What is “private prayer language”?
It appears to be a fairly recent term, one that has caught on in the Baptist debate. It describes tongues speaking in private prayer. Some Baptists who don’t favor speaking in tongues in public are OK with it in private. Why? They read 1 Corinthians as a tough standard for public glossolalia. (Good luck finding a qualified interpreter, for example.) Why are many Baptists wary of speaking in tongues? Some Baptist theologians are “cessationists” — believing the gifts of the Holy Spirit ended with the apostolic age. Beyond that, Baptists tend to distinguish their practice of faith from that of Pentecostals. Glossolalia has emerged at times during the history of Christianity, but became a force in the early 20th century, with the rise of Pentecostalism. This spirit-filled approach to faith got a huge boost with the Azusa Street Revival in California, and has spread around the world. Today, the Pentecostal tradition includes the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ, as well as
