Scripture Memorization

jusluvm · May 11, 2005

GreenEyedLady said:
Bud,

Have you ever lead anyone to the Lord? You know, witnessed to them and then they accepted Christ as thier Saviour right there while you prayed along with them?

I have never done this, either.

But, I have been humbled to tears when people have come to me and told me point blank that they had been led to search out God merely because of my "example" or "love walk", not scriptures quoted. When non-christians see us dealing with "life" in a way that is full of love and peace, they want more---more of God's word, more of that contentment and peace within themselves, more love for everyone. Of course, I do talk about what God has done for me and how much He means to me and let them know that it's all about Him, but I don't quote scripture to them.

I don't memorize well. Never have. (The chemical table in science class was a nightmare for me! ) I did try memorizing scripture for a while, but I realized that I was missing so much of the whole picture while trying to concentrate on one verse at a time. In my simplistic mind, I need to be able to see the whole picture!

We all work differently. Memorization is not something that works for me. It actually frustated me to the point that I didn't read my Bible as I should have for a while. Not anymore! Now, I just read and try to absorb it into by daily walk.

hindsey · May 11, 2005

Uncle Bud, I think I understand now why you don't memorize Scripture. You don't believe that the Bible was written down by men, that had those words given to them directly from God (Inspiration). Am I right in that statement? If so, then I can see why you wouldn't see an importance in memorizing it.

Gold Dragon · May 11, 2005

hindsey said:
You don't believe that the Bible was written down by men, that had those words given to them directly from God (Inspiration).

Even if folks believe that the biblical authors were simply dictation machines of God, simple rote memorization of a string of words (even if directly from God's mouth himself) does not mean the person understands and lives out those words. It certainly can help and is a good thing. I don't think UB is telling anyone not to memorize, but he wants the understanding and living out of God's words, which is much more important than memorization, and can be achieved without memorization.

Think of those students in school who were great at rote memorization of words in class. It certainly helped that they could do this and many were very successful later on in their careers. However, there were many folks who weren't so good at rote memorization of words but they still learned through other ways: conceptually, pictorially, experientially, dialogue. Some becoming even more successful than some of the rote word memorizers at their careers.

arunma · May 11, 2005

hindsey said:
Uncle Bud, I think I understand now why you don't memorize Scripture. You don't believe that the Bible was written down by men, that had those words given to them directly from God (Inspiration). Am I right in that statement? If so, then I can see why you wouldn't see an importance in memorizing it.

Come on, we don't need to start an inquisition.

SumTinWong · May 11, 2005

hindsey said:
Uncle Bud, I think I understand now why you don't memorize Scripture. You don't believe that the Bible was written down by men, that had those words given to them directly from God (Inspiration). Am I right in that statement?

Not even close. I do believe the Bible is the divine Holy Spirit inspired book of God's words to men, through men.

If so, then I can see why you wouldn't see an importance in memorizing it.

Since it isn't the case, what do you conclude now?

SumTinWong · May 11, 2005

jusluvm said:
I have never done this, either.

But, I have been humbled to tears when people have come to me and told me point blank that they had been led to search out God merely because of my "example" or "love walk", not scriptures quoted. When non-christians see us dealing with "life" in a way that is full of love and peace, they want more---more of God's word, more of that contentment and peace within themselves, more love for everyone. Of course, I do talk about what God has done for me and how much He means to me and let them know that it's all about Him, but I don't quote scripture to them.

I don't memorize well. Never have. (The chemical table in science class was a nightmare for me! ) I did try memorizing scripture for a while, but I realized that I was missing so much of the whole picture while trying to concentrate on one verse at a time. In my simplistic mind, I need to be able to see the whole picture!

We all work differently. Memorization is not something that works for me. It actually frustated me to the point that I didn't read my Bible as I should have for a while. Not anymore! Now, I just read and try to absorb it into by daily walk.

Thanks for that jusluvm, I agree with you, and I appreciate, and can co-miserate with your response.

Quantum_Man · May 11, 2005

Uncle Bud said:
When you give God's word to them in its purest form, is it Greek, Aramaic, or what?

By purest form I meant from something like NIV rather than "Quantum_Man Version". I think it is a good practice to memorize Scripture, it certainly isn't harmful. Will it or can it help your witness to others? Sure. Is it absolutely necessary for witnessing? Maybe, maybe not. But I do find it helpful for explaining certain doctrinal things to nonbelievers.

arunma · May 12, 2005

Quantum_Man said:
By purest form I meant from something like NIV rather than "Quantum_Man Version". I think it is a good practice to memorize Scripture, it certainly isn't harmful. Will it or can it help your witness to others? Sure. Is it absolutely necessary for witnessing? Maybe, maybe not. But I do find it helpful for explaining certain doctrinal things to nonbelievers.

