Speaking in Tongues - Glossolalia: Tongues for today?

ISBN-13: 9781456459314 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 182 str.

Raymond W. Bond

Opis

INTENSELY CONTROVERSIAL This tough and gritty book is straight from the trenches of the war over the Pentecostal phenomenon of Speaking in Tongues today. Taking no prisoners the author takes on many of the most divisive aspects of the modern Speaking in Tongues phenomenon. No punches are left out and no side on this very controversial subject are safe from this scalding book of insights. The book points out some startling misuses and abuses that need to be considered when determining if Tongues are for Christians today. This book is a must for those who think they have heard it all from all sides on this issue, but feel unsatisfied. In it is presented some unusual thoughts, radical approaches, and new understanding of the topic of Tongues. Though not a Biblical study, this book shares some very unorthodox personal insights to the subject. As coarse as it is towards conventional understandings of Tongues, this book does not condemn the practice, just the presumptions. Pentecostals will be surprised how there actually is more to Tongues than meets the ears. Conservative Christians will be stunned at how frank the discussion is regarding Speaking in Tongues. The overall tone is one of getting one's act together whichever side you land on the issues of Tongues. Such points are made that if you are going to practice Speaking in Tongues, at least know what you are doing, and be aware of how God treats the phenomenon. One thing is for certain. You have never heard many of these thoughts before Whether you love or hate this book, no doubt you will have some new things to consider regarding Speaking in Tongues today. Considering how explosively controversial this book is, I call it, "Shock and Awe" for today's Pentecostal. Excerpt's from the book: The Pentecostal mindset at best is to have pity on those not 'Filled with the Spirit', or statements like, "It's their loss." I can't say I've ever heard a Pentecostal say it was a loss to the Body of Christ, or the ministry of Holy Spirit. Many claim ecstatic experiences, near death experiences or other religious and unusual phenomenon such as an awareness of a presence, spiritual visions, unusual vocalizations, etc. But stimulating the temporal lobe regions of the human brain with mild magnetic current can artificially induce many of those phenomena. The atheist Michael Persinger has produced some fascinating research with his so-called "God Helmet." The results of several brain scan studies concluded Speaking in Tongues did not involve the speech areas of the brain. The precise area affected was unclear in its purpose, but I believe the act of Speaking in Tongues, privately in particular, reflects a pliable mental state similar to deep meditation. The repetitive sounds certainly resemble the practice of chanting, but seem more deliberate. Regardless of its veracity, Speaking in Tongues is perceived by many outside Pentecostal circles as an object receiving excessive attention, possibly qualifying as an icon of idolatry as others outside Orthodoxy consider images of Mary and saints as such. Though considered irrelevant by many, sacrilegious by others, the audio qualities of Speaking in Tongues have been evaluated in modern times from a scientific perspective. It is apparent to me Speaking in Tongues in general is best understood as 'stimulus' such as a kitten kneading (massaging) its mother's breast to encourage milk production. That is to say expressions of Speaking in Tongues are submissive postures before God, stimulating the grace of God to actively fall. I have witnessed the mentally ill Speak in Tongues, as a frightening manifestation of demonic activity, while the same person, and same audible sounds, while under the Anointing of the Holy Spirit, spoke praises to God.