CREMATION

FRIENDS:

Nowadays, people even so-called "born again christians", have followed the ways and
methods of the world. This is true even in death, in the matter of how we deal with the body of a loved one who have gone ahead into eternity.

May I strongly suggest that you read and study the following article on the above subject matter. It will do you well to be Biblically informed.

Authentic, Genuine & True "born again" Christians are Bible Believers. As such, the Holy Bible (KJBible), God's Precious Pure Word, is and must be "Final and Ultimate Authority" for faith and practice even in the matter of how one's body is to be interred after physical death.

Manny


CREMATION: WHAT DOES GOD THINK?

Updated March 9, 2010 (first published via the FBIS January 10, 1998) (David Cloud, FBIS, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org;–

In a book on the subject of Christian funerals, a writer gives the following advice regarding cremation:

“Personally, the minister may or may not approve of such proceedings. Privately, he is free to hold any opinion that he will. But officially he should keep an open mind. In the Christian religion there is nothing that frowns upon cremation or requires burial.”

Is this sound advice? Is cremation a matter of Christian liberty? In certain places land space is so crowded that burial plots are very expensive and in some cases there are efforts by the governments to discourage burial in preference to cremation. That this problem has become acute in Singapore is referred to in the following official statement made by the Bible Presbyterian Church of Singapore in May, 1987--

“1. There is an increasing number of cremations in Singapore even amongst Christians. 2. It is quite evident that our Government favours cremation by improving the facilities of the existing crematoria and columbaria, and by increasing the cost of burial while keeping down the cost of cremation. 3. Some non-Bible Presbyterian pastor have spoken and written in favour of cremation and have officiated at cremations while some non-Bible Presbyterian churches have even built columbaria. 4. Those who favour cremation claim it is more hygienic, cleaner and cheaper. 5. They see cremation as a convenient form of disposal of the dead. 6. Cremation does away with burial plots that need to be upkept and falls in line with our Government’s stress on strategic land use” (Far Eastern Beacon, July 1987, p. 4).

In light of this situation, the Bible Presbyterian Church of Singapore has taken a clear and commendable stand for the Word of God and against the practice of cremation. We have included their statement on this issue in the back of this booklet.

CREMATION INCREASING IN NORTH AMERICA

The number of cremations in North America is increasing dramatically. In 1975, only 6% of the people who died were cremated. By 2007 this had increased to 34%. In Hawaii, the percentage of dead that are cremated is 66%, Washington 64%, Nevada 65%, Arizona 59%, Oregon 63.7%, Montana 59%, Alaska 58%, Colorado 56%, Maine 53%, California 52%, Florida 51%, Wyoming 46%. (The states with the least percentage of cremations per death are in the “Bible Belt” -- Alabama at 9.5%, Mississippi and Tennessee 10%, Kentucky 12%, Louisiana 15%.)

The 2005 statistics for Canada are as follows: British Columbia 79%, New Brunswick 61%, Alberta 59%, Manitoba 53%, Nova Scotia 50%, Quebec 47%, Ontario 47%, and Saskatchewan 46%.

According to the cover story in the December 5, 1995, issue of USA Today, the rising acceptance of cremation has coincided with a drop in “religious barriers to cremation.” It is interesting that this secular newspaper noticed the connection between religion and cremation. The disposal of the body after death is a religious matter. One’s beliefs will determine such choices. Historically, burial has been a testimony of faith in the bodily resurrection. Historically, cremation has been practiced among those, such as Hindus, who deny the bodily resurrection and who believe in reincarnation. Historically, wherever the Gospel of Jesus Christ has found acceptance, pagan practices such as cremation have been rejected. The increase in cremation in North American society has paralleled the wholesale rejection of the Bible in this same society. As paganism increases its steely hold on American and Canadian hearts, cremation becomes increasingly popular.

THE METHOD OF CREMATION IN THE WEST

The following is excerpted from USA Today, December 5, 1995:

“The three-hour process of burning a body and grinding it to small fragments often takes place away from loved ones’ eyes. The body, usually dressed but stripped of all jewelry, slides into “retort”--a brick-lined oven that looks like a big bread oven.

“Pacemakers are removed because their batteries can explode at high temperatures. Silicone breast implants, which can’t be removed, are creating problems for crematory operators who say remains often stick to the melting silicone.

“The gas or oil-fired ovens are heated to about 1,700 degrees. Although often called ashes, the remains are actually bone fragments. These are swept with a giant hoe-like scraper from the bottom of the retort and put in a container to cool down. Any large debris, such as dental crowns or hip prostheses, is removed.

