# Thomas Watson on the evil of forgetting what we hear



## Reformed Covenanter (Aug 30, 2020)

_Forgetting what we hear_. If a Scholar have his Rules laid before him, and he forgets them as fast as he reads them, he will never learn. _Aristotle_ calls the Memory, the _Scribe_ of the Soul; and _Bernard_ calls it the _Stomach_ of the Soul, because it hath a retentive faculty, and turns heavenly food into blood and spirits.

We have great memories in other things; we remember that which is _vain. Cyrus_ could remember the name of every Soldier in his huge Army; we remember _injuries_. This is to fill a precious Cabinet with dung; but, _quàm facilis oblivio boni?_ as _Jerome_ saith, how soon doe we forget the sacred truths of God? We are apt to forget three things, our _faults,_ our _friends,_ our _instructions_. ...

For the reference, see Thomas Watson on the evil of forgetting what we hear.

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## Smeagol (Aug 30, 2020)

Reformed Covenanter said:


> _Forgetting what we hear_. If a Scholar have his Rules laid before him, and he forgets them as fast as he reads them, he will never learn. _Aristotle_ calls the Memory, the _Scribe_ of the Soul; and _Bernard_ calls it the _Stomach_ of the Soul, because it hath a retentive faculty, and turns heavenly food into blood and spirits.
> 
> We have great memories in other things; we remember that which is _vain. Cyrus_ could remember the name of every Soldier in his huge Army; we remember _injuries_. This is to fill a precious Cabinet with dung; but, _quàm facilis oblivio boni?_ as _Jerome_ saith, how soon doe we forget the sacred truths of God? We are apt to forget three things, our _faults,_ our _friends,_ our _instructions_. ...
> 
> For the reference, see Thomas Watson on the evil of forgetting what we hear.


So true, and yet this side of the grave I think each saint must labor doubly hard to retain the truths of our Lord that so many adversaries, including our flesh, seek to dry out, snatch up, and choke. May we seek to fight off laziness in our duty to run hard for Christ. Memorizing the temporary comes more naturally to the old man that seeks to weigh down the new. In other words, from the OPs charge, I am often guilty. Woe is me.

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## Reformed Covenanter (Aug 30, 2020)

G said:


> Memorizing the temporary comes more naturally to the old man that seeks to weigh down the new. In other words, from the OPs charge, I am often guilty. Woe is me.



The point about remembering injuries, as opposed to mercies received from God and the help we have received from others, is highly convicting.

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## Jeri Tanner (Aug 30, 2020)

Reading this currently with ladies at our church.


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## Jonathco (Aug 31, 2020)

What a convicting reminder. How often I can remember the things of this earth that are fleeting, and yet scripture sometimes is as quickly forgotten as it is read. 

I concur with Paul:


> Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:24-25a

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