Speaking in tongues -- revisited -- your thoughts?

[tdidymas]

Well, I have some of those gifts, and I know that they are authentic and of the Holy Spirit, so they are definitely real today. You don't have to believe me, and if you don't, I won't judge you. I'm giving my testimonies of what God has done in my life, and it is your choice whether to believe or not.

I have the gift of discerning of spirits, which means I can see whether it's an evil spirit, a human spirit or the Holy Spirit working in a person, and if it's an evil spirit, what kind of spirit it is. It is not cold reading, it is supernatural. It's necessary for when I do deliverance. I also have the gift of doing miracles and of healing, and I have stopped the weather in Jesus' name after the Holy Spirit told me to, healed myself and others, and raised a dead caterpillar to life. I know that sounds weird, but that caterpillar later turned into a butterfly and that was an intensely beautiful moment between me and God. God has told me that I will see the dead raised in the future, which I know will happen, because I also have the gift of prophecy. Not only has God given me prophecies, dreams and visions, about myself but about others as well, and they all happened as He had told me or shown me. It was not divination, like what false prophets do, it was the Holy Spirit communicating with me. And it happened exactly as He spoke. Same with words of knowledge and wisdom. I also have the gift of faith so I will be able to walk in faith and believe in all of this. What I lack is the gifts of tongues.

Do I need to prove this to anyone? No, not unless that is God's will. Is it still real? Yep! Can I use these gifts for my own glory? NO!!! I can't use them at all, it is the Holy Spirit working through me, and I can only ever experience the gifts when He is moving through me to build up our sisters or brothers or to open the eyes of unbelievers.

And no, I'm not bragging or saying this to make myself look important. I'm not important, but Jesus is my everything and He chose to equip me for His namesake. I'm not a prophet or a miracle-worker or an apostle, I'm a daughter of God, a disciple of Christ and a worker for the Gospel. I simply asked God to reveal to me what gifts are and how they work, and He showed me. But not before He told me to take my walk with Him seriously and always put the Bible first so I wouldn't be misled.

I know what the false healers and self-proclaimed prophets are like, I have been attacked by them when exposing their false gifts and prophecies that weren't Biblical. But just because the devil has a foothold in some churches doesn't mean that all gifts are demonic. The devil imitates what God does, but he hasn't taken over. God still gifts those He desires to gift, and it's for a purpose. It is not a requirement to be a Christian, but it is still something that God uses today. Maybe you should pray and ask Him to show you as well? If not for your own walk with Him, at least so you will know in what ways He is using gifts today.

It may be that God is working through you in that way, and that you aren't exaggerating in any way. I would like to point out, though, that your case would be highly unusual.
TD

 

[Emli]

I agree, we must be careful in what we say as well as what we believe. I don't discount that there could be some authentic Holy Spirit given tongues out there somewhere. But in my case, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack of false tongues (and I'm not willing to seek it out). What is commonly spoke in charismatic circles today is a human phenomenon, like the language you made up.

Even if a godly preacher speaks it, he is merely deceived into thinking it is of the Spirit, when in reality it is merely himself doing it. The tongues of the NT is something that is clearly and obviously miraculous, like it was in Acts 2. What is commonly spoken today is just a bunch of random syllables which have no inherent meaning, and is not an intelligible language. This is a human phenomenon, and many non-Christians do it, so it doesn't take the miraculous power of God to accomplish it. It has been proven by research.

I have invited tongue-talkers to record their tongues so that it can be evaluated by a linguist, but so far no one has done it. If people are unwilling to let their "gift" be evaluated, then that "gift" is suspect. I have yet to hear or read of any testimony that clearly described how exactly modern day glossolalia edifies even the person speaking it. From my POV, there is simply no edification in it at all. The only apparent edification is the hype of getting people to believe in tongues. I believe it is a distraction from the true gospel message. Some people claim to be Christians because they speak modern day glossolalia, not because they understand or believe the gospel of grace.
TD

From what I have heard, those who speak it feel an intense peace in their spirits when speaking in real tongues. I get a deep calm myself when I hear it, it's obviously of God. But that has only happened twice to me.

