A Study in First Corinthians 14
by Herbert Henry Ehrenstein
T h e f o u r t e e n t h c h a p t e r of First Corinthians is per haps the most difficult chapter of the entire epistle. I say “most difficult” because the subject of “ tongues” has proved to be a huge battlefield within Christendom through the years. On the one .side of the fence have been Christians of so-called “ charismatic” denomina tions—the Pentecostalists, Church of God, and similar Holiness groups—who emphatically believe in the expe rience of “ speaking in tongues.” Many of these believ ers are fine Christians who love the Lord and His Word. However, their temperaments are such that they simply prefer the more emotional type of service with ecstatic experiences of hand-clapping, shouting, foot-stomping and glossalalia, or speaking in tongues. On the other side of the fence have been the more staid, formal, dignified believers who dislike any emo tional upheavals in their services of worship. They are just as godly and just as truly converted. But the dif ference in temperament leads them to frown on out ward exuberance in worship. In between these two extremes, of course, have been a multitude of Christians with leanings in one direc tion or the other. Many have not yet made up their minds as to the group with which they wish to align themselves. Others vacillate from one point of view to the other. I confess, frankly, that I have always per sonally steered a path away from the fervent emotion
alism involved in tongues-speaking. I have felt—and still feel—that what is called “ tongues-speaking” in our contemporary denominations has been a distortion of the biblical picture. It has been an emotional excess brought on by the rather hypnotic effect of the singing, rhythm, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, and an almost fanatical desire to “ get the experience.” Understand, I am not condemning the movement which engages in this sort of thing. If Christian people happen to have proclivities which point them in this direction, this is between them and the Lord. I am merely making an observation as one who has witnessed and now evaluates what he has witnessed. In the many services I have attended in which the phenomenon of speaking with tongues took place, it was always engaged in under the spell of strong emotional fervor. Thus, I have tended to place this matter in the category of psychologically-produced effects — real enough for those who experience them, yes, but coming not from God nor from the devil. Rather they emerge from a strong inner desire of the “ self” to have the experience which the particular denomination dictates or requires. This was the conclusion to which I came after a rather intensive study and investigation, involving a thorough examination of Scripture, a careful investiga tion of tongues-speaking in actual church settings, and
NOVEMBER, 1964
31
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter