Sorry but I think you didn't read this verse..
1 Corinthians 14:2
2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.
Tongues are not just only foreign languages.. How can be it foreign while people doesn't understand? Bro, if it is just foreign language it will be understood..
I have read this chapter many times.
This verse does not say praying in tongues PRIVATELY , while the rest of this Passage in addition to Chapter 12 refers to speaking in Tongues CORPORATELY during a church service where interpretation is given .
Further, Acts 2 shows that Tongues were given which were unfamiliar to some in attendence , yet were recognizable to others (foreign languages) which these Hearers spoke .
Ergo, Tongues are for CORPORATE environments for the sake of the UNBeliever who may be in attendence , and, it is supposed to be a distinct foreign language which might be recognizable to some . And it is to be followed with an English interpretation (assuming the Corporate environment is filled with english speaking people) from ANother ....OR, by the Tongue Speaker himself because the Tongue Speaker is supposed to understand his own Tongue.
Here is a diligent treatise that a woman did concerning this topic :
"This is what I learned:
tounges means foreign language- look up the word for this gift in any language the Bible has been written in and look up that definition. you will find answers of "(foreign) language or dialect". Example is the original ancient Greek (glossolalia) which is 'to speak languages'. when someone down the road is said to speak a tounge, you know they speak a language or dialect unfamiliar to you.
So this means the churches who teach that tongues is also sounds of holy joy from the spirit such as chittering, laughing, crying, moaning, mooing, clucking or barking are incorrect.
tongues is plural- every reference to the gift in scripture is plural with only the exception of a specific person speaking a specific language. It is the ability to speak and/or understand foriegn languages.
So this means the churches who teach that tounges is a single language from heaven between God, angels and you, if you have the spirit, are incorrect.
there is only one kind of tounges gift- I never found any scriptural support for a tounges that was only for prayer and another that was for the congregation/public. All information from scripture points to the one ability of speaking foreign languages you previously didn't know.
So this means the churches who teach that there are different forms of tounges are incorrect.
tongues must be understood by all people around you and done in orderly fashion- this is something that Paul tried to pound into the heads of the Corinthian congregation. Everyone, including the speaker, must understand what was said either by already knowing that language or by a translator. Otherwise it was a waste of time and cannot be proven to be a genuine gift.
So this means the churches who practice mosh pit-like tongues extravaganzas or who never have an interpreted tongue message are in error.
tongues was for a sign to unbelievers and for edification of the church body- direct quotes from The Apostle Paul. Anyone who didnt believe Jesus was the real deal and that the church now belongs to ALL who believe would be proven wrong by the confirmation of this gift and that would in turn strengthen the church as a whole and add to it's ranks.
So this means the churches who teach that tongues is for a deeper personal connection to God is incorrect.
tongues may have passed away long ago-there are many compelling reasons to believe this to be true and i have acctually confirmed it for the gift of prophecy simply due to the biblical definition of a prophet. I personally haven't yet put a headstone on tongues, but i do say that if the genuine gift does still exist, it must be incredibly rare. I haven't experienced or heard of any credible accounts of the true gift being used combined that with the purpose and usefulness of such a gift is all but gone.
So this brings into question any church that teaches this gift is attainable, let alone mandatory for the church body.
When I did this study it was acctually hard to find a tongues supporter that was willing to talk about it. The one pastor I did find to talk to me gave his ideas of what it was all about and a few scriptures.. a couple of which had nothing to do with spiritual gifts or tongues. Even the Assembly of God main website stated that some of its core doctrine was not found in scripture, but was based on "assumptions and deductions from an apparent pattern found in the book of acts". it's like alot of people belived in it and had stories of experiences to tell me, but they couldnt tell me why or explain anything with any real satisfaction"
