God Confused the Languages at Babel
The building of the tower of Babel is figuratively an attempt to reach heaven without God, by one’s own efforts. This led to the confusion of languages and the loss of understanding of one another’s languages:
“And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth” (Gen. 11:4-9)
God Overcame the Confusion of Languages in the Church
On the day of the Church’s formation and the descent of the Holy Spirit, God gives the apostles the gift of understanding foreign languages:
“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Act. 2:1-4)
Other Tongues Are Foreign Languages
Those who had come from other lands marveled at how the Galileans (the apostles) could speak foreign languages:
“And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs — we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’ So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean?’” (Act. 2:5-12)
Not Everyone Has the Gift of Tongues
Not everyone receives the gift of knowing other languages.
Those who receive the gift of tongues know different languages.
All gifts, including the gift of tongues, are given for the profit of the work.
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit,
to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
to another faith by the same Spirit,
to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
to another the working of miracles,
to another prophecy,
to another discerning of spirits,
to another different kinds(!) of tongues,
to another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:4-10)
“And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
Are all apostles?
Are all prophets?
Are all teachers?
Are all workers of miracles?
Do all have gifts of healings?
Do all speak with tongues?
Do all interpret?
But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:28-31)
Knowledge of the Greek Language Was Not Enough for the Apostle to Preach to All People
A Roman commander is surprised that the apostle knows even the most widespread language — Greek. That is, although Greek was widespread (a lingua franca), this does not mean that everyone understood it.
The highly educated Apostle Paul, who studied under Gamaliel, a teacher of the law known and respected by all the people (Act. 22:3), a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (Act. 5:34), who quotes Greek philosophers and writers (Act. 17:28 [1]; Titus. 1:12 [2]), addresses the Roman commander in Greek. The commander is surprised that the Apostle Paul knows Greek:
“Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. <...> Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, ‘May I speak to you?’ He replied, ‘Can you speak Greek?’” (Act. 21:33,37)
The Roman commander is surprised that a Jew knows the most widespread language in the Roman Empire. This can be surprising only if it is a rarity. If knowledge of even the Greek language in such an educated man is surprising, then what is there to say about a natural knowledge of Greek among the other apostles, many of whom were ordinary fishermen, uneducated and simple people (Act. 4:13). But the problem is not only that for preaching everywhere the preacher (the apostle) must know the language; the hearer must also know Greek.
So knowledge of Greek alone is not enough, and therefore the apostles, as living witnesses of the life, resurrection and teaching of Jesus Christ, needed supernatural gifts, among them the knowledge of languages, so that this witness about Christ, together with their faith, could be passed on to all nations.
There Is No Profit If No One Understands the One Who Speaks in Other Tongues
“But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? <...> So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. <...> Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say ‘Amen’ at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified” (1 Cor. 14:6,9-13,16-17)
Do Not Speak in Other Tongues in the Church Without an Interpreter
“If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. <...> For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Cor. 14:27-28,33)
And the occupation of the prophets was preaching:
“Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words” (Act. 15:32)
A Call to Strive More for the Gift of Prophecy (Preaching and Interpretation) Than for Other Tongues
“Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification. <...> Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues” (1 Cor. 14:1-5,39)
Tongues Will Cease
“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” (1 Cor. 13:8)
Love Is the Greatest Gift, Toward Which One Must Strive
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. <...> And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:1-2,13)
A Different Spirit, Which the Apostles Did Not Give
“For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted — you may well put up with it!” (2 Cor. 11:4)
Missionaries Today Learn Languages
In antiquity the apostles and the first Christians received gifts of knowing foreign languages out of extraordinary necessity, so that the still very small Church could spread widely and preach to all nations. But today missionaries have to learn languages, that is, to labor. And for this there are now all the means; only the desire may be lacking.
There are societies of people who believe in Christ (charismatics and Pentecostals) who may claim to have the gift of other tongues and of their interpretation, but when they find themselves in other countries, the foreigners do not understand them, and so such missionaries either keep speaking their native languages, or have to learn languages by ordinary means, with the help of textbooks and teachers.
In our time this gift is almost absent. In the Orthodox Church there is a saint of the 20th century — Venerable Paisios the Athonite — who never learned any languages other than his native one (Greek), and did not claim to have the gift of other tongues, but when foreigners came to him, they were able to talk with him without an interpreter in French, and another time in English.
Criticism
Various Questions About the Texts of 1 Corinthians 14
Many questions are raised about chapter 14 of the Epistle to the Corinthians, so it makes sense simply to go through the whole chapter. This is done in a separate article (in Russian).
Will Tongues Cease Only in the Age to Come?
The Orthodox point out to Pentecostals and charismatics the words of the Apostle Paul that tongues will cease (1 Cor. 13:8), that is, this gift will stop. Of course, it will not disappear completely, for very rare contemporary saints in Orthodoxy are known to have had the gift of speaking foreign languages, but in general there will no longer be such a mass phenomenon as we see among the first Christians.
To this the neo-Protestant Pentecostals answer that tongues will cease only in the age to come, after the coming of Christ. Some of them consider the basis for this opinion to be the following words about the time “when that which is perfect has come” (1 Cor. 13:10).
Let us look at this text in a wider context:
“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:8-13)
The apostle said that when “that which is perfect has come”, then that which is “in part” will be done away. And what is in part? Knowledge. In this sentence he began to explain his difficult expression that “knowledge will vanish away”. He now needs to convey the thought that it is not knowledge itself that will vanish away (that is, as if they will know nothing), but this partial knowledge that they have now will be done away, and there will be full knowledge. It is precisely this thought that he develops further.
