Glossolalia

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Glossolalia (from the Greek, "γλώσσα" (glossa), tongue and "λαλώ" (lalô), to speak) comprises the utterance of what appears (to the casual listener) either as an unknown foreign language (xenoglossia), meaningless syllables, or utterance of an unknown mystical language; the utterances sometimes occur as part of religious worship (religious glossolalia).

Skeptics dismiss these cases as simply being in a state of trance, self-hypnotism or religious ecstasy. It is notable that in Charismatic/Pentecostal Churches there is often a state of heightened emotionalism which may, in the view of skeptics, itself give rise to instances of glossolalia (what Christians in those churches often refer to as speaking in tongues).

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Scientific perspectives

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Linguistics

The syllables that make up instances of glossolalia typically appear to be unpatterned reorganizations of phonemes from the primary language of the person uttering the syllables; thus, the glossolalia of people from Russia, the United Kingdom, and Brazil all sound quite different from each other, but vaguely resemble the Russian, English, and Portuguese languages, respectively. Many linguists generally regard most glossolalia as lacking any identifiable semantics, syntax, or morphology.Template:Fact

Noted philologist J.R.R. Tolkien had a significant affinity for tongues since his early years and is reported that his great concern on phonoaesthetics, resulted in him speaking nonsense alone, playing with sounds and phonemes and generating 'beautiful' speech.Template:Fact

Improvisation is exemplified also in modern music, specifically in the singing of Lisa Gerrard and Elizabeth Fraser who also use mouth music.

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Psychology

The first scientific study of glossolalia was done by psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin as part of his research into the linguistic behaviour of schizophrenic patients. In 1927, G.B. Cutten published his book Speaking with tongues; historically and psychologically considered, which was regarded a standard in medical literature for many years. Like Kraepelin, he linked glossolalia to schizophrenia and hysteria. In 1972, John Kildahl took a different psychological perspective in his book The Psychology of Speaking in Tongues. He stated that glossolalia was not necessarily a symptom of a mental illness and that glossolalists suffer less from stress. He did observe, however, that glossolalists tend to have more need of authority figures and appeared to have had more crises in their lives.

Nicholas Spanos described glossolalia as an acquired ability, for which no real trance is needed (Glossolalia as Learned Behavior: An Experimental Demonstration, 1987). It is also known as a simplex communication.

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"Speaking in tongues" in some Christian traditions

Certain Christians (see below) regard the act of speaking in tongues, as a gift of God through the Holy Spirit. As described in the Book of Acts and 1 Corinthians, it is one of holy Gifts of the Spirit given by God to the faithful on the Day of Pentecost. Other religious faiths also incorporate glossolalia as a component of worship traditions.

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Context and terms

For members of some Christian sects, "glossolalia" is an incorrect term from contemporary language of empirical classification (or neologism) to describe an experience in which human language itself is quickly revealed to be entirely unrelated from speech, and where the depths of human communication are revealed to be spiritual, not material, in nature.

This experience is described in the Book of Acts 2:1, and is often referred to as the Pentecost, as the day that the Holy Spirit was revealed to several thousand men in one place.

Acts Chapter 2: "1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" "

Because of the profound nature of the experience, and its direct conflict with developed habits and learnings for rationality and objective realism, "the gift" is regarded by Christians not just as an innate ability for community, but as one of a number of gifts which offer profound spiritual insight and a collective experiential proof of an underlying spiritual nature.

In the language of alternative science, this experience would be described as group telepathy, however one in which the apparent material linguistic barriers between peoples of different regions had suddenly and completely been removed. Though the communication of meaning became universal, the passage in Acts 2:1 makes it clear that the words of speech themselves remained in the unintelligible foreign tongue —which contradicts the common notion that glossolalia refers to meaningless words. In the context of this group experience, the power of the Holy Spirit was revealed to be transcendent, all-knowing, and terrifying to those for whom belief was a mystery. The timely ministry of Saint Peter was a message of understanding and fellowship, which offered listeners a choice between hope and salvation or disbelief and despair.

The Christian reference to the fundamental "Holy Spirit" denotes the belief that the Pentecost "glossolalia" refers not just to connectivity between human beings, but implies a larger number of 'holy gifts' by which mortal people may directly 'know the will of God.' For Christians, the acceptance of the truth of this experience of God, brings with it a greater knowledge of God.

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Tongues in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the book of Acts recounts how "tongues of fire" descended upon the heads of the Apostles, accompanied by the miraculous occurrence of speaking in languages unknown to them, but recognizable to others present as particular foreign languages. Not only their peers, but also anyone else in the room who spoke any other language, could understand the words that the Apostles spoke.

