by Joel Haynes
Joel Haynes, a student at Ohio State University, wrote this two-part essay in June 1991 for soc.religion.christian after attending Pentecostal churches for eighteen months. His argument is cessationist: the gift of tongues as described in Acts was a historical gift tied to the apostolic era, not a continuing prayer language, and the modern Pentecostal practice misunderstands both the function and the cessation of the gift.
What makes the essay unusual is its combination of close scriptural argument and personal testimony. Haynes does not argue from doctrine alone; he argues from what he watched happen in Pentecostal services, what his friends confessed to him afterward, and what his wife admitted in the delivery room. The essay moves between these registers — technical exegesis and lived experience — without losing hold of either.
The two parts appeared on June 23 and June 26, 1991. A note appended by the moderator (identified as "clh" — Charles Hedrick) takes exception to the description of the Assemblies of God as a "cult," a correction that appears at the close of Part 2. Both parts are preserved together here.
Part 1
Tongues is an issue today that I feel must be addressed only from a scriptural point of view. In studying this topic one needs to understand why the gifts of the Holy Spirit were given. Jesus makes references to the gifts in the gospel according to Mark.
Mark 16:16-20: Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. (NIV)
New Tongues is best translated new languages. The purpose I believe is very clear in what happened at the day of Pentecost — to spread the wonders of God in other languages from those who share the gospel message.
Acts 2:4: All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (NIV)
Acts 2:7-8: Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?" (NIV)
Acts 2:9-12: Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs — we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" (NIV)
Some will argue the point of whether the gift of interpreting tongues fell on the hearers. Well to put this argument to rest: back in Mark the passage is clear — the signs will follow them that believe. Remember this is the first time the gospel was ever preached, so I doubt that the hearers received the gift. Another important note is at the end of chapter two:
Acts 2:42-43: They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. (NIV)
The Apostles were given the gifts to confirm their words that it was from God. In fact the signs that mark an apostle were the signs, wonders, and miracles.
2 Corinthians 12:12: The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance. (NIV)
From the New Testament we can see that this powerful ministry was passed on by the laying on of the hands of the apostles, as seen in chapters 6-8 in Acts. Also we find the Apostle Paul was included in this ministry, hand-picked by Jesus himself.
I do not by any means want to undermine the work of the Holy Spirit in the first century church, but I find it hard to believe that people are so easily pulled away from the truth of the scriptures to support a prayer language of tongues. They will use the second chapter of Acts to support this view, and even go to the point of saying that to be baptized in the Holy Spirit one must speak in tongues. The purpose again, I repeat, was to spread the grace of God into other known languages.
I have attended several Pentecostal churches — Assemblies of God, World Harvest, and several independent churches — and here are some of the verses that they will use to explain the prayer language of tongues.
1 Corinthians 13:1: If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. (NIV)
They use this to show that the prayer language is a heavenly language of angels. But the verse here — Paul does not say "when he speaks"; he says "if I speak" — big difference. Note the point is to focus the Corinthians on the importance of love. The structure in verses 1-3 is the same: If... then... conclusion. They are to make a point, not to assert that the contents are true. Similar to the contrasting statements in Ecclesiastes 1:4.
Ecclesiastes 1:4: Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. (NIV)
The bible is full of contrasting statements which the unlearned, or those without the Spirit of God, distort to prove the bible contradicts itself. Another verse they used to prove this point to me:
Romans 8:26: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (NIV)
If I take their line of logic — that a prayer language of tongues does exist — then I have to conclude that it is a language of angels that has words. But look at the verse: it clearly says "words cannot express." This verse, to have its clear meaning, needs to be read in context: that we don't know how to pray, so the Spirit of God which is one with our spirit intercedes for us in our captivity of decay.