He says that now knowledge is already present in part, and other knowledge is revealed in part through prophecies.
A time will come when perfect knowledge will be given, and not “in part”.
Now knowledge is received as if looking through a dim glass, obscurely.
He speaks here of knowledge, and not of the gift of tongues. Christians did not know foreign languages in part. Otherwise they could not have fully conveyed the Gospel to other tribes and nations. They possessed the gift of tongues perfectly; that is exactly what those who had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost marveled at, that they heard the apostles speaking in their own languages (Act. 2:5-12). This was not in part. What was in part was knowledge, and only it. It is precisely about knowledge that the apostle reasons further.
And when will the gift of tongues cease? Strictly speaking, it is not said here. It is only said that it will cease. And now, living 20 centuries after them, we can look back and see that these words were fulfilled quite soon, when the preaching had spread widely and Christians had become very numerous, so that there is now no such extraordinary need for the gift of tongues. There is an extraordinary need for love, but not for the gift of tongues. That is why since then languages have been learned.
The words that love is the one thing that will not cease in eternity do not indicate that what will end will end in eternity. Everything else can end at any time, but of eternity it is said only that love will not end there. That love is eternal and will not cease even in the age to come — about this there can be no dispute.
Did people understand these lines of Scripture the way Pentecostals understand them?
In the 4th century, for example, John Chrysostom believed that the cessation of the gift of tongues was spoken of in the present age, and not in the age to come.
John Chrysostom, Saint (~347-407)
Now then after that in every way he had shown her to be very exceedingly great, again he doth so from another most important head, by a fresh comparison exalting her dignity, and saying thus; “but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease.” For if both these were brought in in order to the faith; when that is every where sown abroad, the use of these is henceforth superfluous. But the loving one another shall not cease, rather it shall even advance further, both here and hereafter, and then more than now. For here there are many things that weaken our love; wealth, business, passions of the body, disorders of the soul; but there none of these. But although it be no marvel that prophecies and tongues should be done away, that knowledge should be done away, this is what may cause some perplexity. For this also he added, “Whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.” What then? are we then to live in ignorance? Far from it. Nay, then specially it is probable that our knowledge is made intense. Wherefore also he said, “Then shall I know, even as also I am known.” For this reason, if you mark it, that you might not suppose this to be done away equally with the prophecy and the tongues, having said, “Whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away,” he was not silent, but added also the manner of its vanishing away, immediately subjoining the saying, “We know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” It is not therefore knowledge that is done away, but the circumstance that our knowledge is in part. For we shall not only know as much but even a great deal more.
(Homily 34 on First Corinthians)
More quotes: quotes of the holy fathers on other tongues (in Russian)
The Tongues of Men and of Angels
When neo-Protestants are shown quotes that other tongues are the foreign languages of other nations, they agree with this, but in reply show another quote, saying that there is supposedly also a gift of angelic tongues:
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1)
But this opinion is mistaken, because angels are bodiless spirits. They have no speech apparatus, tongue, lungs or vocal cords; they do not need an atmosphere (air) in order to communicate by creating and catching vibrations of the air. Thus any human sounds produced by the vocal cords cannot be angelic tongues, because angels have no vocal cords, just as they have no body of flesh and bones (Luke. 24:39).
What then does the apostle mean when he speaks of angelic tongues? This is simply a figure of speech, an extreme amplification of one part in order then to lower it by another. The apostle only shows that gifts without love are an empty sound. While the Corinthians thought that speaking the languages of other nations was already something special, the apostle decided to go even higher: even if they could speak in the tongues of angels, without love it would bring no profit.
This is only the apostle’s figure of speech. One can also read about this in Saint John Chrysostom.
John Chrysostom, Saint (~347-407)
Now he here speaks of the “tongues of angels,” not investing angels with a body, but what he means is this: “should I even so speak as angels are wont to discourse unto each other, without this I am nothing, nay rather a burden and an annoyance.” Thus (to mention one other example) where he saith, “To Him every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth,” (Phil. 2:10.) he doth not say these things as if he attributed to angels knees and bones, far from it, but it is their intense adoration which he intends to shadow out by the fashion amongst us: so also here he calls it “a tongue” not meaning an instrument of flesh, but intending to indicate their converse with each other by the manner which is known amongst us.
(Homily 32 on First Corinthians)
Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus (~386-457)
By the tongues of angels he means not sensible ones, but certain spiritual ones, in which the Angels sing praises to the God of all and converse with one another. For Isaiah heard them singing, and Ezekiel, as well as Daniel, Zechariah and Micah heard them conversing. The divine Apostle expressed this hyperbolically, intending to show the superiority of love.
(Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, ch. 13, in Russian; translated from the Russian)
Christ Himself used a similar figure of speech: an extreme amplification of one part in order to lower it by another:
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26) (Mark. 8:36)
So there is no question of people having a gift of speaking an angelic language, because a person communicates by means of his flesh, while angels have no flesh. This mention of angelic tongues is only a figure of speech.
The Testimony of a Former Pentecostal Pastor
A former pastor of a Pentecostal community, Pavel, who later converted to Orthodoxy, describes in a short audio message (11 minutes) his feelings and experience of “other tongues” in Pentecostalism. He compares his former experience with the experience he gained in Orthodoxy:
Audio file (in Russian): https://disk.yandex.ru/d/hHzrMNPi_lVy2w