Is Computer Programming (AKA) Talking to the computer Speaking in Tongues

[Anonymous]

And I'm asking this in reference to the Spiritual Gifts Paul lists throughout the New Testament, particularly in 1 Corinthians 14:18 -

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

1 Corinthians 14:6 -
Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

There are other verses but the question is with so much uncertainty about the definition of speaking in tongues I've always wondered abstractly what a spiritual gift was and concretely what speaking in tongues is.

I'm asking this because I am more interested in the question of whether when a programmer say makes a web site for a church can be day he's using his "spiritual gifts" to help the church?

[Anonymous]

OK. I'll give this a try.

I think spiritual gifts refer directly to relationship with God and spirituality.

Speaking in tongues can sometimes be inspiring to people who watch it but my guess is that most of the time it's better if the spiritual messaging is in a language with words the listener can understand/embrace/act upon. That's why ecstatic/speaking in tongues churches are more of a niche variant in the Christian tradition.

To me, I read the 1 Corinthians 14:6 passage as saying: "If I'm speaking in tongues, how will I get God's message communicated to you, the listeners?" However a person who gives sermons might still feel very blessed to have lots of ecstatic/speaking in tongues/vision experiences. (That reminds me a lot of Catholicism and baroque art.)

Does that help?

I think if a computer programmer works on a website you could say they are deploying God-given talents, but spiritual gifts...probably not...

Maybe if you do extra things like special effects, background music that plays while you're using the site, etc.

If you are very interested in speaking in tongues, academics have researched it. They have researched the sounds people make (whether similar to mother tongue) and whether the utterances have syntax (trying to figure out if there are words and sentences in the flow of speech).

[Anonymous]

people that claim to speak in tongues are demon possessed.

[Anonymous]

No, because you have to learn to program. No novice has ever been a programmer after a visit from the Holy Spirit.

This might be the dumbest thread ever in this religion forum, and that is quite an accomplishment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I'm asking this in reference to the Spiritual Gifts Paul lists throughout the New Testament, particularly in 1 Corinthians 14:18 -

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

1 Corinthians 14:6 -
Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

There are other verses but the question is with so much uncertainty about the definition of speaking in tongues I've always wondered abstractly what a spiritual gift was and concretely what speaking in tongues is.

I'm asking this because I am more interested in the question of whether when a programmer say makes a web site for a church can be day he's using his "spiritual gifts" to help the church?

What on heaven hell and earth are you talking about?

Do you have a therapist?

[Anonymous]

Terry Davis spoke in tongues

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TempleOS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, because you have to learn to program. No novice has ever been a programmer after a visit from the Holy Spirit.

This might be the dumbest thread ever in this religion forum, and that is quite an accomplishment.

So this is an interesting statement because I really question that. I'm very religious but also very mathematical and have been most of my life. Was I visited by the Holy Spirit? I'm not going to make that claim.

But you have to learn to program but you don't have to learn to speak that language.

Honestly it's wild that I can't go to a religious forum and ask a question about religion without being called names. But that's ok. I'll go back and pray about it

[Anonymous]

No one who speaks in tongues has ever sat in a class or read an instructional book about tongue-speaking.

Everyone who is a programmer has taken a class and/or read an instructional book about programming.

Think of a programming language like any other language. I speak French because I learned French. I even have some natural aptitude (god-given?) for it. But French is not what people mean when they say “speaking in tongues.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one who speaks in tongues has ever sat in a class or read an instructional book about tongue-speaking.

Everyone who is a programmer has taken a class and/or read an instructional book about programming.

Think of a programming language like any other language. I speak French because I learned French. I even have some natural aptitude (god-given?) for it. But French is not what people mean when they say “speaking in tongues.”

NP. This is a great analogy--speaking a foreign language is not speaking in tongues. Thanks for it.

[Anonymous]

No, OP. Coding is learned; speaking in tongues is not.

-someone who spoke in tongues and did some coding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK. I'll give this a try.

I think spiritual gifts refer directly to relationship with God and spirituality.

