Saturday, January 26, 2013

Speaking in Tongues

While observing the Religious Right, I've come across a few Charismatic and Apostolic events in which speaking in tongues (glossolalia) is a cherished spiritual practice. For instance, this scene from the 2006 documentary Jesus Camp shows glossolalia at a children's ministry gathering.




However, neurobiology is shedding light on the the origins of glossolalia.

2 comments:

  1. The neuroscience video is not available in Australia - what has the uploader got against us Aussies??

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    Replies
    1. Scott -- Sorry about the video access, or lack thereof. The video talks about glossolalia as something rooted in the human propensity to babble. As infants, humans are wired to make nonsense sounds, which may be connected to our propensity for spoken language. Glossolalia may be an expression of this.

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