Questions on Charismaticism

Q. “What should be the Reformed response to speaking in tongues? I Corinthians 14 seems to indicate that, although the gift of prophecy is greater than that of speaking in tongues, we should desire the gift of speaking in tongues (cf. v. 5). At the very least, verse 39 says we shouldn’t forbid it. Does the Bible give evidence that the gift of speaking in tongues was only for the early church, or should we too pursue these gifts? Concerning those people who hold to false teachings (Pentecostals, Roman Catholics) and claim to speak in tongues, is their gift from the Holy Spirit or from Satan? I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter.”

Regardless whether one views tongues as the ability to speak foreign languages without study or as the speaking of new, unknown languages, it was an extraordinary gift and operation of the Holy Spirit. It was part of the miraculous of the apostolic time. With the exorcism of demons, special prophecy, miracles of healing, and the like, tongues-speaking was connected with the office of apostle in the early church. The purpose of the miraculous, extraordinary operation of the Spirit was to validate the office and gospel of the apostles (Mark 16:20; Acts 14:3; II Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:3,4).

When the office of apostle passed away, the miraculous passed away with it, including the gift of tongues. The miraculous was no longer necessary. The foundation of the church had been laid. The gospel of the apostles had been accredited. The church now had the complete Scripture of the Old and New Testaments.

The charismatic movement today acknowledges the inseparable relation between the extraordinary gifts and the office of apostle in that it allows for, and even requires, the restoration of the apostolic office in the church and the appearance and function of latter-day apostles. With new apostles come a new gospel, a new church, and a new Christ.

The inescapable implication of this analysis of tongues is that all tongues-speaking in the post-apostolic history of the church is sheer fraud, self-induced emotional gibberish, or direct demonic influence.

We recommend B.B. Warfield’s Miracles: Yesterday and Today (originally published as Counterfeit Miracles). We also have a pamphlet on this subject, entitled “Try the Spirits: A Reformed Look at Pentecostalism”

(David J. Engelsma, “The Standard Bearer,” vol. 69, no. 13 [April 1, 1993], p. 299)