In their struggle to show me that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are active today, I saw several healing services and baptisms of the Holy Spirit where some did utter in an unknown tongue but others did not. One time my brother-in-law and father-in-law went up, and the person baptizing them said "repeat after me, do what I do." Wait a minute — flags went up. Nowhere in scripture did the apostles say "repeat after me" to receive the gift of speaking in tongues. The Spirit of God gives the gifts as He determines.
1 Corinthians 12:11: All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (NIV)
The Holy Spirit has complete control in this matter of distributing the gift — not man. Every example in Acts where the gift of tongues were used, there were conversions.
1 Corinthians 14:22: Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. (NIV)
In one of the healing services my mother was given a word of knowledge that her gallbladder had been healed. One week later she had to have it removed. Sorry — if the healing came from heaven, she wouldn't have her gallbladder removed today.
After many false claims of healings and tongue-speaking I started to pray and study the scriptures to see what they revealed about the gifts and the purpose, especially the gift of tongues.
The passage in study I know is highly argued about the meaning, but I believe with the use of other scriptures and some common sense can reveal the truth. Here is the passage:
1 Corinthians 13:8-13: Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
Now taking the passage one verse at a time: verse 8 contains three words that need to be defined. They are prophecies, tongues and knowledge. Prophecy is the word of God spoken under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Tongues are the gift to speak the word of God in another human being's language. Knowledge is the completion of a spiritual truth or the completion of a prophecy. Knowledge is the one most people misunderstand. An example in scripture of Knowledge is about the resurrection: Job knew of it (Job 19:25-27); Isaiah 26:19-21; Daniel 12:1-3. This is Knowledge, but Paul makes it complete or perfect in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and also in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Some questions: all three gifts deal with the word of God, so what is the imperfect Paul is talking about? Right — the word of God. For knowledge in part is imperfect or incomplete, and so is prophecy in part imperfect or incomplete. This is the point Paul is trying to reveal. For when the word of God is completely revealed through Knowledge and Prophecy, then Prophecy, Tongues, and Knowledge will cease.
This is similar to understanding when one only reads one or two books of the bible without reading the entire bible. I know I had some strange thoughts about doctrines but soon put them behind me when reading the entire bible as a whole, not just in part. Usually this is where false doctrines get their start — because people will not read the bible and test what they believe against the few verses they have in hand.
Paul doesn't lose his train of thought; he is still speaking about the Word of God here. The argument that I always run into in the Pentecostal movement is that Paul is speaking about when we see Jesus face to face. Well, if I take that line of thought, then the bible would contradict itself. Look at this passage in Isaiah:
Isaiah 65:17-18: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy." (NIV)
If Paul was speaking about when Jesus returns, then we would have complete knowledge of God and His thoughts. I doubt it. I believe that when Jesus returns the sins of King David and the other sins named in the Old and New Testament will never be remembered, nor will they come to mind, as the verses in Isaiah reveal. Jesus even alludes to this in teaching the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:17-18: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (NIV)
Now for Paul's closing statement:
1 Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
In contrast — using English to understand Paul — he is saying that after Prophecies, Tongues, and Knowledge cease, these three will remain: faith, hope and love. Love will endure for all eternity, but when Jesus returns there will be no need for faith or hope.
Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)
Romans 8:24-25: For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (NIV)
Seeing Jesus face to face will be what we are hoping for. Once we are with Him we will no longer need faith or hope, because we will be with Jesus. If you hold to the other view of this passage to support your view on tongues — that they are for today — then I would like to ask you to show me the verses you use to support that view.
Again I am not trying to undermine the work of the Holy Spirit, but if the gifts are for today, then why has this spread to the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Latter-day Saints, the Catholic Church, and most of the other Protestant denominations? I have heard the Jehovah's Witnesses claim that it is the Spirit revealing Himself in the true believers. Funny thing, though — they still hold fast to the false doctrines.
It is your own choice, but I believe the next study on the gifts of the Holy Spirit will alarm you.
After seeing the verses in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 and what I believe the true meaning is, I continued with my study. I looked up the words signs, wonders, and miracles to further my understanding.
