Is it biblical to pray to people with that today, which is different from tongues in the first century?

Some denominations pray in tongues, placing their hands on a person's head. But this is actually unbiblical. First of all, the tongues that first-century Christians held, as shown in the image above, were in a foreign language, which is a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit and a sign to unbelievers.

It is not uncommon for prophecy and tongues to be combined in churches, but we can discard wrong and unbiblical practices by first becoming properly aware of contemporary tongues. 

Tongues were a foreign language in the first century.

Mark 16:17 (though this is a disputed text), which records the instructions of Christ to the apostles, including his description that "they will speak with new tongues" as a sign that would follow "them that believe" in him.

Tongues on the Day of Pentecost 

Acts 2:11-13 describes tongues on the Day of Pentecost. The disciples are described as "speaking (ἑτέραις γλώσσαις) in other languages. The "with words" (γλώσσαις (glṓssais); plural gerund of γλῶσσα) usually means both the tongue, the organ of speech, and the spoken word. The "other" (rare: ἑτέραις (hetérais); feminine plural gerund of ἕτερος (héteros)) indicates that the disciples spoke in a national language not their own. According to the biblical account, the tongues referred to here are foreign languages. It is a phenomenon that the disciples spoke a language that they had never learned and that was not their own language. They were able to understand the language they spoke, and contrary to the story of the Tower of Babel, which caused a confusion of languages, the Holy Spirit enabled people to understand each other beyond language.

Tongues in the House of Cornelio

In Acts 10:44-47, when Peter, at God's strong prompting, spoke the gospel message to the Gentiles gathered in Cornelio's house, "~ the Holy Spirit fell on all who were listening to the word." (v. 44). And they spoke "in tongues" (γλώσσαις). It is not said explicitly whether these tongues were in a foreign language. However, "the same gift God gave to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ." (ibid. 11:17), we can infer that this tongues is of the same nature as the tongues of Pentecost.

Tongues and John's Disciples

Acts 19:1-7 describes Paul's meeting with John the Baptist's disciples. After Paul had taught them about Christ and the Holy Spirit, he laid his hands on them. Then the account says that they spoke in tongues. The Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues (γλώσσαις) and prophesied." (Acts 19:6) It is not explicitly said that these tongues were in a foreign language, but the use of the same word as the phenomenon at Pentecost and Cornelio's house suggests that it was the same phenomenon.

Tongues in Corinth

1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40 describes the speaking in tongues in the church at Corinth. Paul does not forbid tongues, acknowledging that they are a gift of God, but he does point out their misuse. Since this tongues also uses the same γλῶσσα as the Pentecostal tongues, it is most likely a Pentecostal phenomenon of speaking foreign languages.

Paul mentions the rules for speaking in tongues. Paul says that if one speaks in tongues, one should keep order and speak in turn with two or at most three people, one of whom should be the expositor, and that if there is no one to expound the tongues, one should not speak in tongues in the church, but privately. It also states that all members of the church should not gather together in one place to speak in tongues, as this will cause unbelievers and seekers to stumble. The Bible also recommends speaking in prophecy (the words of the Bible) rather than in tongues. Reference: 1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 27-28, 39. This teaching is also the current rule. Cited here

Tongues as the Language of Angels

In "unknown tongues," there are those who consider tongues to be a spiritual language and claim that it is "the language used by angels" from 1 Corinthians 13, "The Tongues of Angels", and "the language of angels" are languages that cannot be understood unless they are revealed by angels.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

2 Corinthians 12:4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

The passage "though I speak in tongues of angels" begins with "parables," which, read literally, is an "unreal parable" and does not imply that the case has occurred. Paul mentions what appears to be the tongues of angels in his second letter to the Corinthians.

It would be impossible for a person to speak in tongues as the language of the angel during his life on earth, since such words are inexpressible in the third heavenly paradise and "man is not permitted to speak them".

Biblical substance of tongues at the time of the first century

It is obvious that tongues is a foreign language. Paul's gift of tongues is a foreign language, and it is not the kind of "tongues that no one can understand," as defined by modern Christianity's Holy Ghost and charismatic groups, or the kind of thing that you can just utter in a jumbled manner and the spirit will bear fruit even if you and others do not understand it.