A gift cannot be used when we want it to be used. It is the Holy Spirit working in us. If God doesn't want His gift to be put to a scientific test, His language recorded, what do you think will happen? We have to test all things, all spirits, even the Holy Spirit, but it is sin to put God to the test. So that might be the case.

But I agree with you, I can tell that it's not the Holy Spirit giving them those words when it's just random syllables. I have a natural gift of learning languages and picking up melodies and grammar very easily, and it's obvious when it's not even a real language. And I agree that it's a distraction. I have had to tell quite the few people that praying in the Spirit is NOT praying in tongues, but communicating with God in the Spirit rather than just talking to Him in the flesh. They pray in tongues instead of actually talking to God and though that may help them be in the Spirit if they are real tongues, it won't help them to mature in Christ or get to know Him and not even a little. But I believe that it still could build them up in the Spirit.

 

[Saint Steven]

Well, I have some of those gifts, and I know that they are authentic and of the Holy Spirit, so they are definitely real today. You don't have to believe me, and if you don't, I won't judge you. I'm giving my testimonies of what God has done in my life, and it is your choice whether to believe or not.

I have the gift of discerning of spirits, which means I can see whether it's an evil spirit, a human spirit or the Holy Spirit working in a person, and if it's an evil spirit, what kind of spirit it is. It is not cold reading, it is supernatural. It's necessary for when I do deliverance. I also have the gift of doing miracles and of healing, and I have stopped the weather in Jesus' name after the Holy Spirit told me to, healed myself and others, and raised a dead caterpillar to life. I know that sounds weird, but that caterpillar later turned into a butterfly and that was an intensely beautiful moment between me and God. God has told me that I will see the dead raised in the future, which I know will happen, because I also have the gift of prophecy. Not only has God given me prophecies, dreams and visions, about myself but about others as well, and they all happened as He had told me or shown me. It was not divination, like what false prophets do, it was the Holy Spirit communicating with me. And it happened exactly as He spoke. Same with words of knowledge and wisdom. I also have the gift of faith so I will be able to walk in faith and believe in all of this. What I lack is the gifts of tongues.

Do I need to prove this to anyone? No, not unless that is God's will. Is it still real? Yep! Can I use these gifts for my own glory? NO!!! I can't use them at all, it is the Holy Spirit working through me, and I can only ever experience the gifts when He is moving through me to build up our sisters or brothers or to open the eyes of unbelievers.

And no, I'm not bragging or saying this to make myself look important. I'm not important, but Jesus is my everything and He chose to equip me for His namesake. I'm not a prophet or a miracle-worker or an apostle, I'm a daughter of God, a disciple of Christ and a worker for the Gospel. I simply asked God to reveal to me what gifts are and how they work, and He showed me. But not before He told me to take my walk with Him seriously and always put the Bible first so I wouldn't be misled.

I know what the false healers and self-proclaimed prophets are like, I have been attacked by them when exposing their false gifts and prophecies that weren't Biblical. But just because the devil has a foothold in some churches doesn't mean that all gifts are demonic. The devil imitates what God does, but he hasn't taken over. God still gifts those He desires to gift, and it's for a purpose. It is not a requirement to be a Christian, but it is still something that God uses today. Maybe you should pray and ask Him to show you as well? If not for your own walk with Him, at least so you will know in what ways He is using gifts today.

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

 

[Emli]

It may be that God is working through you in that way, and that you aren't exaggerating in any way. I would like to point out, though, that your case would be highly unusual.
TD

I'm not exaggerating, I am 100% serious and God stops me if I even start to lie, exaggerate, brag or put any focus on myself, and I also don't want any spotlight anyway, I often try to flee from it. Is it really that unusual? It feels normal to me, it has been like this since I got saved. But my calling is really difficult and serious and it may turn out to be huge in the future, so that may be the case. Only God knows. :/

 

[Gr8Grace]

Thanks.
What do you hope to gain from all this?

I hope that others gain some knowledge of His word. Possibly things that they have never looked into themselves.

Tongues were a sign to the unbelieving Jews impending destruction. They were Gods client nation to spread his Gospel and word to the world. They quit and failed. So in Isaiah 28, and other places, God tells them that the sign of their impending destruction is foreigners speaking to them in their native tongue.......when they knew darn well that these foreigners had not a clue how to speak their native tongue.....And these foreigners had the message that "this people/unbelieving Israel" failed to deliver to the foreigners!