The Book of Acts (2:1) described the phenomenon in terms of a miracle of universal translation, enabling people from many parts of the world speaking many different languages to understand them. This Biblical case exemplifies religious xenoglossia, i.e., miraculously speaking in an actual foreign language that the speaker does not know.

Some of the Orthodox hymns sung at the Feast of Pentecost, which commemorates this event in Acts, describe it as a reversal of what happened at the Tower of Babel as described in Genesis 11. In other words, the languages of humanity were differentiated at the Tower of Babel leading to confusion, but were reunited at Pentecost, resulting in the immediate proclamation of the Gospel to people who were gathered in Jerusalem from many different countries.

Elsewhere in the New Testament Paul describes the experience as speaking in an "unknown tongue" (1 Cor 14:14-19), known as theopneustic glossolalia, and discourages simultaneous speaking in tongues lest unbelievers think the assembled brethren "mad" (1 Cor 14:23, 27). Many Pentecostal groups teach that speaking in tongues is not exclusively xenoglossia.

Fundamental to Biblical interpretation is the appropriate transliteration of primitive terms, and just as the term "spirit" comes from "breath" or "vapour", the term "tongues of fire" is almost certainly a use of fire as a metaphor for markedly increased and radiant powers of speech during the Pentecost.

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Contemporary Christian glossolalia

Some Christians have claimed that they have witnessed, or personally engaged in, "speaking in tongues". These claims have particular importance in the Pentecostal and in the Charismatic traditions. The belief that the gifts of the Apostles (Acts 2) continue to persist in the modern world forms a fundamental point of Pentecostal and Charismatic doctrine. In light of 1 Corinthians 14:2 and 14:14, both Pentecostals and Charismatics believe that speaking in tongues is a form of praying in the spirit.

Other Christians hold that this religious glossolalia comprises, at least in some cases, bona fide language inspired by the Holy Spirit: utterances in a language usually unknown to both the speaker and to the listeners. More and more Christians are accepting glossolalia as seen in the fact that Pentecostalism is the fastest growing sect within Christianity, however, this view is more typically held in the conservative Evangelical or fundamentalist.

Charismatic/Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians more readily agree that the original instances of Christian glossolalia, as reported in the book of Acts, exemplified bona fide instances of actual human languages. In some cases, listeners have been able to distinguish words that they have heard before although they could not speak the full language themselves.

Some Charismatic Christians identify three different activities that comprise "tongues". The "sign of tongues" refers to xenoglossia, in which listeners hear their native language by means of divine power. The "gift of tongues" refers to a belief that the Holy Spirit sometimes conveys a message through a believer engaged in glossolalia, which requires an interpretation for those hearing. Lastly "praying in the spirit" refers to a believer engaged in glossolalia as a private prayer between the believer and God. This communication with God is what edifies man's spirit and increases his own faith. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost," Jude 1:19-21 KJV

See also: Baptism of the Holy Spirit

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Glossolalia in other religions

Aside from Christians, certain religious groups also have been observed to practice some form of theopneustic glossolalia.

Glossolalia is evident in the renowned ancient Oracle of Delphi, whereby a priestess of the god Apollo (called a sibyl) speaks in strange utterances, supposedly through the spirit of Apollo in her, but possibly related to high levels of natural gas present in spring waters beneath the temple.

Certain Gnostic magical texts from the Roman period have written on them nonsense syllables like "t t t t t t t t n n n n n n n n n d d d d d d d..." etc. It is believed that these may be transliterations of the sorts of sounds made during glossolalia.

In the 19th century, Spiritism was developed into a religion of its own thanks to the work of Allan Kardec and the phenomenon was seen as one of the self-evident manifestations of Spirits. Spiritists argued that some cases were actually cases of Xenoglossia (when one speaks in a language unknown to him). However, the importance attributed to it, as well as its frequency, has since decreased significantly. Present-day spiritists regard the phenomenon pointless, as it does not convey any intelligible message to those present.

Glossolalia has also been observed in shamanism and the Voodoo religion of Haiti; it can often be brought on by the ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs or entheogens such as Psilocybe mushrooms.


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See also

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External links

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Biblical references to speaking in tongues

  • Isaiah 28:11 (1 Corinthians 14:21)
  • Mark 16:17
  • Acts 2:4-15
  • Acts 10:44-48
  • Acts 19:2-6
  • 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
  • 1 Corinthians 13:1
  • 1 Corinthians 14:1-40da:Tungetale

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