Memorizing the Holy Bible

[Gharib]

hi guys, i hope you are all well.

i have been curious to ask this question about memorizing the Holy Bible.
in islam, it is a very common thing to find people who have memorized the Qur'an within any given islamic society. so i would like to know how it is in Christianity since both faiths are Abrahamic.

my first few questions are:
does Christianity encourage the memorizing of the Bible by heart?
has anyone in history or in the present ever memorized it?
Does a religious figure with great status like the Pope for example have to memorize it? is there a specific amount of the Bible that the Pope should have memorized before being chosen to be the Pope?

thanks in advance for your replies.

[Green Kepi]

Eselam...I am no means a 'spokes-person' for all Christian (and definitely not the Catholics); however, the Jews were given specific instructions about how they were to observe the Law. That was the nature of the old covenant. Specific laws had to be followed precisely. A Jew could obey the Law of Moses without ever really loving God.

But the new covenant is different. God wants a close, loving relationship with his people now. The new covenant is not about memorizing scripture or rituals and keeping a bunch of laws. It is about loving God and keeping him always in our hearts.

Nothing wrong with trying memorizing the Scriptures, but it is not a requirement. Thanking God and glorifying him for his love and the sacrifice of his Son and showing love to our fellow man is what makes someone a Christian. I base what I just said on the following Scriptures:

Matthew 15:6-9
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”.

Mark 12:33
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Luke 16:15
You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.

John 5:42
But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

[ForeverFaithful]

Originally Posted by eselam

hi guys, i hope you are all well.

i have been curious to ask this question about memorizing the Holy Bible.
in islam, it is a very common thing to find people who have memorized the Qur'an within any given islamic society. so i would like to know how it is in Christianity since both faiths are Abrahamic.

my first few questions are:
does Christianity encourage the memorizing of the Bible by heart?
has anyone in history or in the present ever memorized it?
Does a religious figure with great status like the Pope for example have to memorize it? is there a specific amount of the Bible that the Pope should have memorized before being chosen to be the Pope?

thanks in advance for your replies.

Excuse if I'm incorrect in saying so, but I believe the Qur'an is written in poetry so it is easy to memorize. Muslims also repeat different parts of it every day no?

To memorize the Bible seems a bit silly, we have different translations of the text as we don't read it in the Greek and Hebrew.

Who knows maybe some really over zealous Protestant has the whole king james bible up in their brain, I know a Baptist Minister who can from his head recite a lot of it.

[Bob Dixon]

Originally Posted by ForeverFaithful

Excuse if I'm incorrect in saying so, but I believe the Qur'an is written in poetry so it is easy to memorize. Muslims also repeat different parts of it every day no?

To memorize the Bible seems a bit silly, we have different translations of the text as we don't read it in the Greek and Hebrew.

Who knows maybe some really over zealous Protestant has the whole king james bible up in their brain, I know a Baptist Minister who can from his head recite a lot of it.

Memorising a translation is always no good.
If you want to memorise it, go ahead, you know, but use the original.

[Gharib]

Originally Posted by Green Kepi

Eselam...I am no means a 'spokes-person' for all Christian (and definitely not the Catholics); however, the Jews were given specific instructions about how they were to observe the Law. That was the nature of the old covenant. Specific laws had to be followed precisely. A Jew could obey the Law of Moses without ever really loving God.

But the new covenant is different. God wants a close, loving relationship with his people now. The new covenant is not about memorizing scripture or rituals and keeping a bunch of laws. It is about loving God and keeping him always in our hearts.

Nothing wrong with trying memorizing the Scriptures, but it is not a requirement. Thanking God and glorifying him for his love and the sacrifice of his Son and showing love to our fellow man is what makes someone a Christian. I base what I just said on the following Scriptures:

Matthew 15:6-9
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”.

Mark 12:33
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Luke 16:15
You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.

John 5:42
But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

so in other words, so long as someone loves God and remembers the favors of God (ie sacrificing Jesus (as) to save the people) etc those are signs of a Christian.

as for the verses, is the first one speaking about how it was for the people of Moses (as) as you have mentioned at the start? or is it speaking of how people should love God rather than just say it and not mean it?

[Gharib]

Originally Posted by ForeverFaithful

Excuse if I'm incorrect in saying so, but I believe the Qur'an is written in poetry so it is easy to memorize. Muslims also repeat different parts of it every day no?

the Qur'an does have it's own rules of reading called in arabic Tajweed. with the presence of these rules anyone can become fluent in it's recitation even though they may not be of arabic speaking background. i don't know if you are referring to anything specific by the word poetry.
yes we do recite the Qur'an or parts thereof throughout the day during the five daily prayers. that is one reason why that which we memorize we don't forget.

To memorize the Bible seems a bit silly, we have different translations of the text as we don't read it in the Greek and Hebrew.

that seems reasonable, through translation the meaning is sometimes unintentionally distorted. since this was mentioned, which was the original language of the bible, Greek or Hebrew? for some reason i think it was Hebrew due to it being the language of the people of Moses (as) and the same people that Jesus (as) was sent to.

