Introduction
I remember David Pent telling me how his father taught him to fill his heart with the Word before filling his stomach with food. I will never forget his smile, the joyous grip of his handshake, and how Scripture poured out of his mouth to water my often thirsty soul. He always had an uplifting Psalm to share with me at Church, and this he would do from heart.1
I never asked him how much of the Bible he committed to memory, but I am convinced that he had the majority of the New Testament and Psalter memorized. He cherished the word of God, for as the Psalmist says, “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” (Ps. 119:72).
He encouraged me to be more committed to Scripture memory. To not just have single verses or chapters in my heart, but to pursue entire books; and not just to memorize, but to meditate. As Thomas Watson said,
“The reason we come away so cold from reading the Word, is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation. As a hammer drives a nail to the head — so meditation drives a truth to the heart.”
An Approach to Memorizing Books of the Bible
I think it is also important to know the exact verse numbers. If I happen to draw a blank in the middle of a chapter while reciting, I do not want to start back at the very beginning in order to continue. I want the ability to quote extended passages of Scripture forwards, backwards, and any verse within a book upon command.
In order to be able to recite the Bible with this degree of flexibility, I use the memory palace technique and a number system. I have both a 2 digit and 3 digit number system, that is, I have 1,100 pre-defined images for 00-99, and 000-999.2
There are many approaches to memorizing Scripture such as through singing, rote repetition, writing out by hand, the first letter method, etc. But, I prefer using the memory palace for the type of organization it provides, and the ease of retrieval through mental imagery.3 I will only be sharing how I approach Scripture memorization, and not arguing for the use of a specific method. I do not believe there is one right way to memorize texts verbatim.
Preparing Memory Palaces
I am currently memorizing the book of Colossians. Before I start the actual memorization process, I plan out the structure of memory palaces and determine how many loci are needed for each chapter.
Chapter One: 29 verses
Chapter Two: 23 verses
Chapter Three: 25 verses
Chapter Four 18: Verses
Since there are four chapters, I would need four memory palaces consisting of 95 loci in order to encode each verse. If you do not know how to build a memory palace, you can read, “How to Build a Memory Palace” or listen to Episode 12 on the Craft of Memory Podcast.
Linking Memory Palaces
If I were to recite Colossians from start to finish through the memory palace technique, I want to be able to mentally navigate from one palace to the next without having to wonder, “What palace did I use for the next chapter?” There should be a natural and intuitive movement as to avoid stumbling over words and lengthy pauses.
There are at least three ways I could accomplish this, namely by linking through: 1) alliterated memory palaces, 3) thematic memory palaces, and 3) numbered memory palaces.
Alliterated Memory Palaces
Memory Palace #1: College Campus
Memory Palace #2: Cousin’s House
Memory Palace #3: Corey’s House
Memory Palace #4: Christopher’s House
This approach to linking palaces has been popularized by the mnemonist, Anthony Metivier. Since, Colossians starts with the letter C, one can choose four memory palaces that start with the letter C.
Thematic Memory Palaces
Another way to link memory palaces is through a theme or an association of a prominent verse. When I think the book of Colossians, the verse that immediately comes to mind is Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” So, perhaps one may use the houses of people filled with Scripture and display a love for God’s word.
Thematic Memory Palaces
Memory Palace #1: Person [1]
Memory Palace #2: Person [2]
Memory Palace #3: Person [3]
Memory Palace #4: Person [4]
Numbered Memory Palaces
If you do not prefer to link your palaces alphabetically or by theme, you can link them through a 2 or 3 digit number system.
Memory Palace #1: Office
Memory Palace #2: My House
Memory Palace #3: Conference Center
Memory Palace #4: Neighborhood Park
Notice that the memory palaces above do not all start with the letter C, and there is not a consistent theme that ties them all together, they are just simply numbered. I will explain how to create number systems in a later post, but in my systems each digit from 00-99, and 000-999 have predetermined images.
For example, in my 2 digit system, 01 = Sad, 02 = Sun, 03 = Sumo, and 04 = Sour. If I were to link them through numbers, I could attach those images to the four palaces that represent each chapter. So, that when I think of the number one, I am immediately brought to memory palace #1, and when I think of the number two, I am immediately brought to memory palace #2, and so on.
