What actually happens when prayer moves beyond words?

In this episode of Holy Uncertain, hosts Lauren Ranzino and Chris McLeod are joined by researcher and psychological anthropologist Josh Brahinsky to explore one of the most misunderstood and debated practices in charismatic Christianity: speaking in tongues.
Josh, author of Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Inspires Spirit-Filled Activism, has spent years studying the practice through fieldwork, interviews, and brain imaging. Together, they talk about what speaking in tongues is, why it has been dismissed or misunderstood, and what research can help us understand about surrender, prayer, the body, and the brain.
This conversation holds the tension many people carry around charismatic faith: the real experiences that brought comfort, clarity, or connection to God, alongside the manipulation, fear, and harm that have too often surrounded those same spaces.
If you’ve ever wondered whether speaking in tongues is real, fake, spiritual, psychological, or something more complicated than any one category can hold, this episode offers a thoughtful place to wrestle and reflect.
Continue to learn from Josh Brahinsky:

www.theprayerstudy.com

www.instagram.com/theprayerstudy
Read Josh’s Book:
Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Inspires Spirit-Filled Activism
Have a question or topic you want us to explore?
Email us: questions@holyuncertain.com

Holy Uncertain is a Blue Elevator production.