Who knows maybe some really over zealous Protestant has the whole king james bible up in their brain, I know a Baptist Minister who can from his head recite a lot of it.

so would this Minister be given more priority to lead Christians at Church over another Minister who could not recite as much as the first one? what i mean is since the first Minister of this scenario knows more about/from the Book of God shouldn't by default he be the leading Minister?

in Islam that is how it would work, no knowledge compares to the knowledge of the Qur'an therefore those who have memorized more from it come first.

[Terrywoodenpic]

Christians see no virtue in memorising the Bible.
Firstly there is no such thing as "The Bible" There are many "Bibles" so which one would you memorise, when they are all available to read at any time.

There are almost Ten times the number of words in the Bible than in the Quran.

Some 774,746 as against 77,934 (or there abouts)

Knowledge of the Bible is far more than remembering the words. The interpretations can be more important still.
Most people see great feats of memory more as a freak show than a virtue.

[ForeverFaithful]

Originally Posted by eselam

that seems reasonable, through translation the meaning is sometimes unintentionally distorted. since this was mentioned, which was the original language of the bible, Greek or Hebrew? for some reason i think it was Hebrew due to it being the language of the people of Moses (as) and the same people that Jesus (as) was sent to.



so would this Minister be given more priority to lead Christians at Church over another Minister who could not recite as much as the first one? what i mean is since the first Minister of this scenario knows more about/from the Book of God shouldn't by default he be the leading Minister?

The Old Testement, the Bible the Jews use was written largely in Hebrew (small bits of the later portion are written in Armaric the language of Babylon)

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek the language spoken in most of the Eastern Roman Empire, some scholars believe Matthew was written first in Armaric but we no longer have that copy if it even exists. The Old Testament had already been translated into Greek due to the Hellenization of the Jewish people under Alexander the Great and his succeors.

Now as for would that minister have more pirority. Some denomnations sadly do not use the Bible to form their docirnes and would not apperiate it. Even in a Fundamentalist denomnation the memorization of the scripture wouldn't be imporant but the being constient with it and being able to defend your beliefs with scripture, there is no real virtue in knowing it in your head.

[Green Kepi]

Originally Posted by eselam

so in other words, so long as someone loves God and remembers the favors of God (ie sacrificing Jesus (as) to save the people) etc those are signs of a Christian.

as for the verses, is the first one speaking about how it was for the people of Moses (as) as you have mentioned at the start? or is it speaking of how people should love God rather than just say it and not mean it?

I (as a Christian) believe that the proof of my salvation is the presence of God’s Spirit in my life. If I am truly a Christian, my life will display the “fruit” spoken of in: Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law".

Notice the word “fruit” is singular…meaning I can’t have one of these without the other. I must truly display them all in my life. "He,who has the Son, has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." I John 5:12.

The Bible makes it very clear that I can know if I am going to Heaven after death. 1 John 5:13 states, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."

The question is, "What is written so that we can know we are saved?" That’s where “we” Christians have our problems…just as those who believe your belief are divided. We are so divided and sadly fight each other….

[Protester]

Originally Posted by Green Kepi

Eselam...I am no means a 'spokes-person' for all Christian (and definitely not the Catholics); however, the Jews were given specific instructions about how they were to observe the Law. That was the nature of the old covenant. Specific laws had to be followed precisely. A Jew could obey the Law of Moses without ever really loving God.

But the new covenant is different. God wants a close, loving relationship with his people now. The new covenant is not about memorizing scripture or rituals and keeping a bunch of laws. It is about loving God and keeping him always in our hearts.

Nothing wrong with trying memorizing the Scriptures, but it is not a requirement. Thanking God and glorifying him for his love and the sacrifice of his Son and showing love to our fellow man is what makes someone a Christian. I base what I just said on the following Scriptures:

Matthew 15:6-9
Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules”.

Mark 12:33
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Luke 16:15
You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts.

John 5:42
But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

May, I say that you made some good points. I will point out that to be a good mathematician you have to learn the multiplication and division tables. To be a good writer you have to know how to spell (well at least before the days of computers) and it would have been a good idea to rules of grammar quite well.

I knew a person who memorized the Bible (Yes, he had the entire Bible memorized). He was a good fellow, and no doubt he would have been a good fellow if he hadn't had the entire bible memorized.

One should remember that the Old Testament is a guide to a Christian. I would think Psalm 119 may have been pointed out to you often.

Psalm 119
9How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
10With my whole heart, I have sought you.
Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
11I have hidden your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
12Blessed are you, Yahweh.
Teach me your statutes.
13With my lips,
I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
14I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies,
as much as in all riches.
15I will meditate on your precepts,
and consider your ways.
16I will delight myself in your statutes.
I will not forget your word.---World English Bible

By the way, God eschews creative and imaginative interpretation of His Word, so it is good to know the content of it, at the very least and to memorize passages that are important to you.

But is rote learning of the Bible the way to look at it. Sometimes I think too much rote learning is bad thing. Example:

A Chinese school is both a stressful and stale place, forcing students to remember facts in order to excel in tests. Neuroscientists know that stress hampers the ability of the brain to convert experience into memory, and psychologists know that rewarding students solely for test performance leads to stress, cheating, and disinterest in learning. But ultimately, the most harmful thing that a Chinese school does, from a creativity perspective, is the way in which it separates emotion from memory by making learning an unemotional experience.

excerpt from, How China Kills Creativity | China Power

In other words take time to think about God's Word, instead of just memorizing it.