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Muslim
Guest
did anybody here memorize the entire Bible? or one book of the Bible? or do you know of anyone that memorized it?
just curious…thanks
just curious…thanks
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CARose
Guest
I know that my feeble mind couldn’t begin to memorize such a large text.
CARose
CARose
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LilyM
Guest
Memorise? I am sure there are people who have done so, though I don’t know of any personally.
Understand - better than the Islamic ‘scholars’ who make it their life’s work to learn the Qur’an word for word understand their text? Definitely.
Buy a bunch of parrots, teach the Qur’an to them to preserve it if you must, and use those scholars to do some real thinking instead - what a waste of resources!
Understand - better than the Islamic ‘scholars’ who make it their life’s work to learn the Qur’an word for word understand their text? Definitely.
Buy a bunch of parrots, teach the Qur’an to them to preserve it if you must, and use those scholars to do some real thinking instead - what a waste of resources!
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freedomm
Guest
Thats why no wonder why Christianity has split into thousands of sects, denominations and cults due to their own different versions of the Bibles that no two of them are alike.
The most “remarkable” thing is all these sects, denominations and cults claim to have got same Holy Ghost/Spirit, but he/she/it is “inspiring” clearly contradicting things to all, that no one of them is ever ready to give up his/her sect/cult/denomination and merge into other’s.
So the question that OP is asking is too much because before asking such question, Christiandom is yet to produce ONE UNIFIED version of the Bible that is acceptable to all those Christiandom’s thousands of sects, denominations and cults.
To Muslim:
So, you should ask Christians: which version of the Bible is indeed word of God in order for people to memorize it. Because the Biblical scholars are still in process and busy in searching for ancient, most ancient and most-most ancient manuscripts of their Bibles and as they receieve more and more old versions, they keep amending the Biblical text by adding new verses or removing interpolated/later insertions and even interjecting new ideas into the texts of their Bibles to maintian the “uniqueness” of their respective Church/sect/cult/denomination.
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LilyM
Guest
Criticising the Bible again freedomm? You’re singing a very tired old song if you think anyone wants to listen to it yet again.
So tell me how well your Sunnis and Shias (recently killing each other in Iraq) and Wahabbis are agreeing about what is contained in your book which is so infallible that it is supposedly engraved on tablets in heaven and supposedly came straight from the mouth of Allah, hmmm?
Does it tell you that killing infidels is necessary, permissible, or neither? Does it tell you that Aisha was nine years old when Mohammed married her or fifteen or neither? Does it even tell you what the VOWELS are of each word, without which many of them can be interpreted in a number of ways? Why did it first tell Muslims to face Jerusalem and only much later get changed so that Muslims face Mecca? Why do you need hadiths to interpret it (which interpretation your scholars disagree about, mind you) if it is so infallible?
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ReflectHim
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My dad…is able to do
entire Bible. no
entire book. no
entire chapter(s) of books. yes
usually studied for Sunday’s sermon. So studied for a week or so, and then by then he’s able to recite the entire chapter of a few books, word for word.
entire Bible. no
entire book. no
entire chapter(s) of books. yes
usually studied for Sunday’s sermon. So studied for a week or so, and then by then he’s able to recite the entire chapter of a few books, word for word.
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puzzleannie
Guest
I know observant Jews who have memorized the psalms and large chunks of scripture (in Hebrew) because they worship daily and study scripture daily.
I know monastics and their lay associates who have memorized most of the psalms and scriptural canticles contained in the LOTH due to daily recitation. I know most of the canticles and a lot of the frequently used psalms such as Ps 95, 51 etc due to praying LOTH. I know by heart scriptural passages used frequently in teaching sacramental preparation classes–such as the Good Shepherd, Prodigal Son, Zaccheus etc. for first penance, Last Supper accounts, Gospels for Cycle A in Lent etc for first communion and RCIA.
I know the passages relevant to the rosary mysteries due to leading rosary in public because I use a scriptural rosary resource, and because when I began praying the rosary again I made a deliberate effort to memorize those passages as an aid in meditation. It is just a matter of repetition.
