Tips for memorizing scripture


A pen pal asked me for some tips on memorizing the Bible. Here's my answer:

First the joke answers:

(1) avoid narcotic pain pills, surgery, sleep deprivation, and other mind-altering activities or elements. They really don't do much for the learning process, although they may make you grateful for it when you can get back to it!

(2) Hospitalization might seem like a great way to get some alone time, but it turns out the pattern of the paint on the wall is about as intellectual as I can get while attached to oxygen, IV, etc. Maybe that's because of the morphine drip, so I guess that's a part of #1 above.

Seriously: take a few moments (days or weeks) to answer the question of "why am I doing this?" The answer to that question sets the method.

My answer is twofold:

(1) I want to try to get inside the minds of the people who wrote these passages: what were they thinking? How would they have said this? How would it have been heard in their own time? (Basic principles of exegesis.)

(2) I want to be able to "perform" these passages to give other people the insight that I've gained without them having to spend 6-12 months working on a passage.

With the above in mind, the approach that I've taken is

(1) Set an achievable weekly goal. the first 2-4 days are spent just getting to where you can recognize if the passage "feels" right nor not, but you can't necessarily do it without looking down at the page. After that, you start weaning yourself during days 5-7.

(2) Choose a memorization style that you enjoy. I enjoy dramatic performance, so I tend to go in my living room when no one else is around and "become" the writer speaking to his audience. Other people prefer working through note cards, etc.

(3) When learning a new passage, try to go over it three times a day until you've been able to quote it for about 2 weeks.

(4) Implicit in the last idea is: rehearse what you've learned regularly, to give some variety from the new stuff you're learning.

(5) Enjoy it! Try the Ian Holm method of acting: once memorized, recite each passage with a different rhythm, tone of voice, punctuation, etc., to see what the emphasis gives to you.

------
After a 6 or 7 week delay, I'm starting chemotherapy again shortly. (Assuming that this regimen puts the cancer into remission, the next step is an autologous bone marrow transplant. I cannot express my excitement at the prospect. AGH!) I'll be spending between 1/4 and 1/3 of my time the next few months either in or travelling to a hospital. Unfortunately, that puts me squarely in the realm of both of my joke answers.

Posted: Sat - June 28, 2008 at 05:08 PM           | |

©