Re: Jesus' prayer about us

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brad How did the early Christians learn & grow in their faith since there weren't any Bibles?

Great question Brad and one that many unfortunately use thinking that they can easily get out of studying the Bible with. The truth is however that back in those days, children were raised to memorize the old testament and had done so long before they were adults. When the Church was born and the apostles began writing the letters that we now call the New Testament, the letters were first read to the group of people they were sent to. That group would study the letter and memorize it quickly. It was then passed on to the other groups and each group would memorize it before passing it on to the next one. By the time John wrote Revelation, all the converts knew what we call the New Testament by heart--except for Revelation of course. But they did the same thing with that manuscript as well and added it to their memories.

I know today that many find this totally "incredible" and some would even go so far as to think it cruel to make little children memorize things like that at such young ages. Yet the Jews took what God had told them to do quite literally. He told them:

Deuteronomy 31:10-13 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

I posted about how this was done last year I think... I just bumped up the thread so it could be found easily:

The Dumbing Down of the Bible and Our Kids

So you see, while there may not have been bibles back then, they did know God's Word. The interesting thing about memorization is that in order to continue to remember it, they had to think about it regularly, doing just as the Lord had commanded and talking about it all the time with each other. If they didn't do that, it would eventually fade from their memory.

I actually found this to be true too working with the elderly who had Alzheimer's or who were senile. Many of them wouldn't recognize members of their family--their own children or spouses etc. But they could remember bible verses and hymns! The older they were, the more they seemed to remember the things that really counted like God's Word. Of course this was only true of the ones that had really sought the Lord with all their hearts when they were younger. They had stored up His Word in their hearts, and it was still there to comfort them when they were old and needed it. Those who had just gone to church because they "had" to, didn't have those memories of God's Word. To me that also shows the divine power of God's Word, and God's mercy toward His children. Even if everything else goes, His Word lives forever even in minds weakened by disease or age.

Even during the dark ages when the RCC was in control and doing all they could to prevent people from even hearing God's Word in their own language, much less having a copy of it for their own. God managed to get His Word to His Children, even if it was just snippets of it here and there. There were always men who studied to be priests and learned the Word, and would sneak it to their friends as well and things like that. It was still food for their souls and they devoured it and grew. Of course I'm sure that the Lord Himself spoke His Word into the minds of His children then as well. I know from my own experience that He has placed entire passages in my mind in an instant and all at once, that I didn't know and didn't remember reading. So I'm quite sure He did that then as well. He will never let down any of His Children who are seeking Him with all their hearts. Eventually though Bibles were printed and eventually the reformation happened.

Like so many other things today though, we take our Bibles and the great privilege of having them for granted. Now instead of fighting for the right to read and study the Bible, people fight for the right to at least ignore it, if not burn it, deface it, ridicule it, and get rid of it altogether. How sad that we so often ignore the wonderful gift of God's Word that has been given to us.

 

Here’s a link to the thread on FH about this if you’d like to join us there. (I don’t always post everything on the blog that is posted in the threads)

Jesus' prayer about us