 

[Emli]

Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

John 14:12
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Amen!!! And though some would claim that Matthew 10:8 was only for the twelve (which it wasn't for many reasons), John 14:12 definitely not written to only Jews or only to the Apostles, but to whoever believes in Jesus.

 

[tdidymas]

Is a linguist the ultimate judge of whether a tongue is "genuine" or not?
If the linguist can't identify the tongue, then it isn't a manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
Why would a linguist be the expert on this subject? Just be cause you claim it must be a known language?

1 Corinthians 14:2
For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Your questions are legitimate, and deserve answer. I'm trying to say that the scripture does not indicate that there is any difference in mode of operation between Acts 2 and 1 Cor. 14. The precedent for interpreting Biblical tongues is Acts 2, and should be assumed as such unless the scripture clearly states that something changed about it. But the scripture does not indicate this, therefore, the same kind of tongues that is spoken in Acts 2, which is clearly miraculous, is the same kind of tongues that Paul talked about in 1 Cor. 14. And that kind of tongues was a real language that people understood was a language.

This is why I say that evaluation by a linguist would be very helpful in authenticating that a tongue of today is indeed a language or not. This has been done for many samples, as in this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Tongues-men-...003&sr=1-2&keywords=tongues+of+men+and+angels
I'm not saying that I would not be able to discern if someone's "tongue" was a language or not. I have spoken modern day glossolalia myself, and have heard it many times from others, and in all cases what I heard was random syllables, not a language. This is easily detectable by a trained ear.

What I am saying is that if the "tongue" is not a language, then it is not a miraculous act of the Holy Spirit. Such a miraculous act would be obvious to listeners, even if that language was not interpreted. Such an act would follow the precedent of scripture, and would not require blind faith to believe it was a miracle just on the suspect word of someone's claim. I would much rather believe what scripture clearly teaches than what some person tells me who is speaking from subjective experience. We know that people are biased in general, and often slant interpretations of events to their own agenda. This is how many people are deceived by psychics and other religions, because they produce such false miracles which persuade gullible people.

Regarding 1 Cor. 14:2, I'll address your bold emphases. "Unknown" is a word added to the KJV because the translators wanted people to know this was a miraculous unlearned language being spoken, and so they are trying to indicate that the tongue is unknown to the speaker. It is obvious by the context that the tongue is unknown to the listeners, since they had no interpreter.

So then "no man understandeth" in that context means that no one in the congregation could understand what was said because there was no interpreter. To claim that the phrase means "no one in the whole wide world because they are speaking an angelic language" is to grossly misrepresent what Paul wrote. We need to extract the correct meaning from the context, not make up our own from some aberrant practice we are deceived about.

In the same way, since the context has not changed, "he speaketh mysteries" means that the speaker is speaking something unknown to himself. Paul could have easily written "he speakes something which he doesn't know" as the same meaning as "mysteries." Anything cryptic is a mystery until it is revealed by decrypting or interpretation. Paul spoke of the gospel being a mystery until the church age. Therefore the word "mystery" is not something that cannot be known without a special divine revelation. Paul is merely saying that it is a mystery until the tongue is translated. To make the word more than that is to misrepresent what the text says.

Therefore, I ask you this question, since I assume nothing either way: Is your tongue a real language? Can you prove it to be so with a recording? Or is your tongue mere modern day glossolalia which is nothing more than random syllables which anyone can perform, and has no inherent meaning? And since I don't assume anything either way, I can't just take your word for it. You don't believe me when I say that God told me that my "tongue" wasn't of Him. Why should I believe you if you tell me yours is? It has to have some proof, or else it gets thrown in the aberrant bucket.
TD

 

[tdidymas]

Who said so?

If the gift of tongues in 1 Cor 14 is based on the kind of tongues in Acts 2, there would be no need of the gift of interpretation in 1 Cor 14.

Actually, the gift of interpretation is for groups that don't know the language being spoken. In Acts 2, they did know the languages. Paul states in 1 Cor. 14 that if there is no interpreter, no one knows what is spoken, and so there would need to be someone who can miraculously interpret the language that the speaker of the miraculous tongue spoke.

