"Fahrenheit 451" and committing Scripture to memory?

[mommamaree]

I have heard all my life about a book called “Fahrenheit 451” but did not realize until yesterday that a movie by the same name existed. So I watched it on NetFlix today, and I was amazed at some of the prophetic points of the film. I intend to see if I can acquire the book on Kindle, so that I can read it, too.

Anyway, the way in which this relates to Sacred Scripture is this…

In the film, there were the “Book People” who committed to memory a single book, and that book became part of who they are, and the knowledge was passed on to an apprentice of sorts, who memorized the book before an older book person passed on. It reminded me very much of the oral tradition I was taught about that preceded the writing down of much of Sacred Scripture.

Considering the fact that we are never truly secure and confident that our Bibles will not be taken from us, or that Mass or any other beautiful facet of our faith will be banned by our governments, I have a question I hope CAF members will ponder and discuss with me.

Should we, in an effort to protect our Scriptures from destruction, and also to give the Word a deeper hold upon us as Christians, be taking up again the practice of committing Scriptures to memory? As an example, I could select the Gospel of John and diligently practice committing it entirely to memory without error until I have got it perfectly, while others might select a Psalm (or the entire Psalms) or the Apocalypse of John, etc.

Is this a reasonable faith practice to take up again in this modern world? Might it even be necessary? Also, I do realize that languages and translations do add certain complications to this endeavor, so any thoughts regarding that particular challenge are welcome for discussion, too.

Well, that is quite long enough of an opening post, so even though I could blather on further, I will stop here and wait for any responses others may have. Thank you and God bless!

 

[Peggy_in_Burien]

What a coincidence, as I just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 two days ago. It is almost scary how much of Ray Bradbury’s vision of the future has already come true, since it was written in 1950. I haven’t seen the movie, but in the book, the part about the in-home entertainment has already come true.

In the book, also, one of the books being memorized is the Bible. A whole book of the Bible would be committed to memory by a person. One of the books that Montag tries to smuggle to Faber is a copy of the Bible.

I think that it would be a commendable thing for people to memorize books of the Bible, or at least parts of books. When I was a kid, I knew many other kids from Protestant denominations who learned to memorize passages from the Bible. I was always amazed by them. At my Catholic school, this was not a requirement, so I never sought to learn them by heart. As an adult, I have some that I keep in my head.

I don’t know that I could memorize an entire book, but, as I say, it would be a worthy thing to try. We never know what our future could hold. In this post-1984 world, we already have books like Tom Sawyer and The Diary of Anne Frank banned from school libraries. Who knows what is next.

I made my living as a professional research reader and I cannot imagine a world without books, but already I was laid-off due to newspapers starting to fold up and die.

 

[mommamaree]

Hi Peggy!

It was great to read your reply. I am currently devouring the book, which is an astonishly fast read. There are so many points in the book that have direct one-to-one parallels in modern life. (For example, the ear bud devices are like an iPOD or Bluetooth, which give the illusion of communication to the wearer, but is odd and truly antisocial to the people in the presence of an habitual iPOD/Bluetooth user.)

You mentioned the difference in Protestant vs. Catholic expectations regarding use of Scripture. I think that was a very astute observation, and as a Catholic convert who was raised in a Protestant environment, I have seen your observation borne out in reality.

I think, because of the ubiquitous nature of the written word, as well as electronic media, our minds have grown sluggish, and we tend to underestimate the capacity of the human mind to precisely recall things/events/words, especially with respect to absolute memorization. And yet our brain is designed to do just that! Perhaps our fear and laziness are what prevent us from waking up and REALLY PAYING ATTENTION? I am going to ponder these things a while. After I finish Fahrenheit 451, I will get 1984 and Brave New World on my Kindle, as well. Very prophetic literature, IMHO.

 

[Peggy_in_Burien]

On a Kindle!!!

Oh, the heft and feel of a real book in one’s hands. The smell of the paper and ink, the sound of the pages as they turn. The walls lined with books…

I just moved from a medium sized house to a very tiny, low-income apartment, and I had a heck of a time fitting my nine bookcases and all the books into them. I gave up two bookcases, but not the books, so it has been a tight fit.

Brave New World was required reading when I was in college. A very interesting book, indeed, and many things have already come to pass and are no longer off in the future. I haven’t read 1984, yet, for reasons unknown.

