Sunday 6 February 2011

Speaking in Tongues to Yourself and to God

I CORINTHIANS 14:27,28
27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.


"Speak to himself, and to God" - in tongues, or with your understanding? Is the purpose of speaking with tongues limited to being a public sign to unbelievers who hear their own language? Or does this verse set a Scriptural precedent for the validity of speaking in tongues privately - to oneself and to God - even if it's an unknown tongue and no-one is present to hear and understand?

The context for verse 28 is set by verse 27. The topic is speaking in an unknown tongue, not an understood tongue.

It is precisely because the topic is an unknown tongue (rather than an understood tongue) that Paul proceeded to give his advice: an interpreter is needed; and if no interpreter is present, the speaker should refrain from speaking publicly.

If the topic was instead speaking in an understood tongue, then no interpreter should have been needed; neither should it have been necessary for the speaker to remain silent in the event that no interpreter was present - for the congregation would have understood him.

And if it was speaking in an understood tongue that Paul had in mind, then it wouldn't have been necessary for him to advise the speaker to thereafter restrict himself to speaking exclusively to himself and to God rather than to the congregation - for the congregation would have understood him. Paul's advice would therefore have been utterly irrelevant.

Therefore, both the context and the content of verse 28 demand the meaning that when Paul advised the speaker to thereafter speak to himself and to God, he was talking about speaking in tongues to himself and to God. Therefore, speaking in tongues to oneself and to God is Scriptural.

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