Therefore your idea that there is a difference between the kind of tongues in 1 Cor. 14 and Acts 2 does not hold true to the scripture.
TD

 

[Saint Steven]

Your snide remark doesn't hold water. Paul wrote that they were demonstrated the power of God (by Paul) before they became the Corinthian church, before they believed. Then they were "swinging from the chandeliers" as you say after they became a church, but when they were not mature enough to discern what was godly and what was not.

If after knowing what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. that you still have an intense desire to speak glossolalia in public without an interpreter, why do you not think that your glossolalia isn't suspect, that perhaps it is of the flesh and not the Spirit? The fact is, Paul's instruction covers the false as well as the authentic miraculous events of his day. When we see continued violation of his instruction in today's practices, of course it puts that practice as suspect. Therefore, if someone is not willing for their glossolalia to be evaluated to see if it is an authentic miracle, then IMO we should pass it off as suspect, and merely an aberrant form of religious worship.
TD

You are not taking into account that there are at least five different kinds of tongues. Interpretation is only needed for one of those. This issue isn't whether it is public, the issue is whether it is addressed to the whole congregation.

Why would you want to shut down peoples personal prayer language in corporate worship of God? What do you gain from that?

 

[Saint Steven]

I hope that others gain some knowledge of His word. Possibly things that they have never looked into themselves.

Tongues were a sign to the unbelieving Jews impending destruction. They were Gods client nation to spread his Gospel and word to the world. They quit and failed. So in Isaiah 28, and other places, God tells them that the sign of their impending destruction is foreigners speaking to them in their native tongue.......when they knew darn well that these foreigners had not a clue how to speak their native tongue.....And these foreigners had the message that "this people/unbelieving Israel" failed to deliver to the foreigners!

What do you hope to gain from being anti-tongues? If we speak in tongues does that harm you in any way? (or us)

 

[Saint Steven]

Your questions are legitimate, and deserve answer. I'm trying to say that the scripture does not indicate that there is any difference in mode of operation between Acts 2 and 1 Cor. 14. The precedent for interpreting Biblical tongues is Acts 2, and should be assumed as such unless the scripture clearly states that something changed about it. But the scripture does not indicate this, therefore, the same kind of tongues that is spoken in Acts 2, which is clearly miraculous, is the same kind of tongues that Paul talked about in 1 Cor. 14. And that kind of tongues was a real language that people understood was a language.

This is why I say that evaluation by a linguist would be very helpful in authenticating that a tongue of today is indeed a language or not. This has been done for many samples, as in this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Tongues-men-...003&sr=1-2&keywords=tongues+of+men+and+angels
I'm not saying that I would not be able to discern if someone's "tongue" was a language or not. I have spoken modern day glossolalia myself, and have heard it many times from others, and in all cases what I heard was random syllables, not a language. This is easily detectable by a trained ear.

What I am saying is that if the "tongue" is not a language, then it is not a miraculous act of the Holy Spirit. Such a miraculous act would be obvious to listeners, even if that language was not interpreted. Such an act would follow the precedent of scripture, and would not require blind faith to believe it was a miracle just on the suspect word of someone's claim. I would much rather believe what scripture clearly teaches than what some person tells me who is speaking from subjective experience. We know that people are biased in general, and often slant interpretations of events to their own agenda. This is how many people are deceived by psychics and other religions, because they produce such false miracles which persuade gullible people.

Regarding 1 Cor. 14:2, I'll address your bold emphases. "Unknown" is a word added to the KJV because the translators wanted people to know this was a miraculous unlearned language being spoken, and so they are trying to indicate that the tongue is unknown to the speaker. It is obvious by the context that the tongue is unknown to the listeners, since they had no interpreter.

So then "no man understandeth" in that context means that no one in the congregation could understand what was said because there was no interpreter. To claim that the phrase means "no one in the whole wide world because they are speaking an angelic language" is to grossly misrepresent what Paul wrote. We need to extract the correct meaning from the context, not make up our own from some aberrant practice we are deceived about.

