Interpretation:
The Gift That Exposes the Tongues Fraud
Dr. William Welmes, a U.C.L.A. language professor, called modern tongues a, “linguistic fraud and monstrosity.” God gave a companion gift with tongues, interpretation; that makes it easy to “prove” modern tongues are a linguistic fraud and monstrosity.
Every time one of the tongues exponents slips up to me and starts trying to make a proselyte, I use “interpretation” to show the friend his error (or at least back him off). I simply say, “Look, I will start speaking in tongues and join your movement if you will do just one thing. Get one person to give a “message in tongues” and let four of your followers write the interpretation. If they all write the same thing without peeping, I am with you.” Of course, this always ends the conversation.
Public Tongues are Absolutely Forbidden by Scripture Without an Interpretation
In I Cor. 14:27,28, God said, “If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself, and to God.” It is possible to know whether there, is an interpreter before hand according to verse 28. To speak in tongues publicly without knowing there is an interpreter and having the interpreter translate, is absolutely prohibited. The Holy Spirit has never led anyone to do this, for the Holy Spirit never contradicts what He has had written.
The Bible says go off and talk to yourself in tongues, or talk: to God in tongues, but don’t talk in the church in tongues without an interpreter (I Cor. 14:28). If you speak: in tongues without an interpreter it will harden unsaved people against the gospel. If a man gave a message in German, a Russian sitting there who did not know German would think he was a barbarian. This would be a bad testimony as well as a hindrance to reaching the man. “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me” (I Cor. 14:11).
Paul said if he could not understand a man’s speech and there was no interpreter translating it into his language he would say, “That man is a barbarian!”‘ “Barbarian” means one of two things: either a “foreigner” or a “rude, uncivilized person.” Now if Paul was in my shoes, an English speaking man in the 20th century, and attended an American tongues meeting what would he say? It would be obvious from their dress, appearance and conversation before the service, that they were not foreigners. So he would obviously conclude they had to be the rude, uncivilized variety of “barbarians.”
“Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice … he that speaketh shall be a barbarian to me” (I Cor. 14: 11) If, like me, you have ever felt funny or out of place in a tongues meeting, be sure, Paul would have shared your feelings.
The Bible’s demand for interpretation in I Cor. 14:27, 28 confronts the tongues people with four questions that are fatal to their teachings.
- Why Can’t the Interpreters Agree?
The first question interpretation raises is, “why can’t the tongues interpreters give the same interpretation?” One of the ways we know that the Bible is the Word of God is that its sixty-six books are written by 40 different authors and they all agree. There are no contradictions. This is one of many proofs that God gave us the Bible.
Otherwise, this many authors could not have written so consistently. It proves that the men who did the writing certainly had received something from God— the ability to interpret, to write by the Holy Spirit. It is conclusive evidence that the Holy Spirit was working in their life.
Now, is it asking too much of these people who claim the gift of tongues, who claim the gift of interpretation, to do likewise? They
both hear the same message in tongues.
They both claim the same gift of interpretation. Shouldn’t they be able to write down or speak out the same interpretation?
This should afford the tongues leaders their greatest opportunity of proving that they do have the Biblical gift of tongues and interpretation. Why don’t they come forward and give public demonstrations of their abilities to speak as the Holy Spirit moves upon them and then have several interpret the message. This would give great credibility to their teaching. If they really have the New Testament gifts why don’t they get it out from under the bushel?
The tongues group’s failure to seize such an opportunity suggests that deep in their hearts they know they don’t have what they claim to have.
In the tongues chapter of I Cor. 14, the church is commanded to have all activity “judged” (I Cor. 14:29).
The Bible admonishes us to “Believe not every Spirit, but try the Spirits whether they are of God” (I John 4:1). I Cor. 2: 15 adds, “He that is spiritual judges all things.” We should not judge and condemn the people but evaluate and decide about the things they say and teach.
Jesus bragged on the church at Ephesus because, “Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not and hast found them liars” (Rev. 2:2). God requires us to put teachers and their teaching to the test. The tongues people should gladly submit to this if they are zealous for the truth.
How can we possibly test the tongues which we do not know (the languages which we have not learned) if we do not do it through an interpretation? There is no other way possible for us to obey God in His command to try the spirits. If we just shrug our shoulders and say, “Well, these people say they have gifts from God— who am I to question it?”, we fail to obey God’s command to “try the spirits,” There is no way to test the gift except through the interpretation. And the first test the interpreters should be put to is a consistency test.
