Bible Question:
Is tongues a gift, that if a new Christian were isolated and left alone, with only a Bible, would this person speak in tongues with out being taught, or observation of others speaking in tongues? Thank you for honest answers. justme |
Bible Answer: Scripture ... Mark 16:17; Acts 2:4-11, 10:46, 19:6; 1 Cor 12:1-31, 13:1, 14:1-25 justme, greetings. First, congrats on hitting the 1000 post mark. You do have great insight and do ask excellent questions. You do well to challenge people (acts 17:11). Tongues is a spiritual gift, one of several (1 Cor 12:1-10). Since it is a gift of the Spirit, we are not taught it ... and He gives each gift as he determines, not us (vs 11). It is not by observation of others speaking in tongues that one can speak in tongues, nor acquire ant other gift. If one was alone, I don't know if there was a need to use any of the gifts, since it is for the one body ... if together, we should exercise our gift(s) and not try to exercise the gifts we do not have (vv 12-31). In Acts 2:4-11 tongues was a known language ... when angels speak to men, it is understood (1 Cor 13:1) ... and I believe when an unbeliever hears tongues it is a known language to him (1 Cor 14:1-25), otherwise it would not make sense to speak something unknown ... the intepetation is for the reat of the church. I contend the other passages are known tongues, too. Searcher |