Exciting Announcement: My newest book, The Bible by Heart: The Bible’s Own Method for Scripture Memory is launching today! I’d love for you to pick up a copy for yourself and for a friend!
Here is an interview about memorizing Scripture and this book that will be posted in a few days on The Good Book Blog (the Talbot School of Theology Faculty Blog at Biola University). The Good Book Blog has permitted me to post this interview at my own blog a few days in advance of posting on their site. Here’s the interview:
Good Book Blog (GBB): Congratulations on your new book!
Ken Berding (KB): Thank you. I’m excited to share this book with people who want to memorize Scripture.
GBB: In one sentence, can you tell us what the book is about?
KB: The Bible by Heart answers the question: How come people in Bible times memorized so much Scripture when we have memorized so little? How did they do it?
GBB: Technically that was two sentences…
KB: That’s true. But the second sentence was really short, so it doesn’t count.
GBB: I noticed that you have strong endorsements for this book, including from Vern Poythress, Keith Krell, and Janet Pope, the last who wrote a book on Bible memorization herself. And, of course, two of your endorsements come from Biolans: Erik Thoennes and Melissa Schubert Johnson. Why do you think so many are willing to recommend this book?
KB: All my endorsers, including those you didn’t mention, are Bible memorizers themselves. They have personally benefitted from hiding God’s Word in their hearts. I know that they desire others to receive the spiritual help they themselves have received from knowing chunks of Scripture. I think all my endorsers are excited to be able to recommend a book that describes how to memorize the Bible according to the Bible.
GBB: Do you sense a current upturn in interest in memorizing Scripture?
KB: Yes…though the increase is most noticeable among younger adults. I personally know five Biola students who have recently memorized the entire book of Romans. I know dozens of others who have memorized other biblical books—sometimes multiple biblical books. This past year some students started an (informal) Bible-memory club on campus. I am aware of at least a dozen students who are partnering with a friend or group of friends to memorize. All these young men and women are memorizing longer portions of Scripture.
GBB: But isn’t memorizing difficult? Most people associate memorizing…with pain.
KB: Scripture memory isn’t difficult if you do it the way they did in Bible times—not to mention the way they did it during a lot of church history. Memorizing isn’t nearly as hard as you might think if you use tried-and-true methods of ancient peoples, that is, people who were really good at memorizing. But it does take time—and if you want to memorize, you will have to set aside adequate time to do it. So…it is somewhat time-consuming, but not difficult if you do it right.
GBB: How about a sneak preview? I know that you scoured the Bible to discover the various practices that people in Bible-times used to memorize longer passages of Scripture. So, how did they do it?
KB: Each chapter in The Bible by Heart focuses on one memorization practice found in the Bible. Those practices in combination constitute a method. Here are the book’s ten chapter titles. (The first word—in italics—is the chapter title; the following words are ultra-short snapshots.)
- Value: Grow in your love for God’s Word. It’ll make memorizing easier.
- Read: Read your passage aloud repeatedly—fifty times before you do anything else.
- Listen: Actively listen to your passage—hundreds of times.
- Sing: Engage another part of your brain using music.
- Display: Hang the words of Scripture on your walls.
- Write: Repeatedly handwrite your passage.
- Pray: Turn your passage upward in prayer. This is especially good for psalms.
- Share: Learn with a partner and recite what you’ve already learned.
- Meditate: Think deeply about what you’ve memorized to drive it deeper.
- Review: Pull these practices together and repeat.
GBB: Thanks for the short summary. I’m sure that there are a lot more details in the book about how to really make it work.
KB: Yes, there are lots of practical suggestions and encouraging examples. The blurb on the back cover describes the book well. Would you like to hear it?
GBB: Yes please.
KB: Explore the multifaceted approach employed by God’s people for centuries to memorize books and chapters of the Bible. With step-by-step guidance, practical tips, and encouraging stories, The Bible by Heart ignites your passion to embrace Scripture in your heart. No gimmicks, just proven principles straight from God’s Word for new believers and seasoned Christians alike. Revitalize your spiritual life as you learn to treasure Scripture “the Bible way.”
GBB: How big is this book? Will it take long to read?
KB: The Bible by Heart is intentionally short, coming in at around 100 pages. Even the print is slightly larger than many books you’ll read, which makes reading easier. No one wants to read a long book about Bible memorization. What we’re looking for are a few words of encouragement and instruction from God’s Word about how to memorize. Most of us want to get to the task of memorizing as quickly as possible.
GBB: One more question… How has memorizing been important to you?
KB: Learning chapters and books of the Bible has been one of the most spiritually formative things I’ve done in my life. Just last night, I woke up in the middle of the night and struggled to get back to sleep. So, as has been my habit for the past five years, I silently—so as not to wake up my wife!—quoted through sections of Scripture. Thinking about words straight from the Bible helped me think thoughts that matter—and helped me fall asleep as well.
Today I’ve been meditating on a previously memorized portion of Scripture during momentary breaks in my work. The renewal that has come through knowing large portions of God’s Word has been life-shaping. My fervent hope and prayer is that this upcoming generation of young people will choose to radically commit to God’s Word—that they will firmly decide not just to repeat general “principles” which they think are in the Bible, but commit to memorizing the living and active Word of God…by heart.
GBB: Thank you for introducing us to your new book, Ken. We wish you all the best on its launch. Readers can pick up copies for themselves…and for their Christian friends HERE, HERE, or HERE.
Kindle Afresh 