Ancient Faiths And Modern: A Dissertation upon Worships, Legends and Divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and Elsewhere, Before the Christian Era. Showing Their Relations to Religious Customs as They Now Exist.Inman, Thomas
Religion
Ancient Faiths And Modern: A Dissertation upon Worships, Legends and Divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and Elsewhere, Before the Christian Era. Showing Their Relations to Religious Customs as They Now Exist.
Inman, Thomas
Religions
As these foreigners noticed what was said, they recognized words
in their own respective dialects, and then the Parthian said to the
Mede--the Elamite to the Mesopotamian--the Phrygian to the Pamphyliaji,
&c., "What does all this mean?" So to interchange a question involves
that the interlocutors, like the Apostles, had suddenly received the
gift of speaking, and understanding, other tongues than their own. When
the listeners had convinced themselves about the marvel, each began to
talk in his own language, and the Jews understood them to say, "What
meaneth this?" the Hebrews, like the rest, having also the gift of
knowing what was said in a strange language.
Some, however, had not this power of interpretation, and remarked, "the
fellows are drunk!" For a moment we pause to inquire how many people
there were in one room of one house. The Apostles were twelve;
then there were, at least three, Parthians, Medes, &c., in all about
forty-five more, and in addition, there were "the mockers." To all
these Peter preached, and the wonders of the day were crowned by the
conversion of three thousand people!
It seems, therefore, to be clear, from the account of this extraordinary
miracle, that the Apostles then gathered together acquired the power of
expressing their thoughts in languages which they had never learned, the
judges of the feat being those whose dialects were spoken.
If we now proceed in biblical order to examine into the ideas connected
with this strange faculty, we find, in Acts x. 44-46, that the
circumcised Jews alone were satisfied, in the plenitude of their own
ignorance, that Cornelius and his company could "speak with tongues."
Again, in Acts xix. 6, we learn that certain Ephesians, after baptism,
and imposition of hands, "spake with tongues "--no judge of the fact
being quoted.
In 1 Cor. xii. 10, we discover that amongst the gifts of the Holy Spirit
are "kinds of tongues," and the interpretation thereof which will,
probably, remind the lover of Shakespeare of Act iv. Scenes 1 and 3,
in "All's well that ends well," wherein there is a nonsensical jargon
spoken by one person which another interprets to the satisfaction of the
silly Parolles. In vv 28, 30, we see strong indications that the gift
of tongues and interpretation may be compared to some things now heard
of in spiritualistic or other conjuring seances.
This notion of "speaking with other tongues" reaches its climax,
apparently, in 1 Cor. xiii. 1, wherein Paul indicates, but does not
positively assert, that he can "speak with the tongues of men and
angels," a boast which 2 Cor. xii. 4 leads us to take literally. But how
any one on earth could test the reality of assertion it is difficult to
conceive.
In 1 Cor. xiv. we see indications that "speaking with tongues" is little
more or less than a sort of hysterical utterance of gibberish, which
we may compare to the once celebrated chorus of
Lilli-bullero-lero-lero-Lillibullero bullen a la.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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