“Everything is then ground to granule-sized pieces. The whole process takes about three hours. The result is about six pounds of remains compact enough to fit in a shoe box.”

For the following reasons, we are convinced that the practice of cremation should be rejected by God’s people:

CREMATION HAS A HEATHEN ORIGIN AND PURPOSE

Cremation, as just described and as practiced today in the more technically advanced nations, no longer has the physical ghastliness associated with cremations performed in the less developed parts of the world. The modern method, as we have seen, incorporates the use of an exceedingly hot incinerator which reduces the body to ashes quickly, and the entire process is done out of the view of loved ones and the public.

Not so in places like South Asia, where we have lived and served Christ for nearly 20 years. It would seem that any Christian who could stand beside the “holy” River Bagmati in Kathmandu, Nepal, and observe the burning of the body of a Hindu and the heathen death rituals, would cast aside in repulsion every thought of cremation being an acceptable Christian practice.

Some years ago, I stood three or so feet from a burning corpse with a missionary pastor from Singapore and his wife who were visiting us. The head was already burnt beyond recognition and the skull was split open due to internal expansion from the heat of the fire. The lower legs and feet were unscorched, as they were protruding from the pile of burning wood and stubble upon which the man’s body lay. The professional Hindu burners were poking the body from time to time to keep the members in the fire and adding stubble and wood as needed. The bones were contracting and popping; the bodily organs were frying and the juices sizzling in the intense heat.

My wife, a nurse with experience working with lepers in a hospital in a very remote part of Asia and in an intensive care ward in the United States, stood with another friend observing the ghastly sight from a distance, unwilling to come closer. The air for a hundred yards or more was filled with the unmistakable, stomach-turning stench of burning human flesh. When the fire had burnt most of the body, the ashes and remaining members were shoved into the river.

This is cremation as has been practiced by heathen religions for centuries, but without the sanitization adopted in more technically advanced areas.

Would you treat your loved ones so? Is this an acceptable Christian practice? No sir, cremation is a heathen practice. It is of heathen origin and serves heathen purposes. Why do the Hindus and those of other heathen religions cremate? It has a connection with their belief in reincarnation.

There is nothing Christian about cremation. We were standing that day, as I have many other times, observing cremation in the surroundings from which the practice arose--idolatrous, Christless heathenism.

GOD’S PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS PRACTICED BURIAL

At the outset let me answer an objection sometimes made at this point. The objection is, “Yes, God’s people in the Bible practiced burial. The example is clearly there. But are we bound to follow these examples; they are not direct commands?” The answer is given in Romans 15:4. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning ...” And again in 1 Corinthians 10:11 we read, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” In these passages God is telling us that we are to follow the Bible’s examples as well as its direct instructions.

Following are just a few examples.

Abraham was buried (Genesis 25:8-10)
Sarah was buried (Genesis 23:1-4)
Rachel was buried (Genesis 35:19-20)
Isaac was buried (Genesis 35:29)
Jacob was buried (Genesis 49:33; 50:1-13)
Joseph was buried (Genesis 50:26)
Joshua was buried (Joshua 24:29-30)
Eleazar was buried (Joshua 24:33)
Samuel was buried (1 Samuel 25:1)
David was buried (1 Kings 2:10)
John the Baptist was buried (Matthew 14:10-12)
Ananias and Sapphira were buried (Acts 5:5-10)
Stephen was buried (Acts 8:2)

EVEN WHEN BURIAL WAS DIFFICULT

Even in difficult circumstances God’s people in olden days practiced burial. For example, Joseph’s body was kept for over 400 years in Egypt and then carried through the 40 years of wilderness wanderings before being buried in Palestine, the Promised Land. We read of this in Genesis 50:24-25; Exodus 13:19 and Joshua 24:32.

How much simpler it would have been for the Israelites to have cremated Joseph, then carried his ashes with them in a tiny container! But this they refused to do. Joseph, a follower of the one true God, a man who looked forward to the bodily resurrection, was given an honorable burial. From this important example, we learn that even if cremation is less expensive or easier than burial, it is still to be rejected, as the Israelites rejected the economical and simpler way to carry Joseph to the Promised Land.

BURIAL LOOKS FORWARD TO RESURRECTION

“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom.8:22-23). See also 1 Cor. 15:20-23; 2 Cor. 5:1 and 1 Cor. 15:51-57.

