If Corinth had the same "tongues" as Charismatics, and their tongues are not blessed, supernatural gifts, or at least do not prove the truth of their claims, then what does that say about the Corinthians' tongues in the Bible? This is a potentially loaded question, and so it really needs to be broken down into parts.
First, were the Corinthians speaking national languages, or were they speaking incomprehensible phonetics that nations do not use as normal speech?
Those who equate Corinthians' glossolalia with the charismatics' note that 1 Cor 14 says: "he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him". If "tongues" were meant for outreach to foreign nations and were real languages, then normally one would expect that those who speak in the tongues to speak to foreign men, not just to God.
Paul also expects that uninformed believers who watch the Corinthians speaking simultaneously would think them to be having psychological confusion:
"Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind (or literally "maniacs")?" (1 Cor 14:23) This is the same kind of reaction that mainstream Christians often have when watching Charismatics.
Charismatics pray and sincerely ask for the gift of tongues like it says the first generation of Christians had. They point to Luke 11:11-13, saying that if children ask for a stone, the father does not give a fish. They ask how come they could get something deviant that they instead feel inspiring in themselves, when they sincerely asked God in prayer for the tongue gifts.
Second, is what Paul said that uninformed believers would think about Corinthians, namely that they were having mental phenomena, correct when it comes to Charismatics? Many mainstream nonCharismatics think this.
One Christian who is a former Pentecostal and works as a clinical hypnotist discusses the similarities between stage hypnotism and the charismatic movement in his essay:
http://psuedocults.blogspot.com/2008...arasmatic.html
One scientific study of Charismatic believers found Charismatics in surveys rated Christians who they listened to as being more charismatic when they were told by the survey testers that the Christian was a healer:
Fr. Seraphim Rose used psychology to help explain modern glossolalia in his book Charismatic Revival As a Sign of the Times:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/epiphen...-religion.html
Third, if you consider Charismatics' glossolalia and other unique phenomena to be supernatural, rather than mental confusion or otherwise natural phenomena, do you consider their glossolalia to be signs of their truth?
One of the difficulties in seeing glossolalia, speaking in incomprehensible phonetics, as strong proof of theological truth is that other religions practice it as well. Some Greek pagan oracles practiced it in ancient times.
Fr. Nicoczin writes about glossolalia in nonChristian pagan society in the region of Corinth:
The university article below studies the comparison and similarities between Charismatic glossolalia and Hindu glossolalia, called "kriya":
http://www.academia.edu/9583833/SPEA...NDU_CONNECTION
Fourth, this leads to the question: If it's true that the Corinthians' glossolalia was the same phenomenon as modern Charismatics', and if Charismatics' glossolalia is mental confusion or self-induced hypnosis or does not otherwise serve as reliable evidence for the truth of their theology, does this lead to further conclusions about the Corinthians' own "tongues"?
First, were the Corinthians speaking national languages, or were they speaking incomprehensible phonetics that nations do not use as normal speech?
Those who equate Corinthians' glossolalia with the charismatics' note that 1 Cor 14 says: "he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him". If "tongues" were meant for outreach to foreign nations and were real languages, then normally one would expect that those who speak in the tongues to speak to foreign men, not just to God.
Paul also expects that uninformed believers who watch the Corinthians speaking simultaneously would think them to be having psychological confusion:
"Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind (or literally "maniacs")?" (1 Cor 14:23) This is the same kind of reaction that mainstream Christians often have when watching Charismatics.
Charismatics pray and sincerely ask for the gift of tongues like it says the first generation of Christians had. They point to Luke 11:11-13, saying that if children ask for a stone, the father does not give a fish. They ask how come they could get something deviant that they instead feel inspiring in themselves, when they sincerely asked God in prayer for the tongue gifts.
Second, is what Paul said that uninformed believers would think about Corinthians, namely that they were having mental phenomena, correct when it comes to Charismatics? Many mainstream nonCharismatics think this.
One Christian who is a former Pentecostal and works as a clinical hypnotist discusses the similarities between stage hypnotism and the charismatic movement in his essay:
The Stage Hypnotist and the Charismatic Preacher: Strange Bedfellows
“On the count of three, you will imagine that you are walking on the deck of boat as it rocks to and fro on the ocean”. ... The show has begun and all in the audience are transfixed by the skill of the entertainer and bizarre behaviours that begin to be manifested before them by seemingly ordinary people... But this is a stage hypnotist show, not a religious meeting, you might remind me. But wait, just imagine a change of audience, a change of leader, a change of language and music, a change of suggestions, and before you know it you could be talking about a charismatic religious rally.
