Why Do So Many People Associate Speaking in Tounges With Demons?

[FuegoPentecostes]

Even people who are educated in the Bible associate speaking in tounges with something evil . . . I never understood it. I know demons can copy-cat the gift of tounges, but so can they with prophecy and many other gifts. Yet Paul makes it clear in 1 Corinthians he spoke in tounges on a regular basis . . .

Is there a reason behind this?

 

[D2wing]

The devil spreads those thoughts to cause division and prevent this additional power from spreading. Also to encourage fear and distortion of scripture and entrench church structure.
I had a very strange pm from someone claiming to be a devout Christian that opposed tongues as of the Devil. Many mainline religions oppose any move of the Spirit which is why
Churches are dead or have only a breath of life. They cling to religion as opposed to God.

 

[stormdancer0]

People are afraid of what they do not understand. People are so afraid of accidentally getting involved in the occult that any show of power at all scares them.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

I grew up in a Cessasionist Baptist church, they are till very much so. They like order and organization and they view anything that is contrary to that as being evil because it can't be from God. There is also an element of spontaneity and lack of control that comes with speaking in tongues and letting the Spirit control things that sadly even most Pentecostals and Charismatics resist now. Some have turned church into a feel good get'em in here by the droves type organization that is focused on numbers and they view displays of the gifts as a leading cause for people not to come to church as it can get rather chaotic if not controlled by a church elder or Pastor.

I think the blame goes both ways. Those who do practice the gifts need to understand the whole act like a nut because the Spirit is driving me too bit doesn't work, nor does it make them any more spiritual. Those who are cessasionist need to let the Holy Spirit have control and if He wants someone to speak in tongues then understand that is a beautiful thing and stop judging everyone that is different than themselves.

 

[redrose42]

Bryn that is so true ....I am baptized in the Spirit...speak in tongues .... lets make sure when we say God told or led me its realy Him

maggie

 

[tturt]

Why some believe that speaking in tongues is associated with evil

Because it violates their image of how a Christian is suppose to act/speak. It also violates their image of G_d.

Some are positive that G_d doesn't speak today and if He does, it wouldn't involve speaking in an unknown language different from the speaker's native and/or learned languages. Plus there's some that don't believe anything in The Bible while others believe only what's in red lettering and possibly a few other selected Scriptures. Some think that the enemy has more influence on others than their Savior. They don't realize that the enemy tries to duplicate anything G_dly. Others don't want anymore of Yahweh than their salvation.

Some scoff when Scripture states it's for their edification (I Cor 14). It's similar to when you're talking with someone and you offer to pray for them, they're actually offended.

Mainly it's because we really like what we think and very seldom are we willing to lay that aside - me included.

The unknown language I speak is given by Him.

 

[Spiritlight]

Its just people repeating denominational myths they heard from others. People are scared of the unknown and make stuff up accordingly.

It might be a leftover from the scaremongering against pentecostals in the 1970's when that began to take of and the conservatives were terrified.

It's pretty clear in the bible its a gift of the holy spirit. You only have to look in 1 Corinthians and in Mathew where it says the lord wont give you a stone if you ask for bread.

it's all ok, tongues is from God and is fine!

 

[Spiritlight]

Bryn that is so true ....I am baptized in the Spirit...speak in tongues .... lets make sure when we say God told or led me its realy Him

maggie

Ditto

 

[LilyRosa]

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[LilyRosa]

Many Christian denominations especially established religious churches believe these gifts are no longer needed because we have the bible now. I used to go to a reformed Anglican church and that is what they believe. Others think it is of the occult. Some are part of a cult and they attribute the works of Satan to the Holy Spirit. It became a controversial issue among many Christians.

 

[Lollerskates]

But, what does speaking in tongues mean?

Does it literally mean speaking in LANGUAGES, as in you hear yourself speak English, but a Japanese person hears Japanese, a Russian person hears Russian, and/or an ancient Roman hears Latin/Greek?

