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Mormons Speaking In Tongues

What about Seaking in Tongues?

Journal of Discourses, Vol.6, p.240, Joseph Smith, June 2, 1839
Every spirit, or vision, or singing is not of God. The Devil is an orator. He is powerful. He took our Saviour on to a pinnacle of the Temple, and kept him in the wilderness for forty days. The gift of discerning spirits will be given to the Presiding Elder. Pray for him that he may have this gift. Speak not in the gift of tongues without understanding it, or without interpretation. The Devil can speak in tongues: the Adversary will come with his work. He can tempt all classes-can speak in English or Dutch. Let no one speak in tongues, unless he interpret, except by the consent of the one who is placed to preside; then he may discern or interpret, or another may. Let us seek for the glory of Abraham, Noah, Adam, the Apostles, who have communion with these things, and then we shall be among that number when Christ comes.

Tongues Speaking Mormons

I often watch Christian television. Frequently, the pastor whose show it is will get all worked up about what it is that they are preaching and then start babbling. To them this is speaking in tongues and everyone in the congregation gets all excited about it like it is a confirmation that this preacher is teaching them what the Lord wants and the Spirit is confirming it with this babbling.

What is to stop anyone from just babbling at will? I believe it isn't speaking in tongues from the Lord unless someone is there to interpret it. Also, generally, what purpose does it serve at all?

One form of speaking in tongues is when you are giving a talk in your native language and the people listening who have a different native language understand without you needing a separate interpreter. Also, I believe when the missionaries learn a foreign language as quickly as they do and when they find the words they need as they need them, that this, too is a gift of tongues.

Mormons Speaking In Tongues Studies Doctrine Mormon

Another type of speaking in tongues, that should apply to each of us, is described in Alma, where he is asking members of the church whether or not they have experienced the mighty change, and he ennumerates various aspects of this change. In Alma 5:26 he says:
26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?
Here, the question is, what is the song of redeeming love?
Related to this is 2 Nephi 31:13-14 wherein Nephi indicates that once we have experienced the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, we will speak with the tongue of angels.

People who have experienced this describe the experience as being so filled with joy and love that they literally speak, from their hearts, with the tongue of angels, singing a song of gratitude to their Father.

Finally, there are several references in Church history, to times when the Spirit was strong among groups of saints, where the people did speak in tongues. Whenever this happened (the dedication of the Kirtland temple is an example) someone else was given the gift of interpretation, and marvelous prophecies were unfolded to the people. At least once when this happened, Joseph Smith was present and identified the tongue as being the pure Adamic language.

In another case that I am aware of, John Taylor was present at a meeting in England where a young woman stood up in a meeting and spoke in tongues. A nonmember who was present identified her speech as being Hebrew. When challenged on it, this man said that he couldn't understand it, although he was fluent in Hebrew. He identified it as ancient or biblical Hebrew, which he was familiar enough with to identify, but not to understand. (I have mangled the story, but I hope you get the drift.)

The gift of tongues is a valid, vibrant, wonderful gift that is available to any who seek it earnestly. But it requires the baptism of Fire in order to fully get and use it. The same is true of all the gifts of the spirit.

NightHawk

Edited: Nighthawk on 23rd Jan, 2004 - 1:44pm

Tongues Speaking Mormons

I also believe that speaking in tongues is a wonderful gift. I have recently discovered another aspect of this gift from the Lord. I have met someone who is gifted in pronouncing correctly the names of people from other countries. The person I am talking about is a Temple Ordinance worker. Those with whom she works speak of her talent as being a part of the gift of tongues. I believe this to be true.
Back 'in the day' when my mother was a new member in Texas, an authority of the church came to speak to her ward. There were many spanish speaking members. Everyone understood the words of the authority figure. Everyone said that they heard it in their own tongue.

granny7

Tongues Speaking Mormons

Speaking in tongues - Mormon style

"Most Latter-day Saint church services in the United States and in Utah are conducted in English," LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said. "However, some non-English speakers participate more fully and better understand church teachings when they worship and socialize in congregations taught in their native language." Ref. Source 6

Mormons Speaking In Tongues

I did post-graduate work in Linguistics and know something about languages. I have attended meetings of Evangelist Churches, where the gift of tongues was supposedly exercised, and what I heard was definitely not a legitimate language. It was just pure babble. I think that funbikerchick is right. Those who have served foreign language missions can attest that they had some degree of the gift of tongues to help them learn the language. I know that there were times on my mission when I used words that I had not heard before, and when I went home and checked the dictionary, I found that I had used exactly the right word. After I had been in the mission field for one year, the natives thought that I was a native speaker. This had to be because of the gift of tongues. In Finland, there is a saying that there are only two classes of people who can learn to speak the Finnish language--1.) native born Finns, and 2.) Mormon missionaries.

Mormons Speaking Tongues

This is very interesting because I always thought the gift of tongues that the bible talks about was some sort of special language I didn't know they were referring to actual everyday languages.

Mormons Speaking Tongues Mormon Doctrine Studies

It can be either one. Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball used to converse in the ancient Adamic language, while others could speak in the ancient Nephite language, but it is most useful for missionaries trying to teach the gospel to foreigners.