In the same way, since the context has not changed, "he speaketh mysteries" means that the speaker is speaking something unknown to himself. Paul could have easily written "he speakes something which he doesn't know" as the same meaning as "mysteries." Anything cryptic is a mystery until it is revealed by decrypting or interpretation. Paul spoke of the gospel being a mystery until the church age. Therefore the word "mystery" is not something that cannot be known without a special divine revelation. Paul is merely saying that it is a mystery until the tongue is translated. To make the word more than that is to misrepresent what the text says.

Therefore, I ask you this question, since I assume nothing either way: Is your tongue a real language? Can you prove it to be so with a recording? Or is your tongue mere modern day glossolalia which is nothing more than random syllables which anyone can perform, and has no inherent meaning? And since I don't assume anything either way, I can't just take your word for it. You don't believe me when I say that God told me that my "tongue" wasn't of Him. Why should I believe you if you tell me yours is? It has to have some proof, or else it gets thrown in the aberrant bucket.
TD

Thanks for your detailed response. I appreciate it.
I would say that what happened in Acts chapter two is an anomaly. We don't see that kind of tongues anywhere else in the Bible. So, I wouldn't use that as the standard, or precedent, as you say.

 

[tdidymas]

I'm not exaggerating, I am 100% serious and God stops me if I even start to lie, exaggerate, brag or put any focus on myself, and I also don't want any spotlight anyway, I often try to flee from it. Is it really that unusual? It feels normal to me, it has been like this since I got saved. But my calling is really difficult and serious and it may turn out to be huge in the future, so that may be the case. Only God knows. :/

yes, in my 20 years experience and observation with Pentecostals and Charismatics, and an additonal 20 years experience as a growing Christian, the situation you describe about yourself is extremely unusual from where I am looking.
TD

 

[Gr8Grace]

What do you hope to gain from being anti-tongues?

Nothing. Like I said, I hope that others can come to a better understanding of His truth. Possibly point out things that they have not looked into before or perhaps overlooked.

If we speak in tongues does that harm you in any way? (or us)

It has nothing to do with harming me. Todays tongues misapplies His word, and harms the truth of His word......thus it harms/distracts us of the true purpose of living the Christian way of life.

Paul says that tongues will cease. So the obvious question is, when?

And if we study what the purpose and function of tongues was for we will see the OBVIOUS reason why tongues ceased in 70AD when Jerusalem fell.

Tongues were a sign to unbelieving Israel that their 5th cycle of discipline or their destruction was looming. So when that destruction came..........no more need for the sign of tongues.

Isaiah 28 lays it out quite clearly. That is why Paul quoted it in 1 Cor 14 in his discourse of the Corinthians total misuse of the sign gift of tongues that was to 'this people.'

 

[Dan the deacon]

What do you hope to gain from being anti-tongues? If we speak in tongues does that harm you in any way? (or us)

I have no idea as to this guy's reasoning. He once said only the Holy Spirit speaks to us. Sorry but I know my Father speaks to me.
Seems he has rewritten the bible to suit his odd views.

 

[Saint Steven]

Nothing. Like I said, I hope that others can come to a better understanding of His truth. Possibly point out things that they have not looked into before or perhaps overlooked.

It has nothing to do with harming me. Todays tongues misapplies His word, and harms the truth of His word......thus it harms/distracts us of the true purpose of living the Christian way of life.

Paul says that tongues will cease. So the obvious question is, when?

And if we study what the purpose and function of tongues was for we will see the OBVIOUS reason why tongues ceased in 70AD when Jerusalem fell.

Tongues were a sign to unbelieving Israel that their 5th cycle of discipline or their destruction was looming. So when that destruction came..........no more need for the sign of tongues.

Isaiah 28 lays it out quite clearly. That is why Paul quoted it in 1 Cor 14 in his discourse of the Corinthians total misuse of the sign gift of tongues that was to 'this people.'

Wow. Not your fault totally, but you anti-tongues folks claim that when Paul talks about tongues of angels in 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, it is an exaggeration for effect (because it's not a known human language), but when he says tongues will cease, that's no exaggeration. (because you want them to)

 

[tdidymas]

You are not taking into account that there are at least five different kinds of tongues. Interpretation is only needed for one of those. This issue isn't whether it is public, the issue is whether it is addressed to the whole congregation.

I already addressed this in a past post, and it makes me wonder if you even read it. There is only one type of Biblical tongues, and that is real languages. No such thing as meaningless repetitive syllables which is common in today's glossolalia.