Or, does speaking in tongues mean some sort of unintelligible speech that may (or may not) be akin to direct dialogue with God/holy angels?

What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

These questions are rhetorical, but may highlight why some people believe some people that speak in tongues are necessarily disingenuous.

 

[FreeSlave]

But, what does speaking in tongues mean?

Does it literally mean speaking in LANGUAGES, as in you hear yourself speak English, but a Japanese person hears Japanese, a Russian person hears Russian, and/or an ancient Roman hears Latin/Greek?

Or, does speaking in tongues mean some sort of unintelligible speech that may (or may not) be akin to direct dialogue with God/holy angels?

What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

These questions are rhetorical, but may highlight why some people believe some people that speak in tongues are necessarily disingenuous.

Both.

 

[tturt]

A Biblically based book "Seventy Reasons for Speaking in Tongues" by Dr. Bill Hamon

 

[Alithis]

i have heard this claim so often .... "demons can speak in tongues"

lol they cannot - they might speak in a language of the person which may be a language different from our own .. german spanish i dont know .
but the gift of tongues is of the Holy Spirit and i presently have the understanding that they cannot do it .

i have heard people make this claim of demons doing Or copying it so often .
but i have Never EVER met a person who can say here is the person with the demon that is doing so .
it has always been hearsay!

 

[Alithis]

add: -

Thanks tturt for the link to the article .interesting .

the whole topic is one of those things so incredibly misunderstood by those who have not been given the gift.. and it is "a gift " not a skill . it in no way makes one believer better then another ..if it was a skill then one might say i am more skilled in this then you ..but it is not a skill .
it is also not an earthly language in the set comprehension we have of spoken language

let me not speak in absolutes of things too high for me .
i will openly surmise .
i have heard some say they asked for tongues the gift and have not ever spoken in tongues ..but is that true ?
Do they know that for sure ?
some time back when my mother wasd going through deep emotional trauma ..she stayed with us ..and in the night i woke and she was asleep ..and in her sleep she was groaning in a very prolonged manner .. it is written-

"6 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God."
she was communicating ..speaking by the spirit to the lord communication is a language that transcends the languages of this world ..it is not of this world ..it is of the holy Ghost .
how many folk do not even know that ,By the Holy Spirit whom they have received,they have often spoken in this spiritual language that is so deeply tuned to the will of god that no earthly tongue can express it.

this is why i said demons cannot do it .they speak languages -yes . but they do not speak in the gift of tongues as given by the Holy Ghost .

just because a person babbles in a manner incoherent to our intellectual understanding may simply mean they are speaking a tongue we do not know or they are babbling .. the test is . no spirit ,that is not of God can confess that God has come in the flesh and is Jesus .. that is to say "Jesus is LORD".

why do some folk equate it with evil .. because it has an effect on the spiritual realm that is immediate.
and if there is evil associated with an individual that they have not submitted to the lord ..it gets very annoyed and it is often this discomfort the person is responding to.. and since this spiritual discomfort in their hearts is unpleasant , not wishing to repent ,they reject the apparent source of the discomfort that is goading their soul and the evil spirit associated with hidden sin -which in this instance is "tongues" . they want it to stop .. so they speak against it and begin to call good -evil.

i have personally seen this effect on a friend who attended a service with us - hes a nominal believer but i believe has not yet surrender his life to the lord Jesus i true faith.
during song and worship ..their were some speaking and singing i tongues ,but not overtly so .. but as the congregation entered into a unified state of worshiping the lord ..he began to fidget and then ..he began to walk and pretty much run out of the building.

this is often the effect of this powerful and wonderful spiritual gift that edifies and praises and intercedes.. and at times when it is time ..can be pronounced with authority and then interpreted ( not translated note ) the essence of what is being proclaimed can be /is made known to another by the gift of prophecy and then communicated in a form others can benefit from .

the thing is - demons are driven away and cast out and bound up and silenced by the gits of tongues being practiced .. so why should we find it of any particular surprise that they will influence others to speak ill of the gift in order to make it stop.
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lol at times i do go on a bit haha

 

[jiminpa]

If someone claims that speaking in tongues is always demonic and just one person anywhere, ever, speaks in a tongue by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the person levelling the accusation is beyond salvation. Though it is hard to judge the motives of someone else, I would venture that people say that tongues is demonic because they have no fear of God or respect for scriptures.

