One of the most interesting, and most debated, narratives in the New Testament is the account in Acts 2, where we hear about the Spirit inspiring a large number of Jesus’ disciples, including Peter, to speak “in other tongues.” In classic Pentecostal theology (i.e., the theology of the Pentecostal churches), this story has been taken to be evidence of the beginning of the phenomenon known as glossolalia, or speaking in angelic tongues (see 1 Corinthians 13:1). The problem with that assumption is that the Greek text of Acts 2 doesn’t in fact support such a view. The story tells […]