The reason God’s people have always been careful to practice burial is not difficult to understand. We believe in a bodily resurrection. Yes, the buried body will decompose in time. Yes, there are occasions in which Christians die in ways which render burial impossible--in the sinking of ships, in house fires, etc. But when at all possible we bury. Why the trouble? Because it is our certain hope that the same individual will be raised in the same body, only changed.

The physical body is called the seed for the resurrection body. When planted, a seed decomposes, and the new plant comes forth. The Bible uses this to illustrate resurrection.

“But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain; But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. ... So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body” 1 Cor. 15:35-44

Notice that the Apostle answers those who would ask how it is possible for God to raise again a decomposed body. The terminology used by the Holy Spirit in this passage is that of husbandry--planting seed. The farmer does not destroy his seed; he plants it, then from the decaying seed comes forth the new life. Such is burial and the resurrection. When we bury a Christian loved one, we are planting the seed for the resurrection body! It is a powerful testimony of our unwavering faith in God’s Word regarding the promise of bodily resurrection.

Contrast heathenism. They have no such knowledge or hope. The Hindus and Buddhists, for example, believe in reincarnation. Yes, they believe in a human soul which is distinct from the body. But they do not believe that soul, once departed from the body at death, will be resurrected in any relation whatsoever to the first body. Rather they believe the soul will be reincarnated in another entirely unrelated body, or into a non-physical sphere of existence.

Were those who were buried in Old Testament times buried with a knowledge of resurrection? Yes, God’s people have had some knowledge of a bodily resurrection from the earliest days. The book of Job is commonly considered to be the oldest book in the Bible. There is no mention in the book of Job concerning Israel, or Jerusalem, or Palestine, the temple or the Jewish kingdom, and it is most likely that Job was a God-fearing man who lived in the days prior to Abraham. Yet we see in Job 19:25-27 that this ancient man of God had thorough knowledge of the bodily resurrection.

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”

God’s people have always buried their dead with this magnificent hope burning in their hearts. “We will see that brother or sister again in that same body, only changed, glorified!” Hallelujah! Only through the death and shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ can we have this certain hope. He has taken upon Himself on the cross the punishment for our sins, carried our sins into the grave, and rose again in eternal triumph three days later. When an individual thoroughly acknowledges his sinfulness before God, repents (changes his mind about and desires to turn from his sinful, self-willful life) and receives Jesus Christ as his or her Lord and Savior, the sin debt is paid, and eternal life and glory is promised from God the Father. Part of this heritage in Christ is the glorified resurrection body.

GOD PRACTICES BURIAL
Another reason I believe burial is the will of God for His people is seen in the fact that God Himself buried Moses: “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day” (Deuteronomy 34:5,6).

CREMATION IS A SIGN OF GOD’S CURSE
Throughout the Bible the destruction of a human body or of an object by fire is used as a sign of divine wrath. Consider with me some examples:

The example of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6)
The example of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1,2)
The example of the men who rebelled with Korah (Numbers 16:35)
The example of idols (Exodus 32:20; Deut. 7:25; 2 Kings 10:26; 1 Chron. 14:12)
The example of magic books (Acts 19:18-19)
The example of unsaved cast into the lake of fire for eternal punishment (Revelation 20:15)

FOR A PERSON NOT TO HAVE A PROPER BURIAL WAS CONSIDERED A DISHONOR
A key example of this is Jezebel who, because of her wickedness, was eaten of dogs (1 Kings 21:23-24). Again, we read of the Midianites “which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth” (Psalm 83:9-10). Shall we dishonor our loved ones by failing to give them a proper Christian burial?

THE CHRISTIAN’S BODY BELONGS TO GOD; IT IS NOT OURS TO DESTROY BY FIRE OR BY ANY OTHER MEANS

“What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

When something does not belong to me, but is only borrowed from its rightful owner, I certainly have no right to destroy it. If the master destroys his own possession, that is his prerogative, but such does not belong with the borrower. This is true of death and the Christian’s body. The body is not ours to desecrate or destroy. If God chooses to allow a Christian to die in a house fire, that is His prerogative. But the Christian himself has no such freedom to chose to destroy his own body. And Romans 14:8 reminds us that this is true both in life and in death! “... whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

GOD HAS PLAINLY CALLED CREMATION WICKEDNESS
“Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime” (Amos 2:1).

