Hi Wolfwint, I'm finally getting the chance to get back to you. My answers will be brief, but not spiteful. Feel free to ask for more examples or greater detail.
Which church history are you following? Please remember, if a church doesn't have or teach "speaking in tongues", they would also exclude documents that support 'speaking in tongues' from their church records.
I honestly don't track histories of churches, but this quote seems to show that 'speaking in tongues' was indeed still present, but not in the church/churches you follow.
On a separate note, speaking in tongues isn't a doctrine. It is something a person either receives or doesn't receive. That's why it is not limited to one church or another. Anyone who seeks God can receive it...even if the preacher doesn't expect them to receive it, and/or doesn't tell them they are supposed to receive it. (As the Acts 10 account shows.)
Did the Bible say Acts is not for doctrine?? Or was it man that told you that? (Please be honest) Because the Bible says "ALL scripture... is profitable for doctrine". Acts = Scripture, so Acts = profitable for doctrine.
I'm struggling to find words to convey how distasteful it is that churches disregard the book of Acts (the word of God) so they can tell their congregations "Please don't base your ideas about the Holy Ghost on what God put in the book of Acts, but instead on what we teach."
One reason we need books like Acts, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, where we can SEE the fulfilling of scriptures, is so we cannot deny what it actually looks like when it arrives. Because what we THINK it should be (by trying to understand the scriptures) often bears little resemblance to what it ACTUALLY is when it arrives. To see an example of this, one only has to look at the Jewish scholars and church leaders when the Messiah actually arrived. They studied and studied the scriptures...but couldn't even recognize Him when he was standing in their midst. So it is with the Holy Ghost. Did you or I (by reading Matthew-John) expect that the Holy Ghost would come with speaking in tongues??? And if not, when we saw it in Acts 2, did we then understand and expect it to be given to Cornelius and his group in Acts 10? or again in Acts 19? If it wasn't for the word of God (book of Acts) RECORDING it for our observation, we would likely have missed it altogether.
I'll address the points from the rest of your quote in another posting, but I kinda want to see how you react to this much first. However, I may post more before you get a chance to respond.
Love in Jesus,
Kelby
Dear Kelby, when i speak from church history, then i speak from the whole churchhistory and not from an specific denomination. According some defination churchhistory is all what happend about christianity after the biblical evidence.
So the RCC f.e. dominate in the westchurch the history till the reformation time.
It is in my eyes remarkable, that non single founder of the reformation taught and practice in tongues. Although this happend in certain extreme groups like in germany (münster). But these groups even the use prophecie and speaking in tongues dont become known as serious biblical groups, but as heretic groups with much sinful deeds. So i dont believe that the Holy Spirit stand behind such groups.
I dont see Irving and the New Apostolic church, the Mormons, JW ore the RCC as regular christian churches.I dont know any denomination which taught and practised speaking in tongues. From their foundation on.
No Baptist, no Mennonite, no Calvinist, no Protestant, no reformed
(today of course you will find it in every denomination)
You say it is not an teaching.
Well, then i must clearify what i understand under the gift of talking in tongues.4
According 1.Cor. 12- 14, speaking in tongues is an gift like all other spirituell gifts and is not the highest gift.
- (btw in the epistel to the romans, which content nearly everything what a christian should know. The gift of speaking in tongues is not even mentioned. Thats not understandable if this gift is playing the role in the christian life according it is teached today)-
If you mean that i agree with you that this is no teaching.
But,
what we find since 1900 is with the first person which became the gift of speaking in tongues (Agnes Ozman)
became it an doctrine. The baptising with the Holy Spirit is combined with the gift of speaking in tongues.
This was not taught and practized before, orherwise Agnes Ozman would not called the first person and the beginning of the movement would not start with this event.
Also i have to clarify that I see an diffetent between church ( gatheting from believers) and mission situation.
I was 20 years involved in mission ministry in india, and from the witnesses often healing and miracles played in role that people turned to Christ, when Missionaries ore the church prayed. So in mission conditions the Lord uses the word and more supernatural deeds ( sometimes also in translating from a tongue) to call the people, what he normally not must do among believers (church).
Today we discuss about speaking in tongues among believers. And this arose with the pentecostal doctrine of baptized with the Holy Spirit and as proof for this the gift of speaking in tongues. Later then came other doctrines from charismatic side.
Also strange for me and not to read in the NT lettets to the church ore the Coworkers, that the baptising with the Holy Spirit goes along with wind, noise, shoumove out of controle, lcontrol out of controle, winding on the ground, acting and noising like animals, laying without ability to move.