The Acceptance of Glossolalia as a Distinctly Modern Christian Phenomenon Kenneth M.

Montville

Anyone familiar with the various Protestant Christian denominations in America or has ever seen a documentary such as Jesus Camp or Religulous has come across the phenomenon of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues; but how new is this trend with regards to its acceptance within the church? As it turns out the acceptance of glossolalia is only about a century old, although it has been practiced and discussed in various forms throughout the centuries by sparse groups and individuals. The gift of tongues has been claimed by people from the beginning of the church itself but the modern interpretation of that gift is undoubtedly not supported in the biblical tradition. Glossolalia as it is practiced in churches today is in fact quite modern and it is only now that it has gained such overwhelming popularity. For the sake of this discussion there are two distinct types of tongues which must be defined. The first example is that where the affected speaks in a seemingly nonsensical way, there may or may not be actual words mixed in but the majority of the speech is gibberish; this example is what is called glossolalia and it is what is practiced in Pentecostal churches. The second type is where the affected speak in a language which they have never learned and the speech can be identified as fluent by native speakers; this is an example of xenoglossy. The resurgence of glossolalia can be attributed to the rise of Pentecostalism, referring directly to the Pentecost described in the book of Acts. Early in the twentieth century the Pentecostal movement began, primarily headed by pastors William Joseph Seymour and Charles Fox Parham. The movement expounded the necessity of a baptism by the holy spirit similar to the Feast of the Pentecost in Acts accompanied by manifestations similar those in the story. At the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, a young woman by the name of Agnes Ozman had been instructed by Parham, along with the class, to pray and reflect on the gift of the Holy Spirit as in Acts 2:38: And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit1 while Parham was away. When Parham returned some three days later the class had decided that the gift of tongues was what would happen if the Holy Spirit manifested itself upon someone:
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine." But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. (Act 2:1-14)2

May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed. The Oxford Annotated Bible Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press. 1962. 2 May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed.

It was on the first of January 1901, while attending Bethel Bible School, Ozman requested a laying on of hands while she recited the benediction from the Epistle to the Hebrews,3 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21). Reportedly, Ozman began to speak in Chinese, a language she did not know, and for three days hence could not speak or write in English. 4 The report of this xenoglossy is similar to the gift of tongues described in Acts in that she was supposedly speaking in real languages so as to be heard. The reliability of this claim is dubious however, whether or not anyone in the Topeka congregation circa 1901 could speak Chinese and therefore recognize it as such and not merely garbled nonsense is enough to give pause before accepting the story. From this point Parham led others out of Kansas to spread the word. Supposedly ten other people, including Parham himself, received the gift of tongues. Times became hard for Parham, his ministry collapsed as the financial struggle of creating a new Christian movement, let alone a traveling one, was difficult. In 1903 he preached at El Dorado Springs, Missouri, about the healing power of Christ and was received well by Mary Arthur, who had claimed to have been healed by Parham. She and her husband, pillars of their community in Galena, Kansas, invited Parham back to their town to spread the word. Preaching in a warehouse over the winter of 19031904 Parham had gained several hundred converts. 5 Parham organized what he called bands, groups of followers who would travel and expound the faith in various cities to create apostolic faith assemblies. While in Texas, Parham met William Seymour; Seymour was Parhams key to reaching the African-American communities in Texas but in 1906 Seymour took the associate pastor position at an African-American holiness mission in Los Angeles. Parham and Seymour eventually fell out due in part to the racial intermingling of Seymours congregations in Los Angeles. Parham then moved on to find Lucy Farrow, an African-American woman, whom he would use to reach the traditional black congregations. Parham eventually fell out of the lead in the Pentecostal movement, partially over allegations of sexual assault on young boys, 6 and the torch was passed to Seymour. When Seymour moved to Los Angeles to preach he was very shortly confronted about his Pentecostal doctrine and barred from the congregations where he had been preaching. During his first sermon he expounded ideas of baptism by the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in tongues. 7 The following Sunday, Seymour found the doors locked, the church elders had rejected his doctrine for a number of reasons, the first of which being that he himself had not received the gift. 8 Seymour and a small group of followers relocated to the home of Richard and Ruth Asbury where he continued preaching his Pentecostal doctrine. Shortly after this, several members of his congregation began to speak in tongues, including Seymour himself. During the Easter season the porch where they had been preaching collapsed due to the number of people attending and Seymour was forced to find a new home for his congregation. 9 He found a dilapidated building which had once been an African Methodist Episcopal Church on Azusa Street for $8.00 a month and began ministering once more. 10 It was here that Seymour rejected the traditional racial boundaries leading to his falling out with Parham. The Azusa Street Revival, as it came to be known, was very much a success drawing not just Christians from various holiness