What is interesting about reading old science fiction is the continuation of cigarette smoking. Of course, while the authors were looking into the future of robots (and basically ignoring computers), society at large, wasn’t as conscious of the dangers of smoking. I also notice, especially in Bradbury’s work, that home life is almost exactly the same as in the 1950s–stay at home mothers, fathers working.

And from a Catholic/Christian perspective, Bradbury’s writings have no sex and no foul language. I fell in love with him when I was a girl of 13, when he published his short story, The Inspired Chicken Bungalow Court (later republished as The Inspired Chicken Motel) in a November 1969 issue of West magazine.

 

[mommamaree]

On a Kindle!!!

Oh, the heft and feel of a real book in one’s hands. The smell of the paper and ink, the sound of the pages as they turn. The walls lined with books…

I just moved from a medium sized house to a very tiny, low-income apartment, and I had a heck of a time fitting my nine bookcases and all the books into them. I gave up two bookcases, but not the books, so it has been a tight fit.

I resisted the Kindle for so long. I was given one as a gift a couple of years ago, but never used it. It was only in the last few months that I gave it another go, mostly out of necessity. I have always been a book juggler, as in, I like to read multiple books, of various genres, simultaneously. I started the habit in middle school, when I would be reading textbooks, nonfiction, magazines/newspapers, and always working my way through a novel. The habit stuck. In my life as a minivan mom, shuttling my children to and from preschool and grade school (both are private Catholic/Christian schools, neither has bus transportation), I often found myself without adequate reading material while waiting for dropoff/pickup. So I gave the Kindle another try, and discovered that it helped me a lot. The same I found to be true about cell phones, Facebook, and electronic media usage in general. In order to be dependable and sociable, I needed these electronic assists. That being said, I am determined to be cautious about how much time I am using non-tangible “things”. Some people I know cannot maintain a normal conversation because they are so addicted to their cell phones. That frightens me. It is also unnerving when someone is looking right at me and speaking, and after replying uncertainly to their odd remark, they look at me disdainfully and carry on with their “conversation” without me. Their Bluetooth or cell-phone earbud was so hidden from view, and it requires no obvious change in body posture, that I would be confused by their behaviour until I put two-and-two together and realized they must be having a cell phone conversation.
The “parlors” in Fahrenheit 451 remind me very much of the media rooms in many peoples’ homes, too. The forgetfulness and absentmindedness of the characters was eerily familiar.
So it all boils down to…what should Christians do?
One book that I am juggling right now is “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” which dovetails nicely with “Fahrenheit 451”. Both books point to the importance of being aware of which paradigm through which one perceives reality. They both also urge the reader to consider the difference between character and personality, between principles and values.
So, I am wondering if incorporating Scripture memorization into my life would be vital to developing strength of character, to understand natural law and unchanging principles, to hold onto the light of the Gospel even as the world around us enters a dark age of secular totalitarianism.

 

[Peggy_in_Burien]

It sure couldn’t hurt–memorizing Scripture, I mean. I think that just taking the time to read some of the Bible every night before bed goes a long way to having it just sink in and become a part of you. The scientists like to say that all of us actually “remember” everything we read, but it is the recall part that is hard for most of us. A friend of mine said that his mother could recall and quote whole books. His recall is phenomenal, also.

Kindles have their place in the world, I’ll not deny it. My daughter the Staff Sergeant took one to Iraq and it allowed her to take her library with her. I am amazed when my other daughter’s husband is able to email and Skype from Afghanistan. My father was amazed that I was allowed to phone home once a week from Germany when I was in the service, while his letters took weeks to get home during WWII. And here I am Skyping tonight with my grandson who lives 1,000 miles away!

I watch certain “comfort” movies over and over again, until I have scripts memorized. I think it would be much the same with Scripture. What always amazes me is how some kids were able to memorize what book and verse it was. I can come up with phrases and can, of course, para-phrase most of it, but to have it exactly down is wonderful.

When I was a kid (in the Dark Ages), the sisters would have us memorize whole poems, some of which I can still quote. And just like our Catholic prayers and the Pledge to the Flag, we should be able to memorize some of the Psalms. Most folks can quote the 23rd Psalm, of course.