01 = Sad, so when I see this number, I see a “black balloon” because a black balloon reminds me of sadness. If my first memory palace was an office, I could imagine black balloons at the entrance. To make it even more memorable, I could imagine the balloons in the shape of computers, desks, and office chairs floating in the sky. Then I would repeat this process by creating imagery for memory palaces 2, 3, and 4.
Linking Palaces
For the alliterated and thematic memory palaces that do not have an associated with a number attached to them, I could remember their order by threading them together through the Link Method.
Alliterated Memory Palaces: I could use the story — at my “College Campus” I saw my “Cousin” who asked me if we could play board games at “Corey’s House” with his friend “Christopher.” Movement: College —> Cousin —> Corey —> Christopher.
Thematic Memory Palaces: [Mike] went to [Justin’s] house in order to watch a movie. They receive a phone call from [Nathan] who said that he was running late and was going to bring some food over soon. Once the food arrived, [Nick] brought everyone popcorn. Movement: Mike —> Justin —> Nathan —> Nick.
If have a story in the back of mind that links one chapter to the next as I am reciting Colossians, it can aid me as I mentally navigate through a string of memory palaces.4
Memory Wheel
So, let us imagine that you memorized all the letters of Paul. We would want to be able to access each chapter of any book without hesitancy and to quote any verse with ease. We also need to keep track of all our memory palaces and have them neatly organized in our mind like an internal library. One way I like to do this is through the Memory Wheel.
I could imagine this wheel displayed before my mental eye. There are three wheels that I can turn, namely: 1) The Book Wheel, 2) Chapter Wheel, and 3) Verse Wheel. If I wanted to locate Colossians 2:5-10, I can turn the first wheel with an imaginary hand to Colossians, the second wheel to two, and the third wheel to 5-10 so they all align together. Then at the very center of the wheel, the hole, I can imagine a door that opens up which leads me directly into the second memory palace of Colossians at the 5th location.
Conclusion
What I have discovered through my studies on the memory arts tradition is that the memory palace has been used throughout the history of Christian church. Detailed treatises on mnemonics and memory training have been written for the purposes of encouraging Scripture memorization, understanding history, and learning the confessions. One of the goals of this newsletter is to recover this lost art of memory. Thinking carefully about the structure of your palaces will be helpful during recall and for internally organizing texts. In my next post, I will explain how to create a number system for memorizing verse numbers.
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Thanks for reading!
I recently found out that David Pent was one of the eight children from the book, “Ten P’s in a Pod: A Million-Mile Journey of the Arnold Pent Family.” A family that traveled around the United States and Canada in the early 1950’s to share the Gospel message, publicly recite Scripture, and to encourage families in Bible reading.
You do not need to have a 3 digit system, but I have found 3 digit system helpful for memorizing Scripture references. For example, if I wanted to memorize the reference, Genesis 3:15, instead of using two images from a 2 digit system, 03 and 15, I can simply memorize 315 with one image from a 3 digit system.
I must clarify, this is not to say that one cannot have a sense of organization with other approaches or that only the memory palace allows one to easily navigate texts, it is just an approach that I prefer to use. I recognize the many benefits of singing, writing out by hand, rote repetition, the first letter method, etc.
I tend to use thematic palaces combined with a numbering system or numbered palaces. I think it is faster to access memory palaces when they are associated with images from a number system in contrast to the Link Method. When I think about a story, I have to first think how one item interacts with subsequent items, whereas with a number system, it is only required to think of a single number.
Ronald this is terrific! I had never heard of the memory wheel. Until now we had used Memorize Academies linked story method for the books of the Bible, but you have opened up a whole new level of focus. I will share this with my homeschool connections who will certainly love it :)
First of all, your Substack has been incredibly helpful and inspiring! Thank you.
I have what I’m sure is a too complicated question, but I’ll at least give it a shot! Ha
My primary memory tasks are poetry and scripture. I have used the memory palace with decent success, but I’ve had a hard time recalling word for word when returning to a passage after a few weeks of not practicing that specific section each day.
In the last two months, I’ve been using the first letter technique. That seems to help me get the precise words, but I’d like to integrate the staying power of the palace, which is so valuable.
Any advice on connecting whole lines to loci? Should I be selecting 2-3 key words per line, or do I need more loci?
Maybe this is where the number system comes in. I know you plan to expound that later.
Also, pumped to learn more about the memory wheel! Amazing.