The first prophet of the contemporary Mormon Church, Joseph Smith, initially penned thirteen fundamental Mormon doctrines. The Articles of Faith are these. The seventh claimed to possess the ability to communicate in tongues.
Mormons think that speaking in tongues is real. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul named speaking in tongues as one of the spiritual gifts. It deals with the capacity to communicate in, comprehend, or interpret another language.
Let’s learn about the history of the Mormon belief of speaking in tongues and what that means for Mormons.
A Brief History of Mormons Speaking in Tongues
One of the numerous gifts of the Spirit that come to individuals who put their faith in Jesus Christ is the ability to speak in tongues, which was stated in revelations to Joseph Smith.
Early Latter-day Saints received this gift in two different ways.
The first is frequently referred to as glossolalia and involves speaking or singing in a foreign tongue.
It was believed that Paul invented this type of spiritual expression, usually followed by an enlightened interpretation.
The ability to preach the gospel in a dialect unfamiliar to them but understood by their audience was the second method that Church members used the gift of tongues.
On the Day of Pentecost, when the early followers of Jesus Christ miraculously talked in other languages and spread the good news to the Gentiles, this technique, known as xenoglossia, was visible.
At a gathering in 1835, Joseph Smith Sr. bestowed a blessing on Elizabeth Ann Whitney, promising her the “talent of singing inspirationally.”
Whitney stood up in the middle of the discussion and started singing in an unfamiliar tongue. Parley P. Pratt translated her song for other listeners while filled with the Holy Spirit.
Whitney sang in what Joseph Smith Sr. thought to be the pure speech of heaven.
While glossolalia, like Whitney’s singing, was not common in early American church gatherings, it struck a chord with early Latter-day Saints, who saw it as a necessary component of the Restoration of the gospel, even if many Christians disapproved of the practice.
Speaking in tongues was a crucial aspect of Brigham Young’s conversion and was seen as a spiritually “electrifying” event.
Mormon Beliefs About Speaking in Tongues
Although they believe in speaking in tongues, Mormons treat this gift somewhat differently than adherents of other faiths.
They think speaking in tongues, or interpreting languages must serve some useful purpose.
For instance, a missionary may be new to a nation and unable to communicate fluently in the local tongue.
However, he finds himself conversing with someone spiritually ready to receive truth and has a serious question. The missionary could discover that he could respond to the question as fluently as he would speak.
Listeners must be present and be able to hear the words being said for the ability of tongues to be employed.
It isn’t done for fun or to demonstrate that someone is spiritually filled. In actuality, the gift of languages is experienced by most full-time missionaries assigned to serve in a mission requiring a new language.
Even when they had trouble learning new languages in school, missionaries pick up their native tongue astonishingly rapidly compared to how long it typically takes to learn a new language.
God intervenes to assist a person in carrying out God’s purpose, which may include granting him the capacity to acquire a new language—the gift of tongues.
Early on, Joseph Smith advised church members to exercise caution while using the gift of tongues.
He instructed them only to use it when the Spirit led them to do so, to use it with people who spoke a language other than their own, and always to have an interpreter available because speaking in tongues serves no use if no one can understand.
Final Thoughts
Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the modern Mormon Church, first wrote thirteen key Mormon concepts.
These are the Articles of Faith, and the seventh asserted the capacity to speak in tongues.
Speaking in tongues, according to Mormons, is legitimate. Speaking in tongues was listed by Paul as one of the spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12, and it has to do with the ability to understand, say, or interpret another language.