I pretty much know the Sunday lectionary cycle and can call the gospel to mind, due to working in RCIA for so long, and the fact that for many years in all our CCD and other parish programs we have incorporated faith sharing with the Sunday readings (at least the Gospel) in all sessions.
Some of my catechists have a deep knowledge of scripture and many passages memorized and can bring to mind relevant passages all the time in their teaching. this is due I am sure to their practice of daily scripture reading and meditation, and daily Mass attendance.
I know monastics and their lay associates who have memorized most of the psalms and scriptural canticles contained in the LOTH due to daily recitation. I know most of the canticles and a lot of the frequently used psalms such as Ps 95, 51 etc due to praying LOTH. I know by heart scriptural passages used frequently in teaching sacramental preparation classes–such as the Good Shepherd, Prodigal Son, Zaccheus etc. for first penance, Last Supper accounts, Gospels for Cycle A in Lent etc for first communion and RCIA.
I know the passages relevant to the rosary mysteries due to leading rosary in public because I use a scriptural rosary resource, and because when I began praying the rosary again I made a deliberate effort to memorize those passages as an aid in meditation. It is just a matter of repetition.
I pretty much know the Sunday lectionary cycle and can call the gospel to mind, due to working in RCIA for so long, and the fact that for many years in all our CCD and other parish programs we have incorporated faith sharing with the Sunday readings (at least the Gospel) in all sessions.
Some of my catechists have a deep knowledge of scripture and many passages memorized and can bring to mind relevant passages all the time in their teaching. this is due I am sure to their practice of daily scripture reading and meditation, and daily Mass attendance.
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Will_Pick
Guest
I have two grandkids 8 and 10 that go to a Baptist church now called a non-denomination that are taugh to memorize the bible but so far they can just tell you all the books of the bible in order.
Most of the people I know that try to memorized the bible are Baptists.
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Talitha
Guest
Nuns who pray the Divine Office will soon remember many verses of Psalms. Which then come into the mind and heart when n eeded.
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flameburns623
Guest
I’ve memorized probably three dozen individual Bible passages, from various different translations, largely because I used a system of Scripture Memory Songs sold by Integrity Music, which ceased production of this series a few years ago. I have about a third of the tapes produced in that series and have memorized about half of the Bible verses committed to music on those tapes. This remains an on-going project for me. The use of music is a very great aid in memory work. My next project after completing that will be the memorization of the Gospel of John and the Epistle of Romans.
I knew a friend in the Army who was very big into Bible memorization. He knew hundreds of individual passages, had memorized a great many chapters and was learning to memorize several whole books of the NT along with a number of the Psalms and Proverbs. He was a member of an independent ‘Bible Baptist’ group which places great emphasis upon the memorization of Scripture. My father-in-law also memorizes the Scriptures. I knew a minister named Forest Bailey who had memorized huge portions of the New Testament, Pslams, and Proverbs and who was widely said to have memorized the entire NT, though he denied it. He was an ardent anti-Catholic who ironically sufferred a heart attack on the roof of the Vatican and I believe died up there.
I knew three or four Mormon Elders who had memorized probably two or three dozen passages of Scripture (both from the King James verrsion of the Bible and from LDS Scriptures) plus what are called the LDS Missionary Discussions. One had memorized any number of quotes from LDS General Authorities. All told he had memorized roughly as much material as might be found one one of the four Gospels.
Hank Hanegraaff, a well-known Protestant apologist, has memorized a great deal of the Bible, including the entire Gospel of John I believe. At last report he was actively endeavoring to memorize the entire book of Revelation. He heartily commends the practice of Scripture memorization as a personal spiritual discipline and as a way of truly putting on the Mind of Christ.
