Hi folks!
Here’s a radically different approach: it’s much
easier if you memorize Scripture without any mnemonics at
all. In my experience, mnemonics actually make
memorizing Scripture harder.
This is my first post here on mnemotechnics – I am so
excited to discover this thread and listen in as you all
talk about your techniques. Here’s what’s worked for me.
"Stories" Are Easier Than Individual Verses
A few years ago, I memorized the entire Gospel of Mark. I
thought I needed mnemonics. I used the loci method, one
image per verse. I arranged the images carefully so that I
could find, say, Mark 13:2.
Then I maintained these memories with Anki flashcards, one
card per verse.
But I eventually discovered that breaking up Mark into
individual verses like this made it harder to remember them.
I lost all the context. I lost all the connections. It was
much easier when I memorized entire stories.
(I got this idea from the Network of Biblical Storytellers
(http://nbsint.org), some of whom have memorized several
books of the bible.)
Rhythms Make Memorizing Easier
Another major key for me: Biblical rhythms. Rhythm is
huge. Most, if not all, of the Bible is extremely
rhythmic. But we lose those rhythms by cramming the texts
into boxy columns. Which is easier to remember:
And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.
or this:
And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.
The huge chunk of paragraph is too much, and too boring, to
remember. But breaking it down into individual words, with
visual mnemonics, is, I think, also too much.
Memorizing is very personal, so if it works for you, that’s
great. For me, short, rhythmic lines are much more natural.
Think of all the song lyrics you’ve memorized without even
trying. Our minds are actually very good at remembering
texts, if we give them a chance.
Focus on the Words Themselves
After learning Mark, I’ve tried a new way of memorizing, and
it seems much more natural. I found it described in an old
book as the “cumulative method”. Basically, you start with
one verse a day, but really look at that verse. Say
it a few times throughout the day.
Tomorrow, say that verse again, and also learn one new
verse.
On the third day, say the two verses you’ve learned so far,
and learn a third verse.
This may seem slow, but you are training a new skill. You’re
training your mind to pay attention to the actual words you
see.
Perfection actually becomes easier than “almost” knowing the
verse, because with perfection, you have no hesitation. You
know what comes next.
Instead of diverting mental energy into mnemonics, you are
focusing your entire attention onto experiencing the words.
And not just your sense of sight: you say the words out
loud, you hear them, you even feel the shapes in your mouth
if you speak clearly.
And because you’re not using mnemonics, your imagination is
free to simultaneously delve into the meaning of what you’re
saying, whether that’s imagining a scene or connecting to
abstract feelings or ideas. And that’s the ultimate goal
anyway, right? We memorize this stuff so we can
think about it.
Gradually Learn Faster
At the end of a month (or so), you can learn two verses a
day. Next month, try three. And so on.
If you start now, and max out at five new verses per day,
you could learn the entire Gospel of John in about eight
months.
John has about 880 verses.
Month 1: 30
Month 2: 60
Month 3: 90
Month 4: 120
Month 5: 150
Month 6: 150
Month 7: 150
Month 8: 130 verses
Keep in mind, the entire New Testament is only about 8000
verses. You could probably learn even more verses per day if
you really wanted to – but at that point, I wouldn’t
consider it a “spare time” activity!
Do you repeat everything you’ve learned every day?
No. When I know a chapter perfectly, I give it a break, and
review it later. Ideally, I’d schedule my reviews of those
chapters using spaced repetition.
Loci to Navigate Large Chunks?
I’ve tried this cumulative system to learn John chapters 2
and 3. So far, it works great.
I’ve also found that reviewing the texts I’d already
learned, such as Mark, is much simpler when I focus on the
stories and rhythms. If my memory for a verse fails, the
most efficient response is to look at the text
again and form a clear impression.
No mnemonics, just attention and review. It really is
amazing how well you can remember something simply by giving
it as much attention as you can, and repeating it a few
times a day over several days.
Now, I’m open to the possibility that I might ultimately use
a small “memory palace” to store navigational markers to the
stories in each chapter. For instance, John 2 would have two
mnemonics, one for the Wedding Feast at Cana and one for the
Cleansing of the Temple.
I don’t know yet whether you’d need those mnemonics to help
navigate a large amount of material. Even so, we’re talking
two or three mnemonics a chapter – quick and easy.
I do know, from experience, that this “cumulative method” of
training your attention is much simpler, more natural, and
ultimately faster than trying to use mnemonics on every word
or even every verse as you memorize Scripture.
I’ve written a whole series of articles on this technique
over at my blog. Since it’s Advent, I’m helping some people
memorize the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-20, one verse a
day. Every day, I’m posting a new verse and a new memory
article explaining more about how to memorize without
mnemonics.
You can start here, with the slideshow:
http://howtoremember.biz/learn/advent/start
At the end of that article, you can follow the link to the
next article, and work through the series.
For a similar but different perspective, here’s a review of
and link to a great article by Dennis Dewey, a professional
storyteller who explains how he’s memorized several books of
the Bible:
http://howtoremember.biz/review/tools-scripture-heart-dewey
And here’s a selection from that old book that talked about
the “cumulative method”:
http://howtoremember.biz/cumulative-method
And that’s probably enough for a first post! I’m excited to
hear what you all think.
Bill Powell
I used them for years, and enjoyed them,
But until then, I am sticking with Scriptures.