Speaking in Tongues (Acts 2:4)

Acts 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

In the book of Acts, speaking in tongues was the ability to speak in foreign languages so that speakers could communicate with people who didn’t speak the same language.

In Acts 2:8 it, at first reading, seems as if the hearers were able to understand languages that they did not know.

Acts 2:8 “Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?”

If one interprets this as saying that each person heard each other person, then the gift would appear to be on the hearers, not the speakers. If one interprets it as saying that each person heard at least one other person speaking in his own language, then the gift is on the speakers, not the listeners.

This latter interpretation would seem correct when considered in the context of the remainder of the passage as illustrated by these two points. First of all, the fact that some people accused them as being drunk indicates that not everyone understood every other person. Some of the speaking must have sounded as gibberish, because it was a foreign language that the listeners did not understand. Secondly, spiritual gifts are given to believers, not unbelievers, so the gift was given to the speakers (Acts 1:4), not the unbelievers. There is no need for anyone to “speak in tongues” if the miracle is on the side of the listener. If that were the case, the believers could just speak naturally and the listeners could do the interpreting. It would be “hearing in tongues” instead of “speaking in tongues”.

In any case, the important thing to understand is that speaking in tongues in the book of Acts was the supernatural ability to speak in a language unknown to the speaker.

In today’s church there is much debate as to the sign gifts and particularly tongues. In Charismatic churches, the use of tongues is not usually a language that is known by any of the listeners as it was in the book of Acts. Instead, it is typically practiced as a private Spirit-led prayer language. Most non-charismatics do not believe that the use of tongues as practiced today is typically truly tongues, or necessarily even Spirit given.

Historically, the use of tongues faded away in the times of the early church, and were not a common practice in Christianity until around 1900.

The passage quoted in Acts 2 from Joel 2:28-32 adds even more intrigue to this issue.

Acts 2:17a “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”

When the whole passage is read, it is obvious that the pouring out of the Spirit in Acts 2 was a partial fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel. Its complete fulfillment will be with the “coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.”

So, what we know for sure is that there was an outpouring of the Spirit in Acts that enabled the followers of Jesus to speak in unknown languages and to perform other miracles. There will also be an outpouring of the Spirit before the coming of the Lord. Whether or not the “tongues” that are practiced in today’s churches are part of this inevitable outpouring is open to debate.