I couldn’t help but remain skeptical. You see, having witnessed the elaborate (though often repetitive) tongue-speaking rifts of others for nearly as long as I could remember, my simple blubbering just didn’t quite cut the mustard. Plus, none of the resident interpreters (and we had a couple of prolific ones among the modest congregation) were moved to interpret to my relatively colorless gibberish. To make matters worse, this early embarrassment and second-guessing led to an inability for repeated instances of the manifestation of my personal salvation. So, the issue of my ultimate place in eternity remained a source of great distress into my late pre-teenage years.
To give you an idea as to some of the fancier rifts at the root of my childhood doubt (yes, they were generally so repetitive that I actually memorized many), one dude routinely belted-out something like, “Hundala Shunda Keta, hunda-lala Shunda key (rinse and repeat with slight variations)�. Another sounded more like, “Hasad-diddio-hasund-diddity-hasaya (…etc.)�. As you can see, my pitiful “bubba-bubba’s� really did pale in comparison.
Questions for debate:
1) Does anyone have similar experiences to share and discuss regarding this doctrine?
2) How are some of the more 'charismatic' denominations viewed by 'mainstream evangelicals' today?
Full disclosure: due mainly to my severely twisted upbringing (most of which will not be disclosed in this thread or elsewhere), I’m as vehemently anti-Christian in my beliefs and principles as anyone you could possibly imagine -- including Satan himself! But I hope that won't hamper anyone's desire to engage me on this or any other topic across (and around) the board.