Most who memorize Scripture will memorize one of the major translations–my friend in the Army used the King James Version for memorization, as I recollect. Same with Forest Bailey and my father-in-law. Hanegraaff used to say that he used the NIV though recently he has mentioned using the New King James Version–so I don’t know which version he memorizes from. My father-in-law had a very good friend, now long deceased, who memorized directly from the Greek and Hebrew–specifically from the Textus Receptus, which my father-in-law and many other Protestants believe is the only reliable textual source of the New Testament. (My father-in-law is a KJV-Only advocate).
You might note that Roman Catholics would not be so much in the habit of Scripture memorization as would Protestants because for Roman Catholics it is the Church which is the authority for revealed truth, not the Bible itself. Catholics esteem the Bible as being inspired and infallible, but feel that the Bible is the product of the Church which interprets and applies the Bible with the living authority of God. For Protestants, God’s authority is communicated through the Bible to His Church, and the Church is subject to the Scriptures. Therefore, Protestants make the disciplined memorization of Scripure more of a priority. On the other hand, Catholics and some liturgical Protestants use the language of Scripture regularly in our fixed forms of worship, and so many of us have absorbed a great deal of Scripture without conscously setting out to memorize it.
The New Testament is roughly the length of the Holy Qu’ran. Muslims consider it a pious practice to memorize huge portions of the Qu’ran and many memorize the whole thing–in Arabic–as part of their religious training. Memorizing the entire NT is entirely within the abilities of many of us if only we sat down to do it. And such memory work would have the added bonus of helping to train our minds and to keep ourselves sharp as we grew older. Not to mention the great comfort the Scriptures can offer to one who might be bedridden or otherwise unable to access a printed book.
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Contarini
Guest
I believe there are people who have done this, but it’s rare. There are many people who have memorized the entire New Testament or the Psalms.
Bear in mind that for Christians Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus, not the Bible, is the full and complete revelation of God. The Bible is a divinely inspired witness to Jesus. It is the Word of God as well but in a secondary sense.
Jesus functions in Christianity much as the Qur’an does in Islam, and similarly the Bible plays a role in Christianity more like that of Muhammad in Islam. In other words, if I understand Islam correctly Muhammad is venerated because he was the prophet through whom the Qur’an was revealed. But in Christianity it’s the other way round–the Bible is venerated because it reveals Jesus.
Edwin
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flameburns623
Guest
Well put, Edwin!
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Semper_Fi_1
Guest
There’s also monks that memorize the book of Psalms.
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Semper_Fi_1
Guest
Does memorize = understand?
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Muslim
Guest
oh okay… yea i heard that monks used to memorize the Bible and i wanted to know if its still widely practiced today.
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Muslim
Guest
talk about sheer ignorance…did Isa (pbuh) tell you to be ignorant?
nowhere did I mention anything about Islam in this thread and you turn it into a Christian vs Islam thing…and you wonder why most of the world hates people like you
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Contarini
Guest
Bible memorization is widely practiced, especially among evangelical/fundamentalist Protestants.
Memorization generally is less common today because of the expansion of literacy.
Edwin
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jimmy
Guest
I am sure there are a few that know it so well that they have many books of the bible memorized. It is rare to find someone that has the whole thing memorized. Generally I think people have much worse memories now than they did a couple hundred years ago.
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Eden
Guest
Actually the reason that so many denominations have been created from the One True Church is that the devil knows where the Truth lives and he does not cease to attack and separate Christians. If you noticed, the devil hasn’t spent much time causing divisions between Muslims. You should be concerned by your lack of tumult.
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LilyM
Guest
Calm down
I’ve seen posts on other threads saying how wonderful your Islamic system of memorisation of the Quran is, that’s all. Most Islamic threads on here have, righIy or wrongly, turned into a free-for-all.I thought (wrongly as it turns out) that you were going to attack Christians for not having the Bible memorised in the same way. Just thought I’d get a good offence in rather than waiting to defend as I usually do
Humble apologies to you, thank you for your genuine interest in Christianity (unlike some who come on this forum, and that goes for other Christians as well as Muslims). Don’t let my occasional bursts of anger turn you off learning about Catholicism.
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