“Slain in the Spirit” or "falling under the Spirit's power", "falling before the Lord" or "resting in the Spirit" as it is sometimes called, is a typical example of one of these so-called signs and wonders. ... I liken it to the phenomenon of stage hypnotism where the often highly skilled hypnotist prepares his self-selected audience for hypnotic induction. I say this with some degree of authority as I have been professionally trained in clinical hypnosis and have practiced it to assist individuals with their psychological difficulties for some years now. Furthermore, I am forbidden by my professional association to practice potentially harmful stage hypnosis (not that I would want to anyway). Let me assure you, the phenomena you witness in these pentecostalist meetings is one of two things, role playing on the part of those who are ‘slain in the spirit’, or otherwise a hypnotic trance-like state that is induced by a preacher who over the years has happened upon the techniques of the professional hypnotist.
"...The real power of hypnosis comes from the trust the hypnotist can instill in his subjects. They have to willingly grant him the ability to take over their critical thinking and direct their bodies. Some people are very trusting, or even looking for an excuse to abdicate their responsibilities and are able to be hypnotized within seconds, while others take more time to counter their fears."
Similarly, just think about the type of statements made in charismatic, pentecostal and evangelistic meetings. I can remember some straightforward classics, “God is with us today, can’t you feel his presence?”, “He is here to do wonders, to make the lame walk again, to heal the broken-hearted”, “Expect a miracle” and the like. The music and worship preparation is also important in building up a state of expectancy in the audience. All this type of preparation is akin to similar techniques used by the stage hypnotist, except different wording is used and the religious themes are substituted by more audience-appropriate preparation techniques.
“On the count of three, you will imagine that you are walking on the deck of boat as it rocks to and fro on the ocean”. ... The show has begun and all in the audience are transfixed by the skill of the entertainer and bizarre behaviours that begin to be manifested before them by seemingly ordinary people... But this is a stage hypnotist show, not a religious meeting, you might remind me. But wait, just imagine a change of audience, a change of leader, a change of language and music, a change of suggestions, and before you know it you could be talking about a charismatic religious rally.
“Slain in the Spirit” or "falling under the Spirit's power", "falling before the Lord" or "resting in the Spirit" as it is sometimes called, is a typical example of one of these so-called signs and wonders. ... I liken it to the phenomenon of stage hypnotism where the often highly skilled hypnotist prepares his self-selected audience for hypnotic induction. I say this with some degree of authority as I have been professionally trained in clinical hypnosis and have practiced it to assist individuals with their psychological difficulties for some years now. Furthermore, I am forbidden by my professional association to practice potentially harmful stage hypnosis (not that I would want to anyway). Let me assure you, the phenomena you witness in these pentecostalist meetings is one of two things, role playing on the part of those who are ‘slain in the spirit’, or otherwise a hypnotic trance-like state that is induced by a preacher who over the years has happened upon the techniques of the professional hypnotist.
"...The real power of hypnosis comes from the trust the hypnotist can instill in his subjects. They have to willingly grant him the ability to take over their critical thinking and direct their bodies. Some people are very trusting, or even looking for an excuse to abdicate their responsibilities and are able to be hypnotized within seconds, while others take more time to counter their fears."
Similarly, just think about the type of statements made in charismatic, pentecostal and evangelistic meetings. I can remember some straightforward classics, “God is with us today, can’t you feel his presence?”, “He is here to do wonders, to make the lame walk again, to heal the broken-hearted”, “Expect a miracle” and the like. The music and worship preparation is also important in building up a state of expectancy in the audience. All this type of preparation is akin to similar techniques used by the stage hypnotist, except different wording is used and the religious themes are substituted by more audience-appropriate preparation techniques.
One scientific study of Charismatic believers found Charismatics in surveys rated Christians who they listened to as being more charismatic when they were told by the survey testers that the Christian was a healer:
While their followers believe them to have special powers, a new brain imaging study by Uffe Schjødt at Aarhus University in Denmark suggests that it’s all just a product of their imagination. In fact, the brain imaging study is only part of the story. What’s even more remarkable is what it says about how some people come to fall under the spell of these charismatics.
