Publisher's Synopsis
Speaking in tongues has been a hot-button topic for evangelicals for quite some time. One side challenging the efficacy of its practice within churches today and the other side wholeheartedly embracing it's practice as a standard for Spirit-filled living. The historical record of glossolalia is not without controversy. The faithful believe that its inception stems from the book of Acts with the Holy Spirit descending upon faithful as fire. While there is evidence that speaking with tongue was not confined to the day of Pentecost and existed both within and outside of the Jewish and Christian traditions alike. However, Pentecostals would say that this was not an authentic practice in earlier forms prior to the New Testament church.With the emergence of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Churches of the 21st century, the question of biblical credence of glossolalia is one which clergy continue to grapple with and brings out deep feelings on both sides--continualist and cessationist. I Timothy 2:15 reads "...study to show our selves approved unto God a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." He would only want us to study, pray and have an open heart to whatever that practice reveals. With that, I believe that it is a worthwhile endeavor to test the viability of speaking in tongues within the framework of the continuity of its practice within history from early Christianity through the present. The Bible illustrates several instances of speaking in tongues in the New Testament church. If study of doctrine and history bears out that its practice continues through the present, then it is plausible that the intent is that believers continue its practice in modern day church. Conversely, if the cessation of its practice in history and the biblical interpretation agrees, then the cessationist view is plausible. Again, God is not unnerved by any question, but our finite understanding gives Him the opportunity to provide Himself strong, omnipotent and omniscient for all the world to see.