THE LORD JESUS WAS BURIED, AND HE IS OUR GREAT EXAMPLE
“Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. ... There laid they Jesus therefore. ...” (John 19:38-42)

Just as the Lord Jesus Christ was buried in certainty that He would rise again on the third day according to the Scriptures, even so is the Christian said to rest at death. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, as the Apostle Paul testified (2 Cor. 5:9 and Phil. 1:21-23). The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26). The dead body sleeps in the grave while the redeemed soul waits in glory for the great resurrection day.

In light of the above Bible facts, the statement, “In the Christian religion there is nothing that frowns upon cremation or requires burial,” proves to be untrue. Of course we cannot force people either to bury or not to bury. And we know that the manner of one’s burial does not affect his resurrection.

But we do believe these things are important, and we are convinced that Christian leaders and God’s people should patiently share these truths in the churches and with friends. In these days of widespread apostasy and doctrinal confusion a clear voice in all matters of Bible teacher is urgently needed.

Isn’t it wonderful that in Christ Jesus the sting of death has been removed! We no longer must live in fear of death, but in hope of the dawning of that Perfect Day! Let this be the Christian’s testimony: If I die before Christ returns, lay my body to rest in quiet sleep to await that Day. Please don’t treat me as the heathen treat their loved ones.

WHAT IF MY LOVED ONE ALREADY HAS BEEN CREMATED?
Many sincere Christians have approached me after reading this book or after merely seeing the title of the cover, and have expressed deep concern about the status of their loved ones who have already been cremated.

I always remind these friends that the way the body is disposed of has no eternal consequences. While I strongly believe cremation is contrary to Scripture and is therefore not something a Christian should do, the most important question is whether or not the deceased had trusted Jesus Christ as his or her Savior, whether or not that one had been born again.

The question of whether someone is buried or cremated is a decision which primarily affects the living rather than the dead. Burial witnesses to our faith in the bodily resurrection, but the witness is to the living. Burial honors the body of the deceased, but this honor, again, is something which relates largely to the living who witness the burial, because the soul of the deceased has already departed.

The soul of the saved person goes to be with Christ immediately upon death (Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8; 2 Tim. 4:6; Lk. 23:43). The soul of the lost man or woman descends to hell immediately upon death (Lk. 16:22-23; Rev. 20:13). That which is done to the body after death does not affect the soul’s condition nor the future resurrection.

Thus, if a loved one has been cremated, it’s not something to fret about. It is over and done with and has no eternal consequences. If that loved one was saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, the fact that he was cremated certainly didn’t keep him out of heaven!

A similar situation arises with those Christians who have loved ones who have determined to be cremated. Many in such a situation have asked me what they should do about this matter. An example would be a wife whose unsaved husband wants to be cremated. Another example is a son or daughter whose parent wants to be cremated.

The only thing that can be done is to try to explain with that loved one the things we have shared in this study. We have seen many Christians change their mind about cremation after reading this booklet. Again, the most important issue is whether or not that loved one is born again and is ready to meet God. Sometimes the very discussion of this topic can offer an opportunity to share the Gospel. One man who was dying in a hospital was saved after his sister read this booklet to him and discussed his need to be saved.

May the Lord encourage your heart and give you wisdom in dealing with these sensitive but crucial subjects with your loved ones.

_________________________

BE IMMERSED!

Be immersed in God's Precious Pure Word. Fill your heart/spirit and mind
with the powerful life-giving Word of God, the creator of
heaven and earth. (Hebrews 4:12).

Listen, Read, Study, Memorize and Meditate on them daily.
Then, chose to Keep, Heed, Hearken, Obey them at all cost
without delay and hesitation. (Rev.1:3; 2 Timothy 2:15; Psalm 119:11;
Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3).

Then,

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Will be a daily reality in your life!

A PRIVATE PRAYER LANGUAGE?

Updated July 6, 2010 (first published March 6, 2006) (David Cloud, FBIS, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org;

Pentecostals and Charismatics often teach that there are two types of tongues described in the New Testament: the “public language tongues” of Pentecost and the “private prayer” tongues of 1 Corinthians 14:4 -- “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.” Some call this distinction “ministry tongues” and “devotional tongues.”

Early Pentecostal leaders understood that biblical tongues were real earthly languages. They even thought they would be able to go to foreign mission fields and witness through miraculous tongues without having to learn the languages. Those who attempted this, though, returned bitterly disappointed!