What they did was to take a small group of pentecostal Christians and a matched group of non-believers. Both were chosen so as to represent the extreme ends of the belief scale. They were asked to listen to prayers being read by three different people who, they were told, were a non-Christian, an ordinary Christian, and a Christian ‘known for his healing powers’. In fact, they were all ordinary Christians…
When asked, the pentecostalists rated the one they were told was a healer as the most charismatic, and the person they thought was non-religious as much less charismatic (see the graph). Just telling... pentecostalists that someone has healing powers makes them think that they are highly charismatic. What’s more, they didn’t feel God’s presence in the prayers read by the person they were told was a non-Christian.
So where does the hypnotism come in? Well, specific regions of the pentecostalist’s brains became somewhat activated when listening to the prayer from the ‘non-believer’, but highly deactivated when listening to the prayer from the ‘charismatic healer’. The prayer from the ordinary Christian resulted in deactivation too, but on a small scale.
And the regions that were deactivated by the ‘charismatic healer’ were all associated with ‘executive function’ – the part of the mind that evaluates, monitors, and makes decisions. A similar response has been seen in the brains of people undergoing hypnosis – as well as meditation.
In other words, they went into a bit of a trance.
What Schjødt thinks is happening here is that, when we listen someone we trust implicitly, we switch off our critical faculties, and just let what they are saying wash over us. In the words of the researchers, “subjects suspend or ‘hand over’ their critical faculty to the trusted person.” - See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/epiphen....qjBXU9bk.dpuf
What they did was to take a small group of pentecostal Christians and a matched group of non-believers. Both were chosen so as to represent the extreme ends of the belief scale. They were asked to listen to prayers being read by three different people who, they were told, were a non-Christian, an ordinary Christian, and a Christian ‘known for his healing powers’. In fact, they were all ordinary Christians…
When asked, the pentecostalists rated the one they were told was a healer as the most charismatic, and the person they thought was non-religious as much less charismatic (see the graph). Just telling... pentecostalists that someone has healing powers makes them think that they are highly charismatic. What’s more, they didn’t feel God’s presence in the prayers read by the person they were told was a non-Christian.
So where does the hypnotism come in? Well, specific regions of the pentecostalist’s brains became somewhat activated when listening to the prayer from the ‘non-believer’, but highly deactivated when listening to the prayer from the ‘charismatic healer’. The prayer from the ordinary Christian resulted in deactivation too, but on a small scale.
And the regions that were deactivated by the ‘charismatic healer’ were all associated with ‘executive function’ – the part of the mind that evaluates, monitors, and makes decisions. A similar response has been seen in the brains of people undergoing hypnosis – as well as meditation.
In other words, they went into a bit of a trance.
What Schjødt thinks is happening here is that, when we listen someone we trust implicitly, we switch off our critical faculties, and just let what they are saying wash over us. In the words of the researchers, “subjects suspend or ‘hand over’ their critical faculty to the trusted person.” - See more at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/epiphen....qjBXU9bk.dpuf
Far from being given freely and spontaneously, without man’s interference–as are the true gifts of the Holy Spirit–speaking in tongues can be caused to occur quite predictably by a regular technique of concentrated group “prayer” accompanied by psychologically suggestive Protestant hymns (“He comes! He comes!”), culminating in a “laying on of hands,” and sometimes involving such purely physical efforts as repeating a given phrase over and over again (Koch p. 24), or just making sounds with the mouth. One person admits that, like many others, after speaking in tongues, “I often did mouth nonsense syllables in an effort to start the flow of prayer-in-tongues” (Sherrill p. 127); and such efforts, far from being discouraged, are actually advocated by Pentecostals. “Making sounds with the mouth is not ‘speaking-in-tongues,’ but it may signify an honest act of faith, which the Holy Spirit will honor by giving that person the power to speak in another language” (Harper p. 11)… A Jesuit “theologian” tells how he put such advice into practice: “After breakfast I felt almost physically drawn to the chapel where I sat down to pray. Following Jim’s description of his own reception of the gift of tongues, I began to say quietly to myself ‘la, la, la, la.’ To my immense consternation there ensued a rapid movement of tongue and lips accompanied by a tremendous feeling of inner devotion” (Gelpi p. 1).
