I have listened to a few different individual's Bible radio programs, including Steve's and noticed that, especially Steve, has an unusual ability or talent for remembering facts and information and being able to recall that information at any given time.
I was wondering if it's just a talent that comes naturally, or if there are strategies to get better...
Thanks,
Lee
Reading and memory
Re: Reading and memory
I know that Hank H. has taught courses on memory and also has memorized certain books of the Bible. I have read books over the years about memory improvement, but never found any of them to teach methods that worked for me.
My own memory is not what it used to be. I still remember most of the important things I learned as a younger man, but my short-term memory is much worse than it once was. I am glad I studied so much as a youth, since I didn't know at the time that I would depend so much on that early acquisition later in life. Young people, devote your minds to God in the best years of your youth, before it's too late!
I am often asked what methods I have used to study and/or memorize scripture and related data, but I am not aware of having done anything more than to read and listen. I think one tends to remember things that one values. As a child, and especially as a young man, I valued nothing more than to know the mind of God, and I was sure that the best place to acquire such knowledge was from the Bible, which (I never doubted for a moment) is His Word. I remember meditating on scripture during recess while in the second grade, and while working on assignments in junior high school. I got filled with the Holy Spirit, at age 16, and my hunger to know the Word of God increased tremendously. When, soon afterward, I began teaching regularly to my fellow Jesus People at school, I found that my retention of Bible information was better than I had previously realized.
Whatever knowledge of the Bible I possess, I must attribute to a combination of having read through the scriptures dozens of times, with hunger and attention to detail, and continual meditation, combined with what I have always assumed to be a special gift from God. There is very little scripture that I have consciously memorized, and I generally quote from familiarity, not memorization (which is why my citations are seldom perfect or verbatim). As for whatever other historical or relevant information I have in my head, most of it is there from biblical studies I did while in my twenties and thirties. I still study just about as much as I did then, but with poorer retention of new material.
Since I teach by vocation, I have had many opportunities to repeat the information over the years to various audiences (in fact, I have had to answer some of the same biblical questions so many times that my greatest challenge is to avoid answering in a pat formula). Verbal repetition also tends to aid the memory.
My own memory is not what it used to be. I still remember most of the important things I learned as a younger man, but my short-term memory is much worse than it once was. I am glad I studied so much as a youth, since I didn't know at the time that I would depend so much on that early acquisition later in life. Young people, devote your minds to God in the best years of your youth, before it's too late!
I am often asked what methods I have used to study and/or memorize scripture and related data, but I am not aware of having done anything more than to read and listen. I think one tends to remember things that one values. As a child, and especially as a young man, I valued nothing more than to know the mind of God, and I was sure that the best place to acquire such knowledge was from the Bible, which (I never doubted for a moment) is His Word. I remember meditating on scripture during recess while in the second grade, and while working on assignments in junior high school. I got filled with the Holy Spirit, at age 16, and my hunger to know the Word of God increased tremendously. When, soon afterward, I began teaching regularly to my fellow Jesus People at school, I found that my retention of Bible information was better than I had previously realized.
Whatever knowledge of the Bible I possess, I must attribute to a combination of having read through the scriptures dozens of times, with hunger and attention to detail, and continual meditation, combined with what I have always assumed to be a special gift from God. There is very little scripture that I have consciously memorized, and I generally quote from familiarity, not memorization (which is why my citations are seldom perfect or verbatim). As for whatever other historical or relevant information I have in my head, most of it is there from biblical studies I did while in my twenties and thirties. I still study just about as much as I did then, but with poorer retention of new material.
Since I teach by vocation, I have had many opportunities to repeat the information over the years to various audiences (in fact, I have had to answer some of the same biblical questions so many times that my greatest challenge is to avoid answering in a pat formula). Verbal repetition also tends to aid the memory.
Re: Reading and memory
Thanks for the info. I'm 29 and haven't had the same experience as a child. Were you encouraged to read and learn the Bible when a kid? It seems like a very challenging task to make reading consistent, and reading has always hurt my head. I try to listen to a lot of lectures, but it feels like stuff doesn't stick. I know I'm more of a kinesthetic and visual person, which I appreciate, but it has its disadvantages when coming to reading and listening. Oh well. Just gotta work harder than others I guess.