“Alfred G. Garr and his wife went to the Far East with the conviction that they could preach the gospel in 'the Indian and Chinese languages.’ Lucy Farrow went to Africa and returned after seven months during which she was alleged to have preached to the natives in their own 'Kru language.’ The German pastor and analyst Oskar Pfister reported the case of a Pentecostal... ‘Simon,’ who had planned to go to China using tongues for preaching. Numerous other Pentecostal missionaries went abroad believing they had the miraculous ability to speak in the languages of those to whom they were sent. These Pentecostal claims were well known at the time. S.C. Todd of the Bible Missionary Society investigated eighteen Pentecostals who went to Japan, China, and India ‘expecting to preach to the natives in those countries in their own tongue,’ and found that by their own admission ‘in no single instance have [they] been able to do so.’ As these and other missionaries returned in disappointment and failure, Pentecostals were compelled to rethink their original view of speaking in tongues” (Robert Mapes Anderson, Vision of the Disinherited: The Making of American Pentecostalism).

The conclusion was soon reached that their “tongues” were not earthly languages but a “heavenly” or special prayer language; and those are the terms we have heard frequently at large Charismatic conferences, such as those in New Orleans in 1987, Indianapolis in 1990, and St. Louis in 2000. The tongues that I heard in these conferences were not languages of any sort, but merely repetitious mumblings that anyone could imitate. Larry Lea supposedly spoke in tongues in Indianapolis in 1990, and this is a key example of what is being passed off for tongues in the Charismatic movement. It went something like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.” I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of the St. Louis meeting in 2000, spoke in “tongues” on Thursday evening of the conference. Her tongues went like this: “Shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” repeated over and over and over.

If you think I’m making fun of these people, you are wrong. This is taken directly from the audiotapes of the messages. If these are languages, they certainly have a simple vocabulary! My children had a more complex language than that when they were still toddlers.

Michael Harper says: “In the short history of the Charismatic Renewal speaking in tongues has become rare in public, but continues to be a vital expression of prayer in private (These Wonderful Gifts, 1989, p. 97). He says this type of “tongues” is “a prayer language: a way of communicating more effectively with God” (p. 92). He claims that this experience “edifies” apart from the understanding: “Modern Western man finds it hard to believe that speaking unknown words to God can possibly be edifying. ... All one can say is ‘try it and see’. I can still remember today the moments when I first used this gift, and the immediate awareness I had that I was being edified. This is one of the most important reasons why the gift needs to be used regularly in private prayer” (These Wonderful Gifts, p. 93).

Harper says he is mystically aware of being edified even though he does not know what he is saying. He also says this “gift needs to be used regularly” and is therefore something important for the Christian life.

To prove his point he simply invites the skeptical observer to “try it and see,” reminding us that experience is the Charismatic’s greatest authority. (The “come and see” approach creates a new problem, though, for the Bible never says to “try tongues” or to seek after tongues and never describes how one could learn how to speak in tongues. In the Bible, speaking in tongues is always a supernatural activity that is sovereignly given by God.)

Even some that do not claim to be Pentecostals or Charismatics have this experience. Jerry Rankin, head of the International Mission Board (Southern Baptist), says he speaks in a “private prayer language” and contrasts this with the practice of “glossolalia.”

“I do have a private prayer language, have for more than 30 years. I don’t consider myself to have a gift of tongues. I’ve never been led to practice glossolalia, you know, publicly, and I think the spiritual gifts clearly in the didactic passage of the Scriptures are talking about the public uses, edification and gifts in the church. ... I've never viewed personally my intimacy with the Lord and the way His Spirit guides me in my prayer time as being the same as glossolalia and subjected to that criteria. ... I just want God to have freedom to do everything that He wants to do in my life and I’m going to be obedient to that” (“IMB president speaks plainly with state editors about private prayer language,” Baptist Press, Feb. 17, 2006).

It is a wonderful thing to desire to do God’s will wherever that leads, but He will never lead contrary to His own Word in the Scriptures. For the following reasons we are convinced that the Bible does not support the doctrine of a “private prayer language.”

FIRST, IF THE TONGUES-SPEAKING OF 1 CORINTHIANS 14 IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF ACTS 2, THE BIBLE NEVER EXPLAINS THE DIFFERENCE. We leave “tongues” in the book of Acts (the last mention is in Acts 19:6) and we do not see them again until 1 Corinthians 12-14. If the “tongues” in this epistle is a different type of thing than the “tongues” in Acts, why doesn’t the Bible say so and plainly explain this matter so that there is no confusion?