Can any sober Orthodox Christian possibly confuse these dangerous psychic games with the gifts of the Holy Spirit?! This is the realm, rather, of psychic mechanisms which can be set in operation by means of definite psychological or physical techniques…
Can any sober Orthodox Christian possibly confuse these dangerous psychic games with the gifts of the Holy Spirit?! This is the realm, rather, of psychic mechanisms which can be set in operation by means of definite psychological or physical techniques…
Third, if you consider Charismatics' glossolalia and other unique phenomena to be supernatural, rather than mental confusion or otherwise natural phenomena, do you consider their glossolalia to be signs of their truth?
One of the difficulties in seeing glossolalia, speaking in incomprehensible phonetics, as strong proof of theological truth is that other religions practice it as well. Some Greek pagan oracles practiced it in ancient times.
Fr. Nicoczin writes about glossolalia in nonChristian pagan society in the region of Corinth:
Corinth was greatly influenced by Greek paganism which included demonstrations, frenzies and orgies, all intricately interwoven into their religious practices. In post Homeric times, the cult of the Dionysiac orgies made their entrance into the Greek world. According to this, music, the whirling dance, intoxication and utterances had the power to make men divine; to produce a condition in which the normal state was left behind and the inspired person perceived what was external to himself and the senses.
In other words, the soul was supposed to leave the body, hence the word ecstasy (ek stasis). They believed that while the being was absent from the body, the soul was united with the deity. At such times, the ecstatic person had no consciousness of his own.
The Corinthians of Paul's time were living under the influence of Dionysiac religious customs. It was natural that they would find certain similarities more familiar and appealing. Thus the Corinthians began to put more stress on certain gifts like glossolalia.
In other words, the soul was supposed to leave the body, hence the word ecstasy (ek stasis). They believed that while the being was absent from the body, the soul was united with the deity. At such times, the ecstatic person had no consciousness of his own.
The Corinthians of Paul's time were living under the influence of Dionysiac religious customs. It was natural that they would find certain similarities more familiar and appealing. Thus the Corinthians began to put more stress on certain gifts like glossolalia.
SPEAKING-IN-TONGUES AS KRIYA: THE HINDU CONNECTION.
...kriya is a spontaneous body motion, mumbling or speech in an unknown language which in traditional religious Hindu literature is supposed to signal the “awakening” of kundalini 2 or the spiritual energy that coils dormant at the base of the spine. The words kriya and karma share the same Sanskrit root ( kri , meaning “to do”) . Kriya would mean an action, deed or effort. Krishna lists, among the possible paths to spiritual attainment, that of karma yoga in the known fragment of the Mahabharata , the Bhagavad Gita or Song of the Lord.
...the bridging of the gap between cultures was made possible, historically speaking, through a particular colonial process (the British Raj in India), and Anglican missionary work (The Mukti Mission in Pune, India).. Pentecostal leaders in LA considered their revival as a consequence of the previous Mukti expansion:
...kriya is a spontaneous body motion, mumbling or speech in an unknown language which in traditional religious Hindu literature is supposed to signal the “awakening” of kundalini 2 or the spiritual energy that coils dormant at the base of the spine. The words kriya and karma share the same Sanskrit root ( kri , meaning “to do”) . Kriya would mean an action, deed or effort. Krishna lists, among the possible paths to spiritual attainment, that of karma yoga in the known fragment of the Mahabharata , the Bhagavad Gita or Song of the Lord.
...the bridging of the gap between cultures was made possible, historically speaking, through a particular colonial process (the British Raj in India), and Anglican missionary work (The Mukti Mission in Pune, India).. Pentecostal leaders in LA considered their revival as a consequence of the previous Mukti expansion:
“It is clear that the eyewitness and participant in the Azusa Street revival Frank Bartleman, its African American leader William Seymour, and the writers of its periodical The Apostolic Faith saw the Indian revival as a precedent to the one in which they were involved. It was seen as a prototypical, earlier Pentecostal revival that they thought had become ‘full - grown’ in Los Angeles” ( Anderson, 2014: 15).
Fourth, this leads to the question: If it's true that the Corinthians' glossolalia was the same phenomenon as modern Charismatics', and if Charismatics' glossolalia is mental confusion or self-induced hypnosis or does not otherwise serve as reliable evidence for the truth of their theology, does this lead to further conclusions about the Corinthians' own "tongues"?
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