William Barclay letter to John P. Summers

One framed letter with inscribed backing. The backing reads Barclay sent this to me from Glasglow only great men will take time for the unimportant.

The letter reads:

Dear Mr. Summers, Thank you for your letter. I am glad you found the books useful, interesting and helpful. The main passage about speaking with tongues in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul compares speaking with tongues and prophesying. By prophesying he does not mean fortelling the future, but proclaiming the truth and bearing witness to the truth. Paul's view of speaking with tongues is rather a low view. He says in 1 Corinthians 14.19: 'Nevertheless in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.'If you read 1 Corinthians 14, you will see that what Paul covetted above all else was intelligibility. When a thing could not be understood he did not think it was worth while, and certainly he would not have said that of the possession of the Spirit. In fact, if you read 1 Corinthians 14, you find that on the whole Paul found speaking with tounges a nuisance rather than anything else, although he says he could do it himself. I would not worry about it. Paul was much more concerend with a language which people could understand than with an unkown tongue. Read 1 Corinthians 14. With every good wish. Yours sincerely, William Barclay