The first written record of tongue speaking dates back more than 1,000 years before Christ. A certain Wen Ammon under stress gave forth ecstatic utterances, and the people thought God was speaking through him. Ecstatic utterances were used in the Greek oracles and in the ancient mystery religions. Even today in Rhodesia there is a sect known as the Apostles' Church which combines certain elements of Christianity with the traditional pagan practices. Tongue speaking is a part of their ceremony.
Spiritualists use the tongue-speaking phenomenon in their claim to communicate with the dead.
Mormons have always had tongue speaking as a part of their religious expression. It is thought for them to be a confirmation of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and other documents which came from Joseph Smith. The most common expression of tongue speaking until recent years was in Pentecostalism which arose around 1900 and developed into a number of denominations. Pentecostalism began in Van Nuys, California, and has spread rapidly through the traditional existing religious organizations. It has become very popular, even in Roman Catholicism, and has divided a number of Protestant churches.