SECOND, PAUL SAID THE TONGUES SPEAKER EDIFIES HIMSELF (1 Cor. 14:4). That would not be possible unless the words could be understood, because throughout the fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul says that understanding is absolutely necessary for edification. In verse 3 he says that prophesying edifies because it comforts and exhorts men, obviously referring to things that are understood to the hearer. In verse 4 he says that tongues speaking does not edify unless it is interpreted. In verses 16-17 he says that if someone does not understand something he is not edified. Words could not be plainer. If there is no edification of the church without understanding, how is it possible that the individual believer could be edified without understanding? This is confusion. The word “edify” means to build up in the faith. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined it as “to instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally, and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.” The words “edify,” “edification,” “edified,” and “edifying” are used in 18 verses in the New Testament and always refer to building up in the faith by means of instruction and godly living. For example, in Ephesians 4 the body of Christ is edified through the ministry of God-given preachers (Eph. 4:11-12). Thus, the fact that Paul said the tongues speaker edifies himself (1 Cor. 14:4) is proof that he understands what he is saying.

THIRD, PAUL SAYS THAT TONGUES ARE AN EARTHLY LANGUAGE (1 Cor. 14:20-22). If the tongues-speaking in 1 Corinthians 14 were some sort of “private prayer language,” why would Paul give this prophetic explanation of it and state dogmatically that it is an earthly language? He does not say that only some “types of tongues” are languages.

FOURTH, IN 1 CORINTHIANS 14:28 PAUL SAYS THE TONGUES SPEAKER SPEAKS BOTH TO HIMSELF AND TO GOD. “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” This means that he can understand what he is speaking. Otherwise, how could he speak to himself? Does anyone speak to himself in “unknown gibberish”?

FIFTH, THERE IS NO EXAMPLE IN 1 CORINTHIANS 14 OF A BELIEVER SPEAKING IN TONGUES PRIVATELY AND THERE IS NO ENCOURAGEMENT TO DO SO. What about verse 28? “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God” (1 Cor. 14:27-28). This says nothing about praying in tongues privately. It is talking about the exercise of gifts in a public meeting. Paul says that if there is no interpretation, the individual tongues speaker should keep silent and pray to God, but he says nothing about getting off by oneself and praying privately in tongues. One must read all of that into the verse.

SIXTH, IF THERE WERE A “PRIVATE PRAYER LANGUAGE” THAT EDIFIED THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE IT WOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT AND THE BIBLE WOULD EXPLAIN IT CLEARLY and circumscribe its usage as it does the use of tongues in the church.

SEVENTH, A “PRIVATE PRAYER LANGUAGE” THAT HELPED THE CHRISTIAN TO BE STRONGER IN HIS WALK WITH CHRIST WOULD DOUBTLESS BE MENTIONED IN OTHER PLACES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF SANCTIFICATION AND CHRISTIAN LIVING. In fact, though, it is never mentioned in any such context. The apostles and prophets addressed many situations in the New Testament epistles and gave all things necessary for holy Christian living, but they never taught that the believer needs to speak in a “private prayer language” in order to have spiritual victory or to find God’s guidance or to be healed or to be able to fall asleep or any other such thing. If there were such a thing as a “devotional prayer language” that built up the Christian life and made the Christian stronger spiritually, Paul would doubtless have instructed the church at Corinth to spend more time speaking in devotional tongues, but he gives no such counsel.

EIGHTH, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT TONGUES-SPEAKING COULD BE A NECESSARY PART OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, BECAUSE PAUL PLAINLY STATES THAT NOT ALL SPEAK IN TONGUES (1 Cor. 14:29-20). Some will ask, “Why, then, does Paul say, ‘I would that ye all spake with tongues’” (1 Cor. 14:5)? The answer is that Paul was not saying that all did speak with tongues or that all could speak with tongues; he was merely expressing a desire that the exercise of spiritual gifts be done and that it be done right. In 1 Cor. 7:7, Paul uses exactly the same expression in the context of celibacy. He said, “For I would that all men were even as I myself...” We do not know of any Pentecostals or Charismatics who take this statement literally by teaching that it is God’s will for every believer to remain unmarried, but they take the same expression in 1 Cor. 14:5 as a law. There is a strange inconsistency here.

