Has Speaking in Tongues Ceased?

I’ve been really enjoying this guy’s teachings. It’s great to come across something I fundamentally disagree with. It’s great to consider the arguments of respected Bible teachers who have a different perspective to one’s self.

His reasons for supernatural signs, especially speaking in tongues ceasing:

1. He observes long periods in the Bible where there is no supernatural activity and short spurts of miraculous
2. He’s witnessed numerous Pentecostal conventions where never one attendee went across the road to the local hospital to heal the sick.
3. Tongues is evident and taught early in the new testament, but in later writings is no longer mentioned
4. Prophets must be 100% accurate – modern “prophets” are not – so modern prophecy is not of God
5. He generally dismisses the possibility of modern miracles worked by God’s people
6. Around 300 AD two top church fathers, Augustine and Chrysostom wrote that miraculous signs had ceased and those Montanists who practice such were heretics.
7. In the 17th century, Mother Anna Lee of the Shakers claimed to be a female Jesus Christ and spoke in tongues.
8. 1 Corinthians 13:8 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.
9. Tongues and prophecies are abused and mis-claimed.
10. Tongues was for a sign – only for unbelieving Jews
11. Paul could not heal his fellow workers because miracles had ceased and no more miracles were recorded in the New Testament.

My response:

• I sing in tongues all the time, although I’ve never had someone recognize the language, so this remains an act of faith.
• I hear numerous stories of people ministering to foreigners and being fully understood.  One such story is from a friend from a church where tongues is rare
• Ken Johnson (my hero) researched documents from the ancient church fathers when supernatural gifts including tongues ceased – he gave up after about 500 years, continuing to find the supernatural, including tongues documented and taught about.
• Many of his points rely on the absence of evidence as evidence, which are contradicted by ancient letters such as Ken John’s findings.
• 1 Corinthians 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
  Why should the prophets judge the prophecy if it’s guaranteed to be right? Rather we learn prophecy and are guided and judged by the more mature prophets to not diverge from scripture and to check for consensus in what is perceived as being from the Holy Spirit.
• Were these great church fathers just dismissing what they didn’t understand? I expect the Montanists had some dodgy practices, but hey Martain Luther’s antisemitism fueled the holocaust – nobody’s perfect.
• Just because Satan counterfeits a miracle, does not mean the original is invalid, but rather proves the original is worth copying and corrupting
• So if tongues ceased, then so did knowledge. I appreciate that tongues and prophecy fell to neglect as political powers commandeered the church, but love is the one thing that remains in every church. I also think knowledge ceased in many churches 😉 and sadly its cessation increases as we stop teaching the whole Bible
• Satan will corrupt anything of God – corruption does not prove a bad initial creation, but the presence of a corruptor
• A lot is between the lines to assert this presupposition
• Jesus didn’t even heal everyone at his time – only one of many cripples at the pool in John 5 was healed. Not being able to understand why does not mean we outright dismiss the possibility – otherwise, we’d have to dismiss the virgin birth and the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 14:39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Cessation is reading a lot into the Biblical text based on human experience, reasoning and philosophy, just as dismissing Genesis as allegory. Both excuse why our experience does not match the Bible i.e. we make the Bible match our experience rather than make our experience match the Bible.

I deeply respect this guy’s passion for God and his teachings and highly recommend him.  I’ll continue to watch his videos as I’ve gotten so much out of them.