And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”

Acts 2:4-13 NASB, BOLD MINE/ UNDERLINE MINE

Today I’m sharing my personal view of this passage. I’m not speaking on behalf of the Assemblies of God or my church. This is my obersvation.

One of the long debates about tongues has been between an unknown language and an actual foreign language… meaning that it comes as a foreign language. For instance, Charles Parham (one of our modern pentecostal founders) believed that the tongues spoken by the Spirit-baptized were actual human languages, eliminating the need for missionaries to learn foreign languages and thus aiding in the spread of the gospel. However, we have all heard people speak in (with respect) crazy tongues that don’t sound like any kind of language.

Let me start here… I SPEAK IN TONGUES. More appropriately, I pray and worship in tongues. I have never given a message in tongues, much less interpreted. It is not an actual human language (to my knowledge). If you believe tongues have ceased, you will need to schedule an appointment with the Holy Ghost in me and let Him know that He needs to stop… just sayin!

In reading the passage above slowly, mixed with some experience on my part, I believe I’ve seen something that I’d like to share with you.

I’m going to rephrase a few things in bold first.

1. They all began to speak in tongues.

2. Each on of them (the crowd) was hearing them (the tongue-talkers) speaking in his (the individual in the crowd) own language.

3. But others were mocking them saying they were drunk.

We know that everyone on the upper-room was filled and began to speak in tongues.

We also know that some people mocked and said they were drunk… but we don’t know if that’s because they couldn’t understand them, or because there will always be mockers in a crowd. I personally believe it’s because they couldn’t understand them. Which would lean towards them speaking in the “crazy tongues” I mentioned before.

However, this passage says that the individuals in the crowd heard them (as in everyone in the upper-room) speaking in their personal home language.

So I believe… and this is it… that everyone in the upper room was speaking in a tongue that was not an actual language (crazy tongues), but we are also witnessing in this passage a mass interpretation. I do not believe that some individuals in the crowd heard a voice or two in their own language, but instead every individual in the crowd heard every voice in the room in their own distinct language. Which would mean that the tongue spoken in would not be an actual human language.

See, if I speak in Spanish then people who speak in Spanish understand. If I speak in tongues and there is a mass interpretation then everyone would understand (which isn’t in the Bible, but if there’s a gift of interpretation I would assume it can happen at large).

So… that’s what I think. This isn’t a teaching or a lesson… it’s a blog to get you thinking, now think.

And to all my evangelical friends… just because you don’t speak in tongues doesn’t mean that they don’t exist anymore. I don’t have a million dollars, but it’s out there… and I personally am ready to receive. (if you use 1 Cor 13:8 then you think knowledge is done away with as well, which explains your confusion :-] )