Why would you want to shut down peoples personal prayer language in corporate worship of God? What do you gain from that?

My purpose in this discussion has nothing to do with gaining anything for myself. I am trying to educate people about the truth of what is really going on. For 20 years I fellowshipped among the Pentecostals, the whole business of tongues and miracle seeking was a distraction from the true gospel that brings permanent spiritual peace which I experienced after leaving the Pentecostal movement. I'm just here to tell people what the Bible actually says and my testimony. I don't gain anything from it, I'm just hoping that someone here does gain from it.

And besides that, you are reading into what I am saying a false conclusion (as I believe you also do to the scripture according to your past posts). I am trying to educate people of the truth, yet you conclude that I am "trying to shut down peoples personal prayer language." It speaks volumes of your bias, since you invent a slanderous agenda about me.
TD

 

[tdidymas]

Thanks for your detailed response. I appreciate it.
I would say that what happened in Acts chapter two is an anomaly. We don't see that kind of tongues anywhere else in the Bible. So, I wouldn't use that as the standard, or precedent, as you say.

Actually, if you read the scripture correctly, Acts 2 is the norm, not an anomaly. Since all the other scriptures about tongues could possibly be interpreted both ways (if you insert meaning into the text, that is), correct hermeneutics demands that the text that clearly describes what happened is the precedent for interpreting other texts on the subject which are not clear. This rule holds true for any subject of scripture. The reason why people are easily deceived is that they pay no attention to this rule of correctly interpreting the text, and it is the reason why there are so many different denominations that differ on so many minor issues.

Therefore your idea that the kind of tongues in Acts 2 is an anomaly is a false conclusion. When Paul mentions "divers tongues" in 1 Cor., he is talking about various languages. His saying "if I speak with tongues of men and angels" is not advocating speaking angelic languages. Biblical tongues is a sign gift, as Paul said it was, therefore it must be proven to be miraculous in order to show that it is from God and not from men. Modern day glossolalia is not a language, and cannot be proven to be miraculous, therefore it isn't miraculous because anyone can do it. In fact, Pentecostals and Charismatics themselves infer that anyone can do it by declaring that all Christians should. This is further evidence that it isn't miraculous, but instead is a human phenomenon.
TD

 

[Gr8Grace]

Wow. Not your fault totally, but you anti-tongues folks claim that when Paul talks about tongues of angels in 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, it is an exaggeration for effect

Could you show me where I made this claim? Because I certainly don't believe it was an exaggeration for effect.

 

[tdidymas]

Wow. Not your fault totally, but you anti-tongues folks claim that when Paul talks about tongues of angels in 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, it is an exaggeration for effect (because it's not a known human language), but when he says tongues will cease, that's no exaggeration. (because you want them to)

Not everyone who is "anti-tongues" as you call them interpret that passage the same. "When the perfect comes" is probably at the resurrection. "Tongues will cease" is talking about various languages that separate men into ethnic groups, since at the resurrection we will no longer have a sinful nature, we will be in divine harmony, and communication will be clearly understood. Thus, "knowledge" is talking about the gaining of it, not about not knowing anything. The context shows that he is talking about a "perfect" time coming when all the hubbub will stop. No more need for translation of languages (including the miraculous interpretation of tongues), no more need for gaining knowledge (including the miraculous gift of knowledge), etc. because we will know exactly what we need to.

I agree that to claim "tongues will cease" in this passage means that "tongues ceased when the NT was completed" is not a correct interpretation of that verse, and that verse cannot be used to support the cessation idea. However, we have the writer of Hebrews to indicate to us that it did happen (2:4), and church history to give evidence that those gifts given to individuals had died out. No amount of claiming that today's glossolalia is miraculous can make it so. What is commonly practiced in those circles is a human ability, not divine. That makes me pro-tongues in the Biblical sense.
TD

 

[tdidymas]

Could you show me where I made this claim? Because I certainly don't believe it was an exaggeration for effect.

He is talking about Paul exaggerating when he uses the phrase "tongues of ... angels". If we read that passage correctly, we can easily see that Paul is using that phrase in an exaggerative manner. 1 Cor. 13.
TD