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A Study by LifeWay Research Indicated Half of Southern Baptist Pastors Believe In A Private Prayer L

Lifeway Research
  • The survey asked SBC pastors, Protestant pastors and laity their beliefs about private prayer language using this wording: "Do you believe that the Holy Spirit gives some people the gift of a special language to pray to God privately? Some people refer to this as a Private Prayer Language or the 'private use of tongues.'"
    • Fifty percent of Southern Baptist pastors answered "Yes," 43 percent said "No," and 7 percent responded "Don't know."
  • Non-SBC pastors are more likely to believe that the Holy Spirit gives some people a private prayer language than Southern Baptist pastors.
    • Sixty-six percent of non-SBC pastors responded "Yes," 32 percent responded "No," and 3 percent responded "Don't know."
  • Protestant pastors (Southern Baptists and non-SBC) are more likely to believe the Holy Spirit gives some people a private prayer language (63 percent) than Protestant laity (51 percent). 
  • Southern Baptist senior pastors are more likely than non-SBC Protestant pastors to understand "tongues" in the New Testament to mean the "God-given ability to speak another language" (62 percent versus 54 percent).
    • Laity are divided among the meanings "God-given ability to speak another language" (32 percent) and "special utterances given by the Holy Spirit" (37 percent), while 31 percent responded "Don't know."
    • Forty-one percent of SBC pastors responded "this gift was only given in the days of the Apostles" versus 29 percent of non-SBC pastors.
    • The majority of Protestant pastors believe the spiritual gift of tongues is "still given today to some believers" (53 percent); 30 percent believe this gift was "only given in the days of the Apostles"; 13 percent believe "the gift is still given today to all true believers"; and 3 percent "Don't know."
    • Fifty-five percent of recent Southern Baptist seminary graduates believe "the gift of tongues (as described in 1 Corinthians) ceased to be a valid gift in times past."
    • A minority of Southern Baptist pastors (41 percent) believe the spiritual gift of tongues was only given in the days of the Apostles.

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Date: 11/4/2007 12:00:00 AM
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