Speaking in tongues can sometimes be inspiring to people who watch it but my guess is that most of the time it's better if the spiritual messaging is in a language with words the listener can understand/embrace/act upon. That's why ecstatic/speaking in tongues churches are more of a niche variant in the Christian tradition.

To me, I read the 1 Corinthians 14:6 passage as saying: "If I'm speaking in tongues, how will I get God's message communicated to you, the listeners?" However a person who gives sermons might still feel very blessed to have lots of ecstatic/speaking in tongues/vision experiences. (That reminds me a lot of Catholicism and baroque art.)

Does that help?

I think if a computer programmer works on a website you could say they are deploying God-given talents, but spiritual gifts...probably not...

Maybe if you do extra things like special effects, background music that plays while you're using the site, etc.

If you are very interested in speaking in tongues, academics have researched it. They have researched the sounds people make (whether similar to mother tongue) and whether the utterances have syntax (trying to figure out if there are words and sentences in the flow of speech).

PP above. Now I see there's an alternate reading of the Corinthians passage...maybe you feel you are being commanded, by example, to use your coding skills to support your practice of faith and influence others? Is that why you are asking? I guess it is a bit ambiguous.

I think you can go with the advice of the person above who has experience with both. But...if I were trying to understand the Bible and there was ambiguity, I'd look for people who could interpret the context directly from the language of the oldest versions available.

Pretty sure nobody was contemplating computer programming at this time in human history.

So OP, why do you ask? Are you struggling with a call to action of some type?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, because you have to learn to program. No novice has ever been a programmer after a visit from the Holy Spirit.

This might be the dumbest thread ever in this religion forum, and that is quite an accomplishment.

So this is an interesting statement because I really question that. I'm very religious but also very mathematical and have been most of my life. Was I visited by the Holy Spirit? I'm not going to make that claim.

But you have to learn to program but you don't have to learn to speak that language.

Honestly it's wild that I can't go to a religious forum and ask a question about religion without being called names. But that's ok. I'll go back and pray about it

No one called you a name. PP said the thread was dumb. And was correct about it IMHO.

For the record, you also were taught math, and didn't get it from being visited by the holy spirit, so it's a very smart thing to not make that claim. Good for you.

[Anonymous]

It's very frustrating because we're told things like "live for God" and that's easy with things like helping widows and loving enemies as the Bible commands it. But there are not people in the church I can go to and ask questions about doing math or programming for God and what that means. At worst I'm brushed off, and at best I'm given something off the top of their mind which may or may not be Biblical.

I turn to Paul's verses on gifts because there are so many things that I can do and have done for my faith and for the faith of others (though they may not know it) though mathematics and programming.

Simply programming has helped me to read the Bible, and answer my questions on the Bible, and build up similarities between things that I didn't even know we're related.

So I'm posting this here. But I've been kinda asking God this same question because I'm really confused. I'm trying to use this tool as a gift or whatever it is. It doesn't define me as I used to believe when I was a kid, but I'd be foolish to say it didn't taint how I see the world.

You may see colors and stuff. I see logic. And my prayer had been that I can just make sense of this. And I've come to accept that patience is part of being a Christian.

But my fear is that without proper guidance from the church, the type of tools I'm building have the power to cause confusion within the church and people will use mathematics and programming as a scapegoat.

I just want to use this as a gift for God

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure how you stumbled onto the DCUM religion forum OP, but you seem very earnest. This is probably not the best place to look for the type of advice you seek.

Why shouldn't programming be a gift from god? If you can't find any volunteer opportunities for religious organizations, why not just use your skills to make $$ and then donate to the church of your choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure how you stumbled onto the DCUM religion forum OP, but you seem very earnest. This is probably not the best place to look for the type of advice you seek.

Why shouldn't programming be a gift from god? If you can't find any volunteer opportunities for religious organizations, why not just use your skills to make $$ and then donate to the church of your choice?

Anyone looking for true guidance regarding religion or spirituality should not ask here.