Actually, the NIV is more of a paraphrase. If you're going to memorize, it's probably better to use a literal translation such as the KJV, NKJV, or ESV. Of those, I'd recommend the ESV, because unlike the somewhat flawed KJV, the ESV is based on modern Bible manuscripts and scholarship.

Not that I have anything against the NIV. It's a good translation, and it gets the basic message across. But I think it's best to memorize from a literal text, because this allows your memorization to be more free from translators' interpretations.

Gold Dragon · May 12, 2005

arunma said:
Actually, the NIV is more of a paraphrase. If you're going to memorize, it's probably better to use a literal translation such as the KJV, NKJV, or ESV. Of those, I'd recommend the ESV, because unlike the somewhat flawed KJV, the ESV is based on modern Bible manuscripts and scholarship.

Not that I have anything against the NIV. It's a good translation, and it gets the basic message across. But I think it's best to memorize from a literal text, because this allows your memorization to be more free from translators' interpretations.

The common assumption is that a more literal translation is a better translation to understand meaning because it minimizes interpretation at the word level. However that assumption is often wrong.

A basic example is a literal translation of the common Cantonese greeting "lay ho ma". A literal translation to english would be "You good, eh"? A less literal "dynamic equivalent" but more accurate translation would be "How are you?"

500BC Hebrew and 1st century Greek are about as similar to 21st century English as Cantonese is.

If Not For Grace · May 12, 2005

don't personally like Van Impe, as he has been the chicken little of televangelists as long as I can remember

I never heard it put better--

I do memorize scripture here and there, it's just like the quotes & stuff here, I do it cause I like to use it in everyday life and it sometimes prompts me to a certain action. I love affirmations...the Bible is full of good and wise quips and sayings (Proverbs).. Still BUD you should be in hollywood writing somewhere --TV would be so much better.

SumTinWong · May 12, 2005

hehehe, TV needs me like MJ needs another nose job.

Byt he by it is funny the more I read the Bible the more I am able to recall certain passages, at certain times when needed. So I guess in a way I have memorized some scripture, without trying.

Perhaps i took the Evelyn Wood speed reading course in my sleep?

Quantum_Man · May 12, 2005

Forget I said "purest form"! I did not intend to mean from orignal Greek or Hebrew. I just meant from the Bible, which in my case is the NIV.

And it's not "lay ho ma", typically you see it spelled in English as "Knee ho ma".

Gold Dragon · May 12, 2005

Quantum_Man said:
And it's not "lay ho ma", typically you see it spelled in English as "Knee ho ma".

"nee hao ma" is Mandarin which is the official chinese dialect.

"lay ho ma" is Cantonese which is the dialect commonly spoken in southern China, all of Hong Kong and many of the early Chinese immigrants to North America.

God Child · May 12, 2005

Jesus fought his temptations in the wilderness with Scripture. That is the sword of the spirit, the word of God.

GreenEyedLady · May 12, 2005

Uncle Bud said:
So I guess in a way I have memorized some scripture, without trying.

Imagine Lollard,
What it would be like if you tried!
It would be amazing!!!!!!

Ziwei · May 13, 2005

God Child said:
Jesus fought his temptations in the wilderness with Scripture. That is the sword of the spirit, the word of God.

Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to memorize it still. It simply reveals one of the bible's great purposes. Probably less than one percent of attacks from Satan occurs in a situation where you cannot get a hold of the Bible, and there is no one around you. The important point I think is not to memorize words and order but meaning and concepts. (which are a lot easier to memorize)

SumTinWong · May 13, 2005

GreenEyedLady said:
Imagine Lollard,
What it would be like if you tried!
It would be amazing!!!!!!

Nice try

M21 · May 13, 2005

One thing I learned about scripture memorization I learned in Survival, Escape , Evasion, and Resistance (SERE) school;

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

I attended this school at Fort Bragg NC sometime ago and the man (a Retired Special Forces Officer) that ran the school was named Nick Rowe. After 5 years as a POW in NV Nick was the only US Soldier to escape to the South. He was picked up by an American Helicopter crew and repatriated. An amazing man. One night he came in the classroom about 2 a.m. and we did a question & answer session until daybreak. BTW - Nick wrote a book about his experience titled "Five Years to Freedom" a great read.

In the classroom in a display case are all of the items he had on him when he was picked up by the helicopter. One was a very small hand written bible. I was kind of fascinated by this little hand written bible and asked him about it. He told me that the bible was assembled by sending tap code (like Morse) between different cells from memorized scripture. Between all of the prisoners they were able to hand write a complete bible and then reproduce it in multiple hand written copies for all of the other prisoners. Get this though - They also translated some into Vietnamese for a few of the guards.

I will always do my best to memorize scripture though I be the lone survivor...

geoffinsegg · Aug 29, 2009

I use www.mapawproject.com

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