ABSTRACT
The former is given increased authority by being quoted by Paul in his Corinthian dissertation on tongues, ‘For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.’ Some individuals postulate an ecstatic ‘language of Divinity’, with no counterpart among human tongues, in which the humblest saint can enjoy supernatural converse with God. There may be additional requirements in details of belief and behaviour in different Pentecostalist sects and variations in the belief concerning tongues. The purpose of the Corinthian tongues was edification of the individual Christian speaker or of the church that of the Acts xenolalia was an expression and confirmation of the outpouring of the Spirit which gave an opportunity of evangelizing non-Christians. Corinthian tongues were part of normal worship; Pentecost was a unique occasion. The former were a continuing gifts under the speakers’ control, the latter a temporary and probably irresistible initial experience.
