Scripture and the Mind
Recently as I was reading about people from countries where Christians are persecuted, I came across a particular story regarding house churches in Russia. It seems that 3 House Church pastors had started multiple House Churches, but none of the groups knew about the others. This is a security thing. Wanting to somehow let them know that they were not alone, the 3 pastors got government permission to hold a week long Youth Convention. All told 700 students showed up. None of them had Bibles yet all of them were in House Churches. During the week they were given the assignment of getting with their particular group and writing down all they could remember of the 4 gospels, and to write the lyrics to all the Christian songs they knew. At the end of the week when the results were compiled, they had all 4 gospels written with less than a dozen mistakes and they had lyrics to 1200 songs. Phenomenal!
However, some years later, after restrictions had been lifted and almost everyone had a Bible and churches could meet openly, Bible memorization had dropped to almost nothing. That prompted me to recall that during the OT times oral tradition was the means of passing down scripture. Later there were scrolls, but those were very limited and few could read them. In the NT early disciples would memorize great amounts of scripture as well as the teachings of their Rabbis. In Islam, most followers can quote large amounts of the Quran.
It seems to me that our brains were made to connect with scripture, and memorizing and meditating on scripture is a practice that stimulates the brain as well as boost the spirit.
Could it be that the sharp rise in dementia and Alzheimers is due to the fact that we are no longer memorizing and meditating on scripture? After all, God said to Joshua "This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do." (Joshua 1:8) Also, the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 1 "Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Ps. 1:2-3)
Is it possible that a treatment for dementia might be the reading or hearing of scripture?
Selah
However, some years later, after restrictions had been lifted and almost everyone had a Bible and churches could meet openly, Bible memorization had dropped to almost nothing. That prompted me to recall that during the OT times oral tradition was the means of passing down scripture. Later there were scrolls, but those were very limited and few could read them. In the NT early disciples would memorize great amounts of scripture as well as the teachings of their Rabbis. In Islam, most followers can quote large amounts of the Quran.
It seems to me that our brains were made to connect with scripture, and memorizing and meditating on scripture is a practice that stimulates the brain as well as boost the spirit.
Could it be that the sharp rise in dementia and Alzheimers is due to the fact that we are no longer memorizing and meditating on scripture? After all, God said to Joshua "This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to recite it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do." (Joshua 1:8) Also, the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 1 "Instead, his delight is in the Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Ps. 1:2-3)
Is it possible that a treatment for dementia might be the reading or hearing of scripture?
Selah
Comments