1 Corinthians 14:2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.

If unbelievers were miraculously evangelized in a foreign language, they would have listened to the sound of Christ through a miracle. Tongues is a miraculous foreign language, and we know that the Holy Spirit worked miracles to shorten the time required to learn foreign languages for the spread of the gospel in the first century. Disciples of Christ who had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit would have spoken in so-called tongues, praising God in a foreign language they had never learned on the spot.

An analogy would be a missionary who knows no Japanese at all, praising and evangelizing God in Japanese when evangelizing in Japan. If unbelievers could see this, they would not be able to deny the miraculous work. Thus, in the first century, evangelism was started in tongues.

Thus, tongues were a gift from God, a medium for speaking to God, and a powerful tool in the evangelization of the gospel in foreign languages.

Verse 2 also states that the gift of tongues should not be spoken if it is unintelligible or untranslatable, while speaking through the Holy Spirit is divinely inspired and enables one to communicate with God. If the tongues can be revealed and translated, then it can be proven that the tongues are a foreign language and a miraculous work of God, and if one speaks to God in such tongues, then one can say that "the Spirit is praying," as the Corinthian scripture says. (v. 14)

One Bible translates it as "building up virtue," but since the primary use of the original Greek word eukodumeo is "emboldened ," it is questionable whether this passage should be rendered as "building up virtue." Paul could be understood to be saying that he would rather preach in order to build up the church than to build himself up in front of the people.

1 Corinthians 8:10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols?

This verse describes a case in which a person with a weak conscience falls into idolatry as a result of oikodoumeo, or building up of the conscience. Oikodomeo is used in the bad sense of building up. So, as mentioned above, we can assume that tongues are used in a negative sense, not necessarily in a positive sense, with expressions such as building oneself up or building up.

In summary, tongues when spoken to people are a foreign language and should be translated. The Bible declares that if tongues cannot be translated, they should not be spoken in front of people or churches. If tongues can be translated, then of course they can be spoken to God and can function as prayer, so they should be used and not abused with the proper gifts.

Disturbances in Corinth in the First Century

In the first century, Corinth was located between Greece in the north and the Peloponnese in the south, and served as an intermediary point for trade between Asia and Europe. Corinth was therefore a bustling place with a thriving marketplace where foreigners came and went, which led to a marked disturbance in public morals.

The Corinth Canal, one of the world's three great canals, began construction in 60 AD during the reign of Emperor Nero and was used as a trade point until its completion in the mid-19th century. In such a land, the goddess Aphrodite, an idol symbolizing debauchery, extravagance, and debauchery, was worshipped. As one would expect in a land of foreign visitors, human-friendly hedonism was greatly favored in order to gain attention.

It is said that a thousand high-class prostitutes worked in the temple. The church was established in Corinth, a pagan land where hedonism, opportunism, and belief in benefits were prevalent, and eventually problems such as favoritism and the abuse of tongues arose even within the church.

There were even ironic sayings such as "Corinthianize" and "If the church functions in Corinth, the gospel is welcome everywhere," etc. The hedonistic, romance-seeking, licentious, extravagant, and lustful spiritually immature people would have tried to abuse tongues (the incantation-like tongues prevalent in the area that are only mentioned in the letter to the Corinthian church) to get into a state of ecstasy. It can be assumed that this is why Paul cautioned that "tongues are prayed in the spirit, but they do not bear fruit in the intellect" (v. 15).

Although the gospel appeals to human emotions, it should be viewed rationally. Paul was a rational and theoretical man, and he never went into a trance and spoke in tongues to people and could not translate.

Conclutions

If modern tongues were truly a miraculous foreign language, it would be possible to speak to men and to God. But modern tongues that cannot be translated are not the authentic tongues spoken by Paul and the Twelve Apostles in the first century. Rather, it is the equivalent of the wrong pagan practices that were prevalent in that Corinthianized area, which were impossible to unravel due to the absence of translators, and which Paul rebuked and warned against speaking in the church, that is, not to speak to others.

In conclusion, it is unbiblical to speak or pray in modern tongues. We encourage everyone to consider the issue of tongues.