NINTH, ALL OF THE NEW TESTAMENT’S INSTRUCTION ABOUT PRAYER TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT PRAYER IS A CONSCIOUS, WILLFUL, UNDERSTANDABLE ACT ON THE PART OF THE BELIEVER AND THAT HE IS SPEAKING TO GOD IN UNDERSTANDABLE TERMS. We see this in Jesus’ instructions about prayer. “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen” (Matt. 6:5-13). This is a conscious, understandable prayer. We see the same thing in Paul’s instructions about prayer (e.g., Rom. 15:30-32; Eph. 6:18-20; Col. 4:2-3; Heb. 13:18-19). There is not one example of a prayer recorded in Scripture that is anything other than an individual speaking to God in conscious, understandable terms. In fact, Christ forbade the repetitious type of “prayers” that are commonly heard among those that practice a “private prayer language.” “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking” (Mat. 6:7). Yet I have oftentimes heard “prayer tongues” that sound like this: “Shalalama, balalama, shalalama, balalama, bubalama, shalalama, bugalala, shalalama....” Whatever that is, it is not New Testament “tongues” and it is not New Testament prayer.

TENTH, EVEN IF WE WERE TO AGREE THAT 1 CORINTHIANS 14 REFERS TO A “PRIVATE PRAYER LANGUAGE,” IT WOULD NOT BE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE LEARNED OR IMITATED. Whatever is described in 1 Corinthians 14 is a divine miracle, but this is contrary to the Pentecostal-Charismatic practice whereby people are taught to speak in a “prayer language.”

ELEVENTH, TO USE THE GIFT OF TONGUES AS A “PRIVATE PRAYER LANGUAGE” WOULD BE TO DESTROY ITS CHIEF PURPOSE, WHICH IS A SIGN TO UNBELIEVING ISRAEL. Former Pentecostal Fernand Legrand wisely observes: “By using this sign in private, some think they can profit from ONE of its aspects, while ignoring the others, but you cannot dismantle a gift and retain only one of its components. A car is a complex mechanical object that is driven as an entity or is not driven at all. You cannot take the wheels for a run and leave the body and the engine in the garage. When a car is running it is the whole car that moves. In the same way, TONGUES WERE NOT TO BE SLICED UP LIKE A SAUSAGE. They were to edify the speaker AND the others AND be a sign for the Jewish unbelievers AND be understandable or be so rendered by interpretation. They had to be all that at the same time. The gift was inseparable from its one and only unchanging purpose: to be a sign for non-believing Jews of the universal offer of salvation (Acts 2:17; 1 Cor. 14:20-22)” (All about Speaking in Tongues, p. 67).

TWELVTH, THOUGH I HAVE HEARD MANY EXAMPLES OF “DEVOTIONAL TONGUES” OVER THE PAST 33 YEARS, I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BUT GIBBERISH. What I have heard is not languages of any sort but mere repetitious mutterings that anyone could imitate. Larry Lea’s “tongues” at Indianapolis 1990 went like this: “Bubblyida bubblyida hallelujah bubblyida hallabubbly shallabubblyida kolabubblyida glooooory hallelujah bubblyida.” I wrote that down as he was saying it and later checked it against the tape. Nancy Kellar, a Roman Catholic nun who was on the executive committee of St. Louis 2000, spoke in “tongues” on Thursday evening of the conference. Her tongues were a repetition of “shananaa leea, shananaa higha, shananaa nanaa, shananaa leea…” This is taken directly from the audiotapes of the messages. If these are languages, they certainly have a simple vocabulary!

THIRTEENTH, THE PRACTICE OF LEARNING HOW TO SPEAK IN TONGUES THAT IS POPULAR AMONG PENTECOSTALS AND CHARISMATICS IS UNSCRIPTURAL AND DANGEROUS. If we were to agree that there is such a thing as a “private prayer language” and that it would help us live a better Christian life and if we were to accept the Charismatic’s challenge to “try it and see,” the next question is, “How do I begin to speak in this ‘prayer language’?” A chapter in the book These Wonderful Gifts (by Michael Harper) is entitled “Letting Go and Letting God,” in which the believer is instructed to stop analyzing experiences so carefully and strictly, to stop “setting up alarm systems” and “squatting nervously behind protective walls.” He says the believer should step out from behind his “walls and infallible systems” and just open up to God. That is a necessary but unscriptural and exceedingly dangerous step toward receiving the Charismatic experiences. Having stopped analyzing everything with Scripture, the standard method of experiencing the “gift of tongues” or a “private prayer language” is to open one’s mouth and to start speaking words but not words that one understands and allegedly “God will take control.” Dennis Bennett says: “Open your mouth and show that you believe the Lord has baptized you in the Spirit by beginning to speak. Don’t speak English, or any other language you know, for God can’t guide you to speak in tongues if you are speaking in a language known to you. ... Just like a child learning to talk for the first time, open your mouth and speak out the first syllables and expressions that come to your lips. ... You may begin to speak, but only get out a few halting sounds. That’s wonderful! You’ve broken the ‘sound barrier’! Keep in with those sounds. Offer them to God. Tell Jesus you love Him in those ‘joyful noises’! In a very real sense, any sound you make, offering your tongue to God in simple faith, may be the beginning of speaking in tongues” (The Holy Spirit and You, pp. 76, 77, 79).