Can more than one person write the same interpretation? The second test, of course, would be to examine the content of the interpretation to see if it is consistent with the Word of God.
- Why do Interpreters Use Ancient King James English?
Most of the “interpretations” that I have heard given in tongues meetings have been in King James English; “Thus saith the Lord thy God, thou shalt repent or the judgment of thy God shall come upon thee.” Why the “thees” and “thous”?
Is God out of touch with modern man? Is He several hundred years behind in His grammar? Is He incapable of communicating in modern English? This not being at all possible we turn to the alternative. Perhaps the interpreter has departed from his normal means of communication in order to make his message sound spiritual. Perhaps he is trying to Impress us. Perhaps he thinks if he uses “thee” and “thou” we will be more apt to believe that his interpretation is from the Lord?
It would be very helpful to those of us who lack the gift of tongues or the gift of interpretation if they would come forward and explain this to us.
Oral Roberts is aware of how phony this archaic English sounds. In his book, “The Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” Mr. Roberts tells his followers it is not necessary to use “thees” and “thous” in their interpretation. He also warns interpreters not to speak in an emotional, or loud voice, or to give too long an interpretation.
This leadership by Mr. Roberts may stop the shouting, the five minute interpretations of twenty second messages. and the “thees” and “thous”. However, it also starts us thinking. If the interpreter is led by the Spirit of God, why does he need the leadership of Mr. Roberts? If the Holy Spirit has given a gift of interpretation, if the Holy Spirit is giving supernatural understanding of a tongues message, then what is a man doing correcting and instructing Him? Obviously Mr. Roberts either presumes he has leadership to offer that is superior to that of the Holy Spirit or he does not believe the man is interpreting
by the Spirit of God.
- Why Don’t the Interpreters Publish Their “Super-Natural” Work?
Another question that has often puzzled me is, if the Holy Spirit is speaking through the glossolalist and the interpreters are recording these pronouncements of the Holy Spirit, why don’t they write them down?
The scripture says, “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying” (I Cor. 14:26).
Now all sincere Christians want all of the edifying they can get and if the interpretation of a tongue is edifying, which the scripture declares it to be, then we need to make it available to as many Christians as possible. Why not take advantage of the printing press? Why not make the edification available to masses instead of just the few in the congregation.
Again let me raise this question– Has the law of supply and demand died? Doesn’t a man want to avail himself of everything edifying? Wouldn’t we be willing to pay large sums of money for books containing messages from God that would edify?
The tongues people are eager enough to write their own words. Why shouldn’t they write the messages that were given by the Holy Spirit in tongues and interpreted through the Holy Spirit?
Of course if the people are not demanding copies of these, it would indicate the tongues messages are not “edifying.” If they are not edifying they are not the tongues of the New Testament.
- If The Tongues Leaders Have A Super-Natural Gift How Are They So Easily Fooled?
A man with the ability to speak Hebrew stood up in the midst of a tongues meeting in California and quoted the first Psalm in the language it was written, Hebrew. A brother who claimed the gift of interpretation piously proceeded to interpret it as being a message about women prophesying in church. The man who spoke Hebrew proceeded to expose the fraud and pandemonium broke loose.
Some will say it is very unchristian to interfere with a religious service or to question someone’s religious beliefs. Jesus Christ continually interrupted the false religions of his day and with strong language denounced their errors. To be a follower of Jesus means we will do likewise.
A college student told me he went into one of their meetings in Texas and told a joke in Spanish. The interpreter got up and, in wailing tones, told of judgment that would come upon this nation if it did not repent. That was the divine interpretation of the Spanish joke.
The kindest help we can extend to a brother who is boasting of a false gift is to rebuke him and to urge him to repent. The kindest thing we can do for the masses of people who are being deceived by the tongue leaders is to present to them the truth which will free them from their heresy.
Interpretation is the testing ground. If there is any honesty in a man’s heart he must try the spirits, he must face the facts.
Tongues cannot be consistently interpreted by several modern “interpreters. The interpreters are using archaic words the Holy Spirit would hardly select. The modern “interpretations” are not in demand in book form, because there is nothing unusually “edifying” about them. Modern interpreters can be easily fooled, something that would not be true of a man with the Holy Spirit gift of interpretation.
And so God’s demand for interpretation of tongues proves the modern tongues movement is exactly what Dr. William Welmes said, “a linguistic fraud and monstrosity.”
Copyright, M.A.E.A.
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