A man who can recite all the verses in all the 66 books of the Bible, both from the Old and New Testament, from memory will be heading a Bible memorisation course at the California-based Shasta Bible College and Graduate School this fall.
This is definitely not an ordinary feat considering that the King James version of the Bible, according to amazingbibletimeline.com, has 1,189 chapters, 31,102 verses and 783,137 words.
According to The Christian Post, Tom Meyer, also a member of Wordsower International Ministries, has impressed people with his uncanny ability to recite lengthy passages from the Bible based on memory. He has performed before audiences in various churches across America.
For his course, Meyer will also be teaching his students how to memorise the Bible in the best medium they know how. "The students are graded on their accuracy of memorising a smaller book in one semester and presenting that book dramatically, from memory, in their local church or in our chapelservice," he explained.
To maximise teacher-student interaction, Meyer has limited his class to only 12 students.
"Whether they memorise by reading aloud, hearing, or writing, the necessity to meditate on the text will establish the Word in their heart and hopefully provide them with a greater walk with God," he said.
Meyer will be sharing his "memory tactics" in the course, which are "the same techniques I was taught while living in Jerusalem," where he earned two master's degrees from Jerusalem University College.
He said he was able to learn some of the ancient mnemonic techniques from his relationships with Greek Orthodox monks, when he stayed with them in the Wilderness of Judah, as well as Rabbis, and Yeshiva students on Mt. Zion.
"The essence of those techniques are essentially reading aloud the text continuously while using the format of the page to help photograph the page on your mind, to listen to the text being read aloud in a dramatic fashion, and writing out the verse numerous times while speaking the verse at the same time," he explained.