Half of Southern Baptist pastors say they believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a special language to pray to God – what is known to some as private prayer language – a surprising new study found.
Southern Baptist leaders have continued to debate on the issue of speaking in tongues and private prayer language in recent years as some agencies have adopted policies banning the charismatic practice.
Amid ongoing discussions, LifeWay Research, a department of LifeWay Christian Resources, wanted to determine the perceptions and opinions of Southern Baptist Convention leaders on an issue that has been a topic of interest, indicated Brad Waggoner, vice president of research and ministry development at LifeWay.
Results of the study showed that overall, 63 percent of Protestant senior pastors believe in the gift of a private prayer language. Within the SBC, 50 percent of pastors believe in the gift and 43 percent do not.
Non-SBC pastors are more likely to believe that the Holy Spirit gives some people a private prayer language than Southern Baptist pastors. According to the study, 66 percent of non-SBC pastors believe in the gifts while 32 percent saying they don't.
When asked about the meaning of "tongues" in the New Testament, 62 percent of Southern Baptist senior pastors said it is the "God-given ability to speak another language." Among Protestant pastors, 55 percent believe "tongues" is "the God-given ability to speak another language you had not previously been able to speak;" 33 percent say it means "special utterances given by the Holy Spirit meant as messages to the congregation with the help of an interpreter;" and 15 percent said they "don't know."
Regarding the gift of tongues today, Southern Baptist pastors are more likely than non-SBC pastors to believe the gift of tongues has ceased. Among SBC pastors, 41 percent said the gift was only given in the days of the Apostles compared to 29 percent of non-SBC pastors. Overall, 33 percent of Protestant pastors believe the gift has ceased.
Ed Stetzer, new director of LifeWay Research, noted there are two sizeable yet contradictory positions among SBC pastors. "One of the big findings of the study is that you've got a substantially cessationist portion of the Southern Baptist Convention, and then you have a large portion that believes that God gives some people a private prayer language,” he said. “And that middle ground is not that large. And I think that is an important finding in this study."
Meanwhile, the majority of Protestant pastors (53 percent) believe the gift of tongues is still given today to "some believers." And 13 percent believe the gift is still given today to "all true believers."
Among Protestant laity, 51 percent believe in the gift of tongues (compared to 63 percent of pastors); 27 percent believe the gift is still given today to all true believers and 26 percent believe it is given today to some believers. Only 20 percent said the gift was only given in the days of the Apostles. A quarter of laity said they "don't know" if the gift is still given today. Continue >>
Comments
babbleing is babbleing,A rather stupid form of chanting,("pray with understanding")Even the catholics are interested in looking at this,adopting this to-woo non catholics into its doors,the standard example given is" penticost"examine- they all heard them in there own tongue,the speakers didnt fully understand the tongues spoken however the listeners understood,there fore it wasnt an unknown tongues practice by these churches,