3 4

May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed. Martin, Larry E. The Topeka Outpouring of 1901: Eyewitness Accounts of the Revival that Birthed the 20th century Pentecostal/Charismatic Movements. Joplin: Christian Life Books, 2000. 5 Blumhofer, Edith. Restoring the Faith: The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993. 6 Burgess, Stanley M., and Gary B Mcgee, Eds. Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1988. 7 Burkett, Randall K. and Richard Newman. Black Apostles: Afro-American Clergy Confront the Twentieth Century. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1978. 8 MacRobert, Iain. The Black Roots and White Racism of Early Pentecostalism in the USA. New York: MacMillan Press, 1988. 9 Synan, Vinson. The Century of the Holy Spirit. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001. 10 Synan, Vinson.

movements but Baptists, Quakers, Mennonites, and Presbyterians11 despite being investigated and dubbed heresy by many mainline Christian factions. It was the Azusa Street Revival that we find the first undeniable evidence of modern glossolalia as incoherent babbling rather than the xenoglossy supposedly reported by Parham and his followers. In a Los Angeles Times article published in 1906 the reporter described the events of the Azusa Street Revival:
Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has started in Los Angeles. Meetings are held in a tumble-down shack on Azusa Street, near San Pedro Street, and the devotees of the weird doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories and work themselves into a state of mad excitement in their peculiar zeal.12

This description much better suits the Pentecostal movements claim to tongues than that of Acts. This sharp divide among what is glossolalia and what is xenoglossy is painted over in the Pentecostal faith with the backpedalling claim of the gift of interpretation of tongues. That is, only Christians who have received the gift of interpretation can understand the seeming nonsensical vocalizations of those speaking in tongues. They apply an interesting interpretation to the idea of speaking in new tongues ( )13 from the latter redacted ending of Mark.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; (Mark 16:16-17)14

Marks new tongues is combined with Pauls tongues of men and angels from 1 Corinthians to adapt an interesting loophole in which glossolalia becomes xenoglossy.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, he who prophesies speaks to men for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless some one interprets, so that the church may be edified. Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how shall I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will any one know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves; if you in a tongue utter speech that is not intelligible, how will any one know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning; but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves; since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. Therefore, he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how can any one in the position of an outsider say the "Amen" to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may give thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues more
11 12

Bartleman, Frank. Azusa Street. Plainfield: Logos International, 1980. McClung, L. Grant, Jr. Azusa Street and Beyond. New Jersey: Bridge Publishing, 1986. 13 Rahlfs, Alfred Ed. Septuaginta. Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1935. 14 May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed.

than you all; nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature. In the law it is written, "By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord." Thus, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church assembles and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. What then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silence in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting by, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. What! Did the word of God originate with you, or are you the only ones it has reached? If any one thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord. If any one does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brethren, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order. (1Corinthians 13:1-14:40)15

It would seem, although perhaps anachronistically, that Paul is speaking about glossolalia and the requirement of the gift of interpretation which he also mentions in 1 Corinthians 12:10 ( ).16 This would certainly give credence to the Pentecostal churches for their interpretation of the events which happen among their congregation, but one must look back to Acts to examine if this is indeed what happened at the Pentecost. In short the answer is no. According to Paul the gift of interpretation is given to Christians to edify the church; however, in Acts the apostles are granted the ability to speak in the languages of those around them to garner converts. As those who heard them were not Christians they could not have been given the gift of interpretation, nor would a gift of interpretation be needed to understand their native language. The tongues of angels appear not only in the canonical works but also in some of the Christian New Testament apocrypha. In the anonymously written First Infancy Gospel, there is an account of shepherds speaking in tongues.
And as the shepherds were engaged in the same employment, the cave at that time seemed like a glorious temple, because both the tongues of angels and men united to adore and magnify God, on account of the birth of the Lord Christ. (First Infancy Gospel 1:20)17

Also, in the Gospel of Nicodemus there is an account of two Jewish leaders who witnessed the commissioning of the disciples as found in the addendum to the sixteenth chapter of Mark:
Now a certain priest named and Addas a teacher and Aggaeus (Ogias Copt., Egias Lat.) a Levite came down from Galilee unto Jerusalem and told the rulers of the synagogue and the priests and the Levites, saying: We saw Jesus and his disciples sitting upon the mountain which is called Mamilch
15 16

May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed. Rahlfs, Alfred Ed. 17 Hone, William. The Apocryphal New Testament. London: Ludgate Hill, 1820.

