QUICK Qs: Which Biblical Character is Your First Memory?

We dive into our earliest biblical memories, revealing surprisingly different formative experiences with scripture that shaped our faith journeys.

• David's first Bible story memory is Zacchaeus, remembered through the children's song "Zacchaeus was a wee little man"
• Songs stick with children, which is why they're such an effective teaching tool
• One panelist's earliest memory was the crucifixion, which felt noble but incomprehensible as a child
• Charlton Heston's "The Ten Commandments" and family Passover Seders formed another's first biblical impressions
• Even Mel Brooks' comedic interpretation of Moses dropping the commandments served as an early biblical introduction
• The varied experiences highlight different ways children encounter and interpret scripture

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Quick questions with David.
All right, give me a backup.
Sing Javi, there it is Allright so we have quick questions
today and we don't even knowwhat the question's going to be,
so why don't you enlighten us,David?
All right.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
What is the earliest Bible story that you remember?
What's the earliest Bible storyyou remember being taught?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Zacchaeus was a wee little man.
A wee little man, was he?
That is the very first thingthat popped into my head.
Really, yeah, yeah, yeah, dude,that's VBS all day.
That's very first thing.
I mean, it's just one of look,songs, songs, stick, songs,
stick.
It's the reason you teach kidsthose things.
So Zacchaeus is the first onethat comes to mind.
He was a wee little man.

(00:43):
A wee little man was he Climbedup in a sycamore tree to see
what he could see.
So that's what I know.
That's my first one.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Wow, that is completely different than what I
would have thought.
You said Like that is, this iswhy we do this.
This is great, I'm learningmore about you myself.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, there you go.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Wow, the fact that I like children's songs that's my
first memory will be, or likefirst story, it will be the
crucifixion.
Oh ouch, and I was young all Iremember was jesus on a cross
bleeding, so yeah, I think itwas.
It was always that and I neverunderstood it.
I just didn't understand it,like it just never like
registered for me of what thatis for what he done us.
It was more like there was thisman that was crucified and we

(01:30):
worship him or we follow him orsomething.
So that was my earliest memoryand I just thought it was noble.
I thought like, wow, okay, hedid it for something.
Sorry, that's what I had to do.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
I think your experience is very consistent
with many people, right.
I mean, just, I know the guy, Iknow what he did, but I don't
get it.
I think that's a, that's acommon, just a common thing.
I mean it's one of the thingsthat we have to.
One of the things we have towork on as as Christians right,
making sure that people eitherdo get it or understand that
you'll get it later, right.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
Yeah, for me it's probably Charlton Heston's the
Ten Commandments, the movie.
I just remember it being onevery year.
We'd watch it every year and Ijust remember the story of Moses
and then learning about thatstory at a Passover Seder at my
family, my grandfather's house.
We'd go there every year and itwould be a traditional Orthodox

(02:25):
Seder that my family, mygrandfather's house, we'd go
there every year and it would bea traditional Orthodox Seder
that we'd have.
That would take way too manyhours and I was just hungry and
wanted to eat, but we'd besitting there for hours going
through a book called theHaggadah, which is the prayer
book that you do for the Seder,and I just it was.
It's a fond memory.
It's something that I look backat with with, with just
fondness to make me smile, butit definitely by far was it and

(02:48):
it's my favorite, which is it'smy first memory.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
It's also my favorite story of the bible, so it's
probably thanks to my, mygrandfather you talking about
the 10 commandments actuallymakes me want to amend my answer
, because before I knew any ofthose things, about any of those
things, I knew mel bro Brooks,moses, with the 15 commandments,
I come down to bring you the 15, 10 commandments and I had no

(03:11):
idea what that meant, but Ifound it to be the funniest
thing in the world becausebecause I mean everybody you
kind of can't grow up in Americawithout knowing what the 10
commandments are, right, even ifyou don't know anything else.
But yeah, so, mel Brooks,dropping, dropping the first
command, the first tablet, washysterical to me.
So I love that.
It's such a funny movie.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
All right guys thanks again for great questions.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
We learn more every week.
And as always, we appreciatethose who listen and we look
forward to talking to you nextweek.
Thanks, bye, guys, bye.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Thank you.