So what is speaking in tongues? Speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit (talked about in 1 Cor. 12) that enables people to speak in languages that they don’t understand. There has been some debate on what that implies, but from what I understand it can allow people to speak in both foreign human languages and angelic languages. 1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues a of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” In this passage Paul was talking about love, and he goes down the list of gifts saying that no matter what Spiritual gift you have, it doesn’t matter if you do not have love. The part of this verse that I would like to focus on though is where he says “tongues of men or of angels” implying that tongues also include angelic languages.
There are two types of speaking in tongues that I have heard others talk about. The first and most commonly accepted type is proof or prophetic tongues. This is when you speak to someone else in their language that you do not know to prove Christ’s power in us and bring them to Christ. This type is most commonly seen in mission trips. The second type is private tongues. This type is not used for others, but to edify yourself in your prayers with God. Both of these types of tongues are talked about in 1 Corinthians 14.
The first time we see speaking in tongues is when the followers of Christ receive the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. We see many times in the book of Acts, that when someone receives the Holy Spirit they start speaking in tongues. Then Paul talks about the practice a lot in 1 Corinthians. I would recommend reading 1 Corinthians 14 if you are interested in looking into this topic on your own.