Acts 2:42-43: They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. (NIV)
2 Corinthians 12:12: The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance. (NIV)
Here are just some of the verses to point out that this was an era of history, just like the era of the ten plagues with Moses and the manna and quail in the desert. God uses a variety of miraculous signs for His people to cling to for the hope of the New Heaven and a new earth. But before Jesus returns I believe that Satan will be set free to imitate the first century church:
Matthew 24:24-25: For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time. (NIV)
2 Thessalonians 2:1-13: Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (NIV)
2 Corinthians 11:13-15: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (NIV)
Jesus gives us warning and says he has told us ahead of time. Also I believe the passage in 2 Thessalonians is very clear in revealing that before Jesus comes the rebellion must take place first. This rebellion is apostasy — not of unbelievers, but of believers that appear to be servants of righteousness but are really working for their father Satan, meaning they are not true believers at all. Jesus warns us about them:
Matthew 7:15-23: "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (NIV)
Look carefully at their plea: they will say that they prophesied in His name and drove out demons and performed many miracles. But this power to do this isn't from heaven but the pit. Jesus will tell them "I never knew you." That is how powerful the delusion will be — people will be caught up in the Pentecostal movement, thinking they are saved, but in reality are trapped in the powerful delusion.
Here is a test for yourself. Did you read the scriptures that were typed out for you? If not, why? The Spirit of God wants you to read the scriptures to find out the truth. Satan is the one who doesn't want you to read the truth.
In closing I will follow up with anyone and hear anything where you believe I am wrong. One thing I ask: use the scriptures to prove your point, and if you use the posting/followup command, use the scriptures — not human reasoning. I don't claim to have all truth, but I say without a doubt: when Jesus returns I will be in His sheep pen.
In His hands,
Joel
1 Thessalonians 5:21: Test everything. Hold on to the good. (NIV)
Proverbs 27:17: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (NIV)
Part 2
After reading some of the email about the first posting I feel I should at least share some more of my experiences with the Pentecostal movement. Yes, I was a member of a Pentecostal church for eighteen months or so. And I shared many of my findings with my friends and family. Most, I am happy to say, have changed churches and confessed that the prayer language of tongues was self — or imitating what the preacher or others were doing.
Example one: While in the Philippines I was stationed at Clark Air Force Base. I had just started with the wealth of knowledge that comes from reading the bible — you could say I was hooked; I couldn't put it down. I read and read and started to reread. I witnessed door to door on Monday night, Tuesday night a bible study with a Baptist couple, Wednesday and Saturdays free, Thursdays a singles fellowship group, Fridays the Navigators, and Sundays church. It was no wonder I learned a lot, but I never really started to form my own doctrines from the word until the Tuesday night study and the Friday night study were studying the same topic and they did not agree with each other.
At the Tuesday night study my friend Mike and I became very close friends. He had some tapes of Jimmy Swaggart about Revelation, so we started listening to them together. He invited me to come to his church — Assemblies of God. Well, after attending one service, which I was really excited to go to because he told me about the gifts of tongues and the other gifts of the spirit being present, I asked him afterward why the Filipinos were not present at the service. He told me they did a Filipino service at a different time, and that the services he went to were for the Americans from Clark. I had to ask — I thought that from studying the second chapter of Acts, the gift of tongues was to enable us to speak in another man's language to share the gospel. That was the difference between the Tuesday night study and the Friday night study.
