Speaking in tongues: what Acts, Paul and a brain-scan researcher actually say
Acts places the first speaking in tongues at Pentecost, Paul tells Corinth that every gift serves the common good and is nothing without love, and Andrew Newberg explains how he scans brains during the practice. Together they show where the practice begins, how it is ranked and how science studies it, without settling what it is.
What does each of the three sources contribute on speaking in tongues? Show answer
Acts gives an origin, Paul gives a ranking among gifts, and Andrew Newberg gives a method of study.
Where does speaking in tongues appear in the summary of Acts? Show answer
Once, at Pentecost, when the Spirit descends and the apostles speak in tongues before Peter preaches.
What followed the Pentecost event in Acts? Show answer
Three thousand people believed and were baptized, and a devoted, generous community formed.
What is tongues tied to in the Acts account? Show answer
Witness: speaking boldly about what was seen and heard, in the same scene as the first public sermon.
What three principles about gifts does Paul set out? Show answer
All come from one Spirit, they are for the common good, and not everyone has the same role but all are needed.
Where does Paul rank tongues? Show answer
Below love. Speaking in tongues without love, he says, amounts to nothing.
Why was Paul writing to Corinth about gifts? Show answer
The church was gifted but divided and proud, treating gifts as status instead of service.
How does Andrew Newberg scan someone during an active practice? Show answer
He injects a tracer mid-practice that records the brain's state at that moment, then scans afterward.
What brain changes does Newberg describe in intense spiritual practice? Show answer
Less activity in a region that maintains the sense of self, a very active emotional center, and quieter frontal lobes at surrender.
What five elements do people report in spiritual experiences, in Newberg's survey? Show answer
Unity, intensity, clarity, surrender and transformation.
What can a brain scan not tell us, according to Newberg? Show answer
What the person is experiencing or whether their spiritual interpretation of it is true.
Where do the biblical texts and the scientist differ? Show answer
The texts say the Spirit gives the gift. Newberg neither affirms nor denies that and describes only brain activity.