Pneumatology -- Spiritual Gifts "Speaking in Tongues" Essay

Pneumatology -- Spiritual Gifts

"Speaking in Tongues" is an established spiritual gift given by God for God's people. It has biblical bases as a gift and sign of the Holy Spirit that was understood by foreign-speaking people and/or was interpreted for the church community. In addition, it was and sometimes is regarded as a sign of Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The modern validity of "Speaking in Tongues" depends on how a church interprets "the perfect" in 1 Corinthians 13:8-10.

What are spiritual gifts, and what is their purpose?

"Speaking in Tongues" is one of the spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are God's way of giving power to his people through the Holy Spirit for the community's service and life. These gifts allow God's people to glorify God through their attitude, actions, lives and ministry (Cole, 2007, p. 249). Some gifts, such as teaching or generosity, seem to come out of a person's natural talent or character.Other gifts, such as "Speaking in Tongues," are out of the ordinary. Still other gifts, such as prophecy, seem to be combinations of the ordinary (speaking ability) and extraordinary (inspiration from the Holy Spirit) (Cole, 2007, p. 249).

How do spiritual gifts differ from the Fruit of the Spirit, and which of these two concepts show's one's spiritual maturity?

Spiritual gifts are not to be confused with the Fruit of the Spirit. A spiritual gift is given by God simply because God is empowering you and at least theoretically, every single person in the community has one or more spiritual gifts through God's generosity. In contrast, the Fruit of the Spirit is a spiritually mature person's Christ like or "holy" character (Cole, 2007, p. 225).

What is a biblical definition and purpose of the….....