(Mambre or Malech Lat., Mabrech Copt.), and he said unto his disciples: Go into all the world and preach unto every creature (the whole creation): he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. [And these signs shall follow upon them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall recover.] And while Jesus yet spake unto his disciples we saw him taken up into heaven. (Gospel of Nicodemus, or the Acts of Pilate 14:1)18

These two apocryphal sources share the distinction of being vague about what the gift of tongues means, i.e. glossolalia versus xenoglossy. However, they do show that people were discussing this idea as far back as the second century. Church fathers rarely mention the concept, the few instances being Irenaeus reference to speaking in languages through the spirit 19 and Tertullians reference to the gifts of tongues and interpretation being given not in his day, but in the Pauline epistles issuing a challenge to Marcion to reproduce them. 20 According to Benjamin Warfield, "The writings of the so-called Apostolic Fathers contain no clear and certain allusions to miracle working or to the exercise of the charismatic gifts, contemporaneously with themselves." 21 In fact outside of these examples all that is left are a few allusions to fairly nondescript gifts by Justin Martyr22 and a condemnation of Montanus for glossolalia by Eusebius. 23 From this final evidence we can conclude that the early church considered tongues to be xenoglossy where as glossolalia was considered heresy. In the fourth and fifth centuries we see the rise of Augustine of Hippo, who wrote about what he called jubilationwe can infer for practical purposes based on his description that he is talking about glossolalia. Augustines jubilation was explained as when the mouth could not express the words the heart was singing and the individual continued to make sounds, but the words were inarticulate. 24 For some reason, Augustine goes against his second and third century counterparts, embracing glossolalia rather than condemning it. By the time of Thomas Aquinas the idea of tongues had once again become accepted as xenoglossy. In Aquinas Summa Theologica he tackles the idea of tongues and concludes that the gift no longer manifests because the church already speaks in the languages of all nations.25 This sort of glossolalia versus xenoglossy tennis match continues for the next few centuries from Saint Patrick of Irelands Confessio to Edward Burroughs Epistle to the Reader the idea of the gift of tongues was gone over again and again for centuries with no major denominations adopting the phenomenon as their own. We can conclude from this evidence that the widespread acceptance of glossolalia as the gift of tongues is not inherently biblical in nature but rather a picking over of sparse verses to make them coincide with what is perhaps a dubious or even heretical practice. This is in no way intended to mean that glossolalia is not a cathartic or legitimately spiritual experience for a believer. However given the unlikely nature of there being a native Chinese speaker in that Topeka bible school back in 1901 to give undeniable testimony to the validity of the event it is safe to say that the more literal xenoglossy has never been a part of modern Pentecostalism and that the emergence of glossolalia as the accepted interpretation of the gift of tongues is a modern one.

18 19

Montague Rhodes, James Trans. The Apocryphal New Testament. Berkeley: Apocryphile Press, 2004. Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Trans. John Kemble. Oxford: Parker, 1872. 20 Tertullian. Against Marcion. Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 3. New York: Cosimo, 2007. 21 Warfield, Benjamin B. Counterfeit Miracles. New York: Scribner, 1918. 22 Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. Trans. Thomas B. Falls. Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press, 2003. 23 Eusebius. EusebiusThe Church History. Trans. Paul L. Maier Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2007. 24 Hogue, Richard. Tongues: A Theological History of Glossolalia. Oklahoma: Tate Publishing, 2010. 25 Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Raleigh: Hayes Barton, 1925.

Works Cited Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica. Raleigh: Hayes Barton, 1925. Bartleman, Frank. Azusa Street. Plainfield: Logos International, 1980. Blumhofer, Edith. Restoring the Faith : The Assemblies of God, Pentecostalism, and American Culture. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993. Burgess, Stanley M., and Gary B Mcgee, Eds. Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Regency Reference Library, Zondervan Publishing House, 1988. Burkett, Randall K. and Richard Newman. Black Apostles: Afro-American Clergy Confront the Twentieth Century. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1978. Eusebius. EusebiusThe Church History. Trans. Paul L. Maier Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2007. Hogue, Richard. Tongues: A Theological History of Glossolalia. Oklahoma: Tate Publishing, 2010. Hone, William. The Apocryphal New Testament. London: Ludgate Hill, 1820. Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Trans. John Kemble. Oxford: Parker, 1872. Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho. Trans. Thomas B. Falls. Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press, 2003. MacRobert, Iain. The Black Roots and White Racism of Early Pentecostalism in the USA. New York: MacMillan Press, 1988. Martin, Larry E. The Topeka Outpouring of 1901: Eyewitness Accounts of the Revival that Birthed the 20th century Pentecostal/Charismatic Movements. Joplin: Christian Life Books, 2000. May, Herbert G and Bruce M. Metzger Ed. The Oxford Annotated Bible Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford University Press, 1962. McClung, L. Grant, Jr. Azusa Street and Beyond. New Jersey: Bridge Publishing, 1986. Montague Rhodes, James Trans. The Apocryphal New Testament. Berkeley: Apocryphile Press, 2004. Rahlfs, Alfred Ed. Septuaginta. Stuttgart: German Bible Society, 1935. Synan, Vinson. The Century of the Holy Spirit. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001. Tertullian. Against Marcion. Ante-Nicene Fathers Volume 3. New York: Cosimo, 2007. Warfield, Benjamin B. Counterfeit Miracles. New York: Scribner, 1918.