Glossolalia and Church Identity: The Role of Sound in the Making of a Chinese Pentecostal-charismatic Church

Glossolalia or speaking in tongues has been one of the prominent features that characterize Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity. Some linguists, however, regard it phonologically illogical and semantically meaningless and thus invalid as a communicative tool. Orthodox Christianity frowns on it beca...

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Veröffentlicht in:Review of Religion and Chinese Society
1. VerfasserIn: Tsai, Yen-zen (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Brill 2015
In: Review of Religion and Chinese Society
Jahr: 2015, Band: 2, Heft: 1, Seiten: 87-108
weitere Schlagwörter:B 五旬節-靈恩基督教
B Lawrence E. Sullivan
B Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity
B True Jesus Church
B Glossolalia
B 靈言
B Alfred Schütz
B 真耶穌教會
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Zusammenfassung:Glossolalia or speaking in tongues has been one of the prominent features that characterize Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity. Some linguists, however, regard it phonologically illogical and semantically meaningless and thus invalid as a communicative tool. Orthodox Christianity frowns on it because of its uncouth ritual manifestations or disruptive effect on the church order. Against these perspectives, I argue that glossolalia plays a very crucial role in shaping the identity of a Pentecostal-charismatic community. “Tongue sound,” acoustically jarring to the outsider but soothing and harmonious to the believer, functions to confer on the glossolalists a particular mode of existence and consolidate them as a homogeneous group. For this argument, I draw on Lawrence E. Sullivan’s interpretation of sound in contrast to language, and on Alfred Schütz’s theory about “tuning in” and “inner time.” For illustration, I take the glossolalic manifestation of the True Jesus Church as a concrete example.
靈言與教會認同:聲音在塑造一個中國五旬節-靈恩基督教派 中所扮演的角色
ISSN:2214-3955
Enthält:In: Review of Religion and Chinese Society
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/22143955-00201005