I. The Context
Chapter 9
Toward a Pauline Theology of Glossolalia
Mention “salvation by grace alone” and immediately most people think, “the Apostle Paul”; but mention “speaking in tongues” and most people think, “Pentecostals” or “charismatics.”
And this, despite the fact that Paul claims to have spoken in tongues more than even the Corinthians themselves. This little exercise merely illustrates how much most of us read the New Testament through the filters of our own experience of the church. Moreover, this instinctive way of hearing the word “glossolalia” is probably unfair both to Paul and to those who currently experience this (very biblical) expression of Spirituality.54
While there are probably many reasons why many contemporary Christians are uneasy with — or outright reject — this phenomenon (fear of the unfamiliar, lack of appreciation for anything that is not overtly rational, some bad experiences with charismatics, etc.), one of the reasons at least stems from the fact that Pentecostals have been long on experience in this matter, but sometimes short on theological reflection.55 Furthermore, the Pentecostal approach to this phenomenon has often had a degree of triumphalism to it that has made it less than attractive to others. Such triumphalism, which is so difficult to square with Pauline theology, has probably led some to discount this form of prayer and praise (1 Cor 14:15-17) as something basically unworthy of Paul himself.
The burden of this paper56 is to demonstrate that any kind of triumphalistic sense to glossolalia lies outside Paul’s own understanding, and that Paul spoke so positively of the gift in 1 Corinthians 14 precisely because it fitted squarely within his overall theology and experience of the Spirit. This is often stated in reverse in the literature, however, as though Paul were merely “damning tongues with faint praise.” But such a view is based on a misinterpretation of the Pauline context. What Paul puts down — and unrelentingly so — is the experience of glossolalia in the community when there is no one present to interpret. On the other hand, everything he says about the gift as such, including his own experience of it, is altogether positive. His dictum is unfortunately rarely embraced by many who claim otherwise to follow in his train: “I will do both; I will pray in the Spirit [i.e., in tongues] and I will pray with my understanding.”
The thesis of this paper is that Paul’s understanding of glossolalia is to be found in the paradox of 2 Corinthians 12:9, that “[God’s] power finds perfection in [human] weakness,” and that speaking in tongues therefore reflects a position of weakness, not of strength. Thus I propose: (1) briefly to overview the theme of power and weakness in Paul; (2) to examine the Pauline data regarding glossolalia from 1 Corinthians; (3) to suggest that these data correspond to Paul’s cryptic reference to praying in the Spirit in Romans 8:26- 27; and (4) to conclude by showing how these data regarding “prayer in the Spirit” fit into the theme of strength in weakness.