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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Speaking in Tongues

So with Pentecost recently and all, I was reminded of how some Protestants believe that "speaking in tongues" means speaking in some special, heavenly language, the language of the Holy Ghost or the angels or something like that. I don't quite understand why they would think this. It's just overcomplicating matters--speaking in tongues simply means you speak your native language and everyone can understand you as if you were speaking their language. Sort of the opposite of the confusion of tongues at Babel. Additionally, why would there be a "language of the Holy Ghost"? Language is just our imperfect way of communicating information to each other--we have to use sounds to try to convey thoughts. This is definitely an imperfect form of communication, as meanings can be misconstrued and words cannot always capture accurately what we want to say. God, on the other hand, is perfect--He is perfection itself. He does not need words to convey what He wants--He can send the information directly and clearly to the mind. Besides, He does not have a physical mouth or vocal chords (other than that of the human body of the Second Person, Jesus Christ), as He is a pure spirit, so His communication is directly through the mind, which is part of the soul. Of course, He uses words and language often when interacting with mortals on earth, but this is because of our imperfection and our need to use words as creatures possessing bodies of flesh and blood--in heaven, the angels and saints are spirits and there is no need for a special heavenly language!

Source: vultus.stblogs.org

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