quote!

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."

-- C.S. Lewis

Translations

Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Greek...

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The New Testament, especially the gospels, are a mess of these.  It seems there were a lot of languages floating around in Jesus' culture.  The Old Testament is in Hebrew and Greek, the main inhabitants speak Aramaic, but the occupying Romans speak Latin, and some of the scholars will still use Greek... ah, the confusion!  So, I just wanted to give some fun facts connected with this subject that rather interested me.  And, you know, help you understand stuff you didn't even know you were confused by.

     >At Jesus' crucifixion, Pilate fixed to His cross a sign that said: "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."  The Apostle John tells us the sign was written in "Aramaic, Latin, and Greek" (John 19:20), so everyone who passed could read it.

     >I had never quite understood where the word "Calvary" came from.  The Bible says Jesus died on the hill of Golgotha, called the place of the Skull: why did people keep calling it Calvary?  I finally learned the answer two weeks ago: there are three translations of the word "skull": Golgotha is the Aramaic.  In Latin, it's "cerebrum" (where we get our words, "cerebrum" and "cranium").  And calvary is "skull" in Greek.  Mystery solved!

     >Almost all of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (there were a few bits and pieces in Aramaic).  As time progressed, it was translated into Greek -- this Greek translation is called the Septuagint.  It was this new translation that contained the Apocryphal books, which I won't explain just here.  After Christ, the Old Testament was also translated into Latin, largely by St. Jerome.  This translation is called the Vulgate.

By the way, the youth Sunday school at my church is now going through the history of the Old Testament (our leader says we still won't be done by the time the youngest of us -- that's me -- graduates from highschool!).  Supposedly one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it, so I'll probably be posting anything interesting I learn up here. (:

             

Panis de Deo

                    See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
                         and his arm rules for him.
                    See, his reward is with him,
                         and his recompense accompanies him.
                    He tends his flock like a shepard:
                         he gathers the lambs in his arms
                    and carries them close to his heart;
                         he gently leads those that have young.

-- Isaiah 40:10-11 (NIV)

Pen & Ink

More sketches!  These ones are also just regular pen-and-ink.  And, of course, you can see the cross that acts like a face-map. (:     Click on the image to enlarge.

I like the angling of the face; the whole drawing is the size of a postage stamp so I was not able to do very realistic shading around the nose.  I still like it.

Again, could fit on a postage stamp!  I don't draw boys very often but I am quite proud of this one!

Both of these are a result of trying to experiment on angling the face in different ways.  It's hard!

Panis de Deo

               You who bring good tidings to Zion,
                    go up on a high mountain.
               You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
                    lift up your voice with a shout,
               lift it up, do not be afraid;
                    say to the towns of Judah,
                    "Here is your God!"

-- Isaiah 40:9

quote!

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

― C.S. Lewis

The Hobbit

     Everyone is (or was) so excited for the Hunger Games, I wanted to show what I'm waiting out for... The Hobbit! 
     I don't even know why I like The Lord of the Rings (there is some pretty creepy stuff in there), but I do know my favorite parts are the chapters with all those funny little hobbits.  The book The Hobbit is much more light-hearted and fun than the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  This movie looks absolutely epic, but I hope it will reflect a lot of that light-hearted-ness as well. 
     This is the official trailer:

    

     It will be made in two parts (you can probably guess because they don't show any awesome glimpses of Smaug).  The first part will be coming out this December.  I wonder where the first movie will end -- Laketown?  The elves?  Just after escaping the goblins?  The movie-makers are also adding in the side-story of the White Council driving the Necromancer (Sauron in disguise) out of Dol Guldor, so that will sufficiently add to screen-time.  Dark, powerful battle to balance out the sweet innocence of Bilbo.

     I absolutely love the dwarves singing.  Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old... 

     For Narnia fans, the same actor who provided the voice of Trufflehunter is playing Balin.  In the books, Balin is probably my favorite dwarf, and I was surprised in the trailer that he looked so... old.  Then I looked back at the book and realized he was supposed to be old and have a white beard.  What seems unfair is that, in comparison, Kili gets to look like some kind of *cough* hottie instead of a dwarf.  I hope that it won't hurt Balin's appeal with first-time viewers, because he really is a tremendously wonderful dwarf. :)  Anyway, I can't wait.

Panis de Deo

In the next few weeks, I think I will post Isaiah 40 bit by bit, as it is an amazing passage.

          A voice says, "Cry out."
               And I said, "What shall I cry?"

          "All men are like grass,
               and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
          The grass withers and the flowers fall,
               because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
               Surely the people are grass.
          The grass withers and the flowers fall,
               but the word of our God stands forever."

-- Isaiah 40:6-8