 

[Bob Carabbio]

"If someone claims that speaking in tongues is always demonic and just one person anywhere, ever, speaks in a tongue by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the person levelling the accusation is beyond salvation."

This is TOTAL FOOLISHNESS. Only one who KNOWS the Holy Spirit can blaspheme Him. God doesn't withhold salvation on the basis of Ignorant pontifications. If He did, none of us would make it.

"Though it is hard to judge the motives of someone else, I would venture that people say that tongues is demonic because they have no fear of God or respect for scriptures."

OR have been trained by their cessationist denominational leaders and Pastors that the "Gifts" no longer are given, and so it would be natural for 'em to assume that it's "not God" doing it.

But A Better reason is that: demonized people DO "Speak in tongues" - sometimes in totally different voices than their own, and sometimes without their mouths even moving.

 

[Biblicist]

If someone claims that speaking in tongues is always demonic and just one person anywhere, ever, speaks in a tongue by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the person levelling the accusation is beyond salvation. Though it is hard to judge the motives of someone else, I would venture that people say that tongues is demonic because they have no fear of God or respect for scriptures.

Since 1974 I have met countless Believers who once adhered to the now dated relic of cessationism who now pray in the Spirit having embraced him in his fullness. Most people have simply been fed a lot of humanist drivel over the years but when many of them look into the Word of God they often embrace the Spirit of God as they should be.

There are of course numerous congregational leaders who seem hell-bent on ensuring that their people do not embrace the Spirit of God and of course one has to wonder as to their long-term Salvation; of course for some it seems that their many years of not only resisting but fighting against the Holy Spirit has seemingly taken them down a path where there may be no return.

 

[acousticsaint]

I come from the other side of the debate , I was raised in an AoG church and both parents are still pastors in the AoG. My brothers and I grew up with speaking in tongues as a normal part of life. Over the last few years my theology has changed a fair amount, I believe as a result of the HS working in my life and study of the bible.

Im not a cessationist in the sense most of you seem to be using the word. I believe that God can perform miracles today a may do so, though I have never witnessed one, except the salvation of a person which is the greatest of miracles I think. I do however think that God has used the miraculous at certain times for specific purposes, during the time of the apostles it was to testify that Jesus was God.

Is the gift of tongues active today? I would say probably not except for in rare situations where someone needed to hear the gospel in their own tongue, similar to the day of pentecost.

I can still utter what is commonly considered tongues although I do not believe it is the gift of the HS. You could say that maybe I just copied my parents - maybe I did but if so they likely copied their pastor who copied someone else as what I utter sounds very similar to the tongues I hear used in churches around the world.

Biblically Im convinced that what we commonly see today is not the gift of tongues but I am also convinced by my growth in my love for God his word and the gospel in the years since I stopped speaking in tongues, although some people have the opposite experience so probably cannot put too much weight on that.

Do I think it is demonic? No, personally I think it may be more to do with a lack of satisfaction in the word of God being sufficient.

 

[tturt]

Because we are spirit, soul, and body. Often we set intellect as the principal thing in our lives.

But Paul, who wrote most of The Word in the NT, said desire the spiritual gifts and "I would that ye all spake with tongues ..." I Cor 14:1,5

It's part of submitting to Yahweh (James 3), edifying oneself (I Cor 14), magnifying G_d (Acts 10), refreshing (Isa 28), assisting in prayer (Rom 8); singing in the Spirit (I Cor 14), Etc.