# I'm Going to Read the Bible Out Loud, Beginning to End **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552 "2010-11-13T14:17:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/21 "2010-11-16T18:36:06Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > But I’m literally pulling that figure out of my ass. I hope no one else uses your keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/22 "2010-11-16T18:50:49Z")
According to _Ripley’s Believe It or Not_, [Rachel Macrimmon](http://books.google.com/books?id=pgxCWhreacIC&pg=PA133&lpg=PA133&dq=Ripley%27s+believe+it+or+not+memorize+entire+Bible&source=bl&ots=EBUGMhDhVv&sig=9Z75WI9U4boPG9mGflzs17F65d4&hl=en&ei=z9HiTNrWK8GOnwe186WjAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)memorized the entire Bible. I don’t know if that is a credible cite, or not. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/23 "2010-11-16T19:55:04Z")
Just clocked in to say that the movie referenced by the OP “The Book of Eli” was a great movie. I tell my friends it is a combination of Mad Max, Kung Fu, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Fallout 3 ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/24 "2010-11-16T23:27:08Z")
> [@prettydorky](#): > > The _entire_ bible? I know that plenty of people know huuuge amounts of it, but to be able to recite even the completely useless verses from memory? Word for word? Historically not uncommon? Do you have a cite? I believe [Jack van Impe](http://www.jvim.com/scripturememorization.htm) claims to have memorized right around half the Bible, including most of the New Testament. Specifically, he claims to have committed to memory about 14,000 verses out of the 31,000 or so in the non-Apocrypha versions. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/25 "2010-11-17T01:40:31Z")
Supposedly Kim Peek memorized many books and could recite from them from memory: > **[Kim Peek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek)** > > Laurence Kim Peek (November 11, 1951 – December 19, 2009) was an American savant. Known as a "megasavant", he had an exceptional memory, but he also experienced social difficulties, possibly resulting from a developmental disability related to congenital brain abnormalities. He was the inspiration for the character Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 movie Rain Man. Although Peek was previously diagnosed with autism, he is now thought to have had FG syndrome. The Utah Film Center's Peek Aw Laurence Kim... ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/26 "2010-11-17T02:16:29Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > One Bible I used to own actually had a suggested guide for reading the whole thing in a year- x-number of chapters and verses a day. Yeah, but that isn’t really intended for out loud I don’t think. > [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > I believe [Jack van Impe](http://www.jvim.com/scripturememorization.htm) claims to have memorized right around half the Bible, including most of the New Testament. Specifically, he claims to have committed to memory about 14,000 verses out of the 31,000 or so in the non-Apocrypha versions. Yeah, he’s one of the top people for having the Bible memorized. He has to practice a ton to keep it up, though. ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/27 "2010-11-18T00:52:00Z")
For those unfamiliar with it, [Librivox.org](http://Librivox.org) is a site where volunteers record free audio versions of public domain books. Their full renditions of the [Old Testament](http://librivox.org/old-testament-world-english-bible/) and [New Testament](http://librivox.org/world-english-bible-new-testament/) from the World English Bible run 58:02:02 and 19:20:46 respectively. So that’s in line with the two-week estimate. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/28 "2010-11-18T01:13:26Z")
The youth of the Episcopal diocese of Kansas have an annual reading of the entire Bible, out loud. During a long-weekend in January they gather in Topeka, at the cathedral, for Miqra. It’s a Hebrew word that I believe refers to reading the Scriptures out loud. Reading is done is one hour shifts. They start on Friday and end on Sunday, going all day and all night. While the reading is going on the youth have other events, Bible studies, youth forums, games, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/29 "2010-11-19T22:44:37Z")
[QUOTE= I don’t mean the “from memory” part; obviously that would be impossible. [/QUOTE] Not impossible but requires special capability. People who can do such are savants. The can recite the value of Pi to a very large number of digits and similar feats. There are other normal people who can do similar things from memory. I knew a PhD scientist at a National Laboratory who read a lot of books and could recall specific information as well as the chapter, page #and paragraph. Do a search of the web for “savamts” and “Feats of Memory”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/30 "2010-11-20T00:31:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Not impossible but requires special capability. People who can do such are savants. Memorizing large bodies of text doesn’t require that one be a savant; it merely requires dedication and time. The only reason it seems impossible to most folks is that most folks aren’t willing to put in the time needed. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552/31 "2010-11-20T05:08:28Z")
I once saw, on one of those “Believe It Or Not” shows that there was a person who had memorized all of Stephen King’s “It”. The host asked an audience member to pick a page number, paragraph number, and sentence number, and the guest started with the text of the book at that point (the camera on the book to show he wasn’t lying), even over the subsequent awed applause, until the host stopped him. If that can be done with a Stephen King book (pretty big - I read it myself a few times and used to have it in my library - but I don’t think as big as the Bible) I don’t doubt it can be done with the Bible. Unlike the Bible, though, I think this guy is the only one who has that trick for that book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-read-the-bible-out-loud-beginning-to-end/560552.md?page=1)