Only 2 types of tongues not 3

[mfblume]

Originally Posted by jfrog

Those ideas about edifying yourself come from 1 Corinthians 14:2,4. From conext, those verses are obviously about the gift of tongues. Verse 1 even says he is talking about spiritual gifts and they are compared with prophecy. So they cannot be used to support the pentecostal practice that everyone seems to pray in tongues because everyone in the pentecostal movement prays in tongues and those verses are in reference to the gift of tongues which not everyone has.

You have a strong point about the tongues being the gift, since the context from chs. 12 and 13 are gifts. But why would some be able to PRAY in tongues and some not, since it is prayer?

Another, thought is... what reason does Paul give for the church not being edified for your speaking in tongues? Because they don't understand it. If they are not edified because they don't understand what is being said, how can you be edified when you don't understand what is being said?

You are edified when YOU speak in tongues because you are praying to God and God is answering your prayers, obviously. You do not have to understand the tongues in order for God to answer those prayers in tongues and edify you. Also, one who prays in tongues is operating a gift and that operation in itself edifies the person operating it.

One explanation Paul could be thanking God he spoke in tongues was because his speaking in tongues were edifying those around him.

This last point here cannot fit at all, I think. Paul said the person speaking in tongues is edified but no one else is. And then he said if he prays in tongues his understanding is unfruitful. Putting that altogether means that we pray in tongues, without understanding what we are praying, and we are edified since God obviously answers those prayers, but no one else is edified since they cannot understand the tongues. In every case in 1 Cor 14, tongues are not known by the hearers or speakers. Tongues is also called speaking "in the Spirit" as opposed to speaking in native languages with the understanding..