MacArthur and Tongues

Eric Weiss (eweiss@gte.net)
Fri, 07 Nov 1997 16:33:04 -0800

The last time I suggested that John MacArthur was something less than a
skilled Greek exegete, I received a pointed public response from one
listmember rebuking me for daring to criticize such an esteemed
teacher/preacher/author. Being more foolish than wise, perhaps, I do
feel compelled to raise this question on the B-Greek list, however:

In the new MacArthur Study Bible, Mr. MacArthur states in his notes to I
Corinthians 14 that the key to interpreting this passage is in the Greek
but it is one that is oft-neglected by translators/commentators, to wit:
that when Paul uses the singular "tongue" - i.e., "speaking in a tongue"
(with the exception of 14:27-28) - he means pagan gibberish (because
gibberish is all one thing, i.e., there is/are no such thing(s) as
"gibberishes"), but when Paul uses the plural "tongues" - i.e.,
"speaking with tongues" - he means true Holy-Spirit-inspired speech in
real languages (note the plural "languages"), a gift which, according to
MacArthur's cessationist viewpoint, died out after the apostles. IS
MACARTHUR's DISTINCTION (i.e., singular "tongue" versus plural
"tongues") legitimate from a lexical or contextual basis? (It doesn't
appear to be so to me, and I've never read or heard this argument
before.) Is there any way to read this passage to suggest that Paul is
switching back and forth (as MacArthur suggests) between pagan gibberish
and "true tongues" while using the same term GLWSSA for both?

--
"Eric S. Weiss"
eweiss@gte.net
http://home1.gte.net/eweiss/index.htm