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.
Three sources touch speaking in tongues from three directions, and each says less, and something more careful, than people often assume. Acts gives an origin, Paul gives a ranking, and a brain-scan researcher gives a method of study. None of them claims the last word, and none treats tongues as the main thing.
In the summary of Acts, speaking in tongues appears at one moment, the day the church begins. At the feast of Pentecost the Spirit descends with wind and fire, the apostles speak in tongues, and Peter preaches. Three thousand people believe and are baptized. What the account stresses is what the event starts: a community marked by teaching, fellowship, prayer and generosity. Tongues arrive in the same scene as the first public sermon, so they are tied to witness. The summary does not mention them again, describe how they sounded or give instructions for them.
Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth comes from a different situation. That church was gifted but deeply divided, and proud of its gifts. Paul sets three principles. All gifts come from one Spirit. They are for the common good, not self-promotion. Not everyone has the same role, but all are needed. Then he names tongues in one sentence: "If I speak in tongues but have not love, I am nothing". He does not downplay spiritual gifts. He makes love the measure of maturity, and without it even the most impressive gift is empty.
Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist and medical doctor, has spent about 30 years scanning people as they meditate, pray and speak in tongues. He explains how that is possible for a practice done on one's feet. He injects a tracer during the practice, which records the brain's state at that moment, and scans the person afterward. In this conversation he reports findings for intense spiritual practice in general, not for tongues specifically. A region that maintains the sense of self grows quieter, the emotional center becomes very active, and the frontal lobes quiet at the point of surrender. From a survey of about two thousand people he draws five common elements: unity, intensity, clarity, surrender and transformation. He is explicit about limits. Of people's belief that they touched a deeper reality he says "Now, I'm not saying that they're right or they're wrong". A scan cannot settle what an experience is.
All three connect the experience to other people and care about what follows from it. They differ on the source. Acts and Paul say the Spirit gives the gift, while Newberg restricts himself to what his instruments show. They also differ on who it is for and in tone.
What to do with it: start from what Acts ties tongues to, which is witness and community. Apply Paul's test to any gift, asking whether it serves everyone or the self. Measure by love, and do not rank people by their gifts. Hold the science at its stated strength. Listen for the same experience described in different words. Anyone dealing with stress, anxiety or depression should still see a doctor or mental health professional, since a spiritual practice is not a replacement for care.