Thread by @profagagne

1/ Reading Diamond’s _Spiritual Warfare. The Politics of the Christian Right_ brings back memories of my Pentecostal days. We were strongly incited to engage in “Speaking in tongues”. It was the social practice that made us feel like part of the group.

#ChristianAltFact

2/ As Diamond points out, “Speaking in tongues” (glossolalia) is clearly a learned behavior. At the time, I believed in the idea that the outward sign of being “baptized in the Holy Spirit” was the ability of “Speaking in tongues”; so everyone wanted “the fullness of the Spirit”.

3/ The idea that one needed to be “baptized in the Holy Spirit” evidenced by “Speaking in tongues” was based on a peculiar reading of Acts 2:1-12. Note that the disciples are speaking in KNOWN LANGUAGES according to the ability given by the Spirit (see 2:5-11).
#ChristianAltFacts

4/ This is completely different from the “glossolalia” one can hear in Pentecostal or Charismatic churches today; that is, a free form expression of unintelligible syllabes uttered in rapid succession and often referred to as the “tongues of angels” in need of interpretation.

5/ What we see in today’s Pentecostal and Charismatic churches is learned behavior. When someone sought the “baptism in the Spirit”, we collectively laid hands on them and prayed out loud, sometimes screaming “in tongues” in their ears! No wonder they came to “speak in tongues”!

6/ Now Acts 2 cannot be used as a proof-text for “Speaking in tongues” today; it’s not a justification for such a practice. The writer of Acts 2 composed what we call an “etiological narrative”. This genre is used to explain the origin (how & why) of something. What is he saying?

7/ As the author of Acts 2 looks at the expansion of the gospel message throughout the Roman Empire of his day, he tries to explain to his reader how the disciples managed to proclaim their message to various people across the Empire - this is the meaning of those in Acts 2:9-11.

8/ Acts 2 says that the expansion of the gospel message to various people in multiple languages throughout the Roman Empire, is due to the empowerment the disciples received by the Spirit. It’s the explanation given for the origin (etiology) of the growth of the early church.

9/ Now, people in today’s Pentecostal and Charismatic churches do experience something, but it is not the same as what we read in Acts 2; rather, it is the learned behavior of “Speaking in tongues”, a social practice which serves as a way to construct one’s social identity.

10/ I might pursue this thread at some other time to discuss Paul’s instructions concerning “tongues” in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14.

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