Well, Mike and I started to study the second chapter of Acts for ourselves. Mike was the one who looked at me and said, "Joel, this isn't what I do." So I questioned him on what he did. He said he really was not sure, because the pastor of his church used that chapter a lot to prove that the gift of tongues is present when one is baptized in the Holy Spirit. Mike and I backed up to Acts chapter one to see what Jesus said about the baptism of the Holy Spirit:
Acts 1:5: For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. (NIV)
Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (NIV)
We both concluded that as written in verse 8, receiving the Holy Spirit gives us power to be witnesses — which is the baptism of verse 5. And that Acts 2 tongues was a gift to empower the apostles to witness to the different languages present on the day of Pentecost. About two weeks later Mike started to attend the service on base and also said that he would not be practicing tongues anymore, because anyone who misused the scriptures to prove their point — after he shared his findings — didn't want him to remain in their church.
Example two: Archie and I were roommates and prayer partners. He had attended Assemblies of God for as long as he could remember. I had told him about Mike and my talk about tongues and what had happened with the church off base. Archie said he believed the pastor might have been wrong with his use of the scriptures but still wanted to remain with the church he grew up with. I had no problem with that; we attended the Navigators together and the singles fellowship and were prayer partners.
We continued this way for about two months, and Archie started to question the gift of tongues because he had gone up three times and never started speaking or praying in a tongue. Being prayer partners, we asked the Lord to reveal the truth about this matter. Well, he had to go to second shift and we didn't get much study time together or prayer. But one day when we were both in the room, he shared with me — about a week after we had asked about the tongues issue — a letter that had come from his parents concerning the Assemblies of God church. They told him they believed it to be a cult and were changing churches. Archie told me the Lord had answered his question: he changed churches.
Puzzling but true. As God as my witness, there are other accounts, and I will share one more.
I continued to witness and fellowship with the Navigators until I returned to the States. Back in my home town I went to all of my friends that were still living there and shared with them my conversion and awakening to the truth in the bible, and wanted them to be in heaven with me. Some prayed, others laughed, and some were attending Christian Assembly. Well, that sounded good to me — I wanted to get back into a study group to continue my faith and growth in the Lord.
In only a short while I was approached by a woman to help in a youth bible study after school hours. I was unemployed at the time and said sure. Shortly after that we started dating, and today that young woman is my wife. I found out one Sunday evening that they started praying in tongues and had a healing service. I looked carefully at what was said and done. A man in a wheelchair — Corky — had come forward for a healing, but by the same wheelchair he left. I didn't want to hurt my relationship with Mary Ann, so I left the issue behind and just hoped it was a passing thing.
Come to find out, they practiced this all the time on Sunday nights, for the "elite Christians" it seemed. Well, I asked Mary Ann to marry me, and thought that if she was not too caught up in this, we could find another church. I really didn't know much about my new wife until one night she started to pray in tongues. I asked how long she had been doing this and what she was praying. She had started back in college and didn't know what she was praying, so I asked her: if she didn't know, then don't do it around me, because I can't say Amen. (1 Corinthians 14:14-17)
Well, that worked — I thought. Until we were having our first child, Aaron. She started babbling during every contraction. After the birth I told her it sounded like she was cursing more than praying. She confessed that it was cursing on her mind rather than prayer. Shortly after that we changed churches and she has renounced the so-called prayer language.
Maybe I am totally confused on this issue, and I am willing to listen to anyone on the topic. But I find it hard to believe that just in the examples I have shared in Parts 1 and 2 — through prayer and study of the scripture — that the answer I keep getting is: tongues have ceased, and tongues of today are from the pit.
In His hands,
Joel
1 Thessalonians 5:21: Test everything. Hold on to the good. (NIV)
Proverbs 27:17: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. (NIV)
[Moderator's note: I will simply comment that while the use of tongues is controversial in the Church, I know of no evidence that the Assemblies of God are a cult in the sense in which I suspect the term is being used here. — clh]
Colophon
Written by Joel Haynes ([email protected], Ohio State University). Posted to soc.religion.christian in two parts on June 23 and June 26, 1991. The moderator's note appended to Part 2 is by Charles Hedrick (clh).
Original Message-IDs: Part 1 — <[email protected]>; Part 2 — <[email protected]>
Preserved from the Usenet UTZOO archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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