hi - i am looking for information on glossolalia or more commonly known as "speaking in tongues"

thankyou

-- susan kay (susanjkay@hotmail.com), May 20, 2002

Answers

Hi Susan, I am not sure if you are referring to "glossolalia" in the biblical or psychiatric sense. If you are seeking the biblical perpspective such as being empowered by God's holy spirit (during baptism) to speak in a language we have not learned "for he who speaks in an unknown tongue speaks unto God" (1Cor,14:2) then you should have a look at the following sites: www.latter-rain.com/theology/gloss.html or www.isaiah58.com/tracts/speakingtongues.html. However, If you are seeking the psychiatric perspective or "glossolalia" as is commonly spoken by people who suffer with schizophrenia (especially the hebephrenic - disorganized sub-type) then you should take a look at the following.

Bleler, E. (1950 [1911]). Dementia Praecox or the group of schizophrenias. J. Zinkin (trans). New York: International University Press.

Kraepelin, E. (1971 [1919]). Dementia Praecox and paraphrenia. R. M. Barclay (trans). Facsimile Edition. Huntington, New York: Robert E. Kriegger.

Interestingly, although glossolalia today is thought of as a positive symptom such as the disorganized speech or indicative of the disorganized thought process of schizophrenia -- historically through biblical interpretation it was taken as evidence that the mentally ill were in divine contact with God and thus, were tolerated in society. This is why many Psychiatric historians claim that mental disorders such as schizophrenia were not reported prior to the 18th century. The disorganized thought process of schizophrenia was tolerated in society under the guise of religion.

-- Pete Economou (peteecon@yorku.ca), May 21, 2002.

You might check references in an encyclopedia or dictionary of religion (ask your reference librarian to steer you to some in your library). A search in the world catalog of books turns up 1200+ entries, many of them dissertations with an empirical bent. You cannot equate speaking in tongues in the pentecostal tradition with the glossolalia that is a symptom of schizophrenia, although I suspect there is an overlap. You'll also find discussions of glossolalia in many psychology of religion textbooks, often as part of the exploration of conversion.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), May 22, 2002.