This is so grossly unscriptural and nonsensical it would seem unnecessary to refute it. There is absolutely nothing like this in the New Testament. To ignore the Bible and to seek something that the Bible never says seek in ways the Bible does not support and to open oneself uncritically to religious experiences like this puts oneself in danger of receiving “another spirit” (2 Cor. 11:4). 2 Corinthians 11:4 (King James Version)
4For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

FOURTEENTH, THE FACT IS THAT BIBLICAL TONGUES WERE REAL EARTHLY LANGUAGES, AND THIS IS A FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH. Any doctrine of tongues that reduces this practice to mere gibberish of any sort that is not a real language is unscriptural.

QUESTION: If tongues can be understood by the speaker, why does Paul say, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful” (1 Cor. 14:14)?

ANSWER: The Pentecostal-Charismatic movements find justification in this verse for their doctrine that tongues-speaking is some sort of communication that bypasses the intellect and understanding. Pastor Bill Williams of San Jose, California, says that the awareness one has through tongues is “beyond emotion, beyond intellect. It transcends human understanding” (“Speaking in Tongues--Believers Relish the Experience,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 19, 1987, B2). Charles Hunter says, “The reason some of you don’t speak [in tongues] fluently is that you tried to think of the sounds. ... You don’t even have to think in order to pray in the Spirit” (Hunter, “Receiving the Baptism with the Holy Spirit,” Charisma, July 1989, p. 54).

But if 1 Corinthians 14:14 means that the tongues-speaker is speaking “beyond his intellect” or something of that sort, it would be the only place in Scripture where such a doctrine is found. Nowhere else does the Scripture say that man’s spirit can operate properly without the understanding or that God operates on man’s spirit in such a manner that he does not understand the communication or that there is some sort of spiritual level of communication that bypasses the understanding. In this same epistle, Paul said, “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?” (1 Cor. 2:11). Thus, man’s spirit is that part of him that knows and understands. Eph. 4:23 says the believer is to “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Obviously this involves understanding, because Romans 12:2 says we are “transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God..”

What is Paul talking about in 1 Corinthians 14:14, then? Most commentaries say that he is referring to the tongues-speaker’s understanding in relation to others rather than to his own understanding.

Barnes: “Produces nothing that will be of advantage to them. It is like a barren tree; a tree that bears nothing that can be of benefit to others. They cannot understand what I say, and, of course, they cannot be profited by what I utter.”

Adam Clarke: “... my understanding is unfruitful to all others, because they do not understand my prayers, and I either do not or cannot interpret them.”

The Family Bible Notes: “...according to another and preferable view, it bears no fruit to others, since it communicates nothing to them in an intelligible way.”

Jamieson, Fausset, Brown: “"understanding," the active instrument of thought and reasoning; which in this case must be "unfruitful" in edifying others, since the vehicle of expression is unintelligible to them.”

John Wesley: “‘My spirit prayeth’--By the power of the Spirit I understand the words myself. ‘But my understanding is unfruitful’--The knowledge I have is no benefit to others.”

Matthew Henry: “but his understanding would be unfruitful (1 Cor. 14:14), that is, the sense and meaning of his words would be unfruitful, he would not be understood, nor therefore would others join with him in his devotions.”

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge: “That is, ‘not productive of any benefit to others.’”

The context of 1 Cor. 14:14 supports this interpretation:

“Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.” (1 Cor. 14:13-17).

Paul says the tongues-speaker should pray both with the spirit and with the understanding, and it is obvious that he is talking about the understanding of those who are listening, because he says, “Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?” In 1 Corinthians 14:13-17 Paul is saying that the tongues-speaker should give an interpretation of his tongue so that he is not the only one that understands what is being said, because if he prays in a tongue that is not interpreted those who are listening cannot understand and cannot therefore be edified.

____________________________