Hello my siblings in Christ, today I want to talk to you about numbers. No, I don't mean the Book of Numbers. I also don't mean numbers that have a special significance in biblical narrative. I will hopefully avoid those, especially some of them.
I mean 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, I mean the chapters and verses. Remember that I'm a lawyers, and us lawyers really have a knack for being bad with numbers. For most of our courses, the numbers have ended in high school. For me, numbers are wonderful magical things that don't happen very often. So a calculation may be off here or there.
This is important because illustrating the entire Bible is a workload. Division of Bible into chapters and verses as we know them today is rather novel, not older than 16th century. Before that time, there were different systems in use, a lot of them based on lectionaries, that is sections that will be read in church.
So, Protestant Bible has 66 books, Orthodox Bible, the one that I'm illustrating, contains 75 books. Protestant Bible has 1189 chapters in total, while Orthodox Bible has 1377 chapters.
I am illustrating the longer biblical canon because it is older, shorter canon being unheard of prior to Protestant Reformation. In essence, Bible is big. It takes a lot of time to read it all. If you read three chapters a day, it would take you about a year to read it through.
A lot of atheists I have met claim that they have read the Bible. Usually whenever an atheist says he or she has read the Bible, what they usually mean is that they have read some juicy quotes or rundown of famous stories. Very few have actually read it. I think that they should, though. You may love it or hate it, but the Bible is a classic that has shaped civilizations. I'd say the same for Quran in Muslim countries.
Now, many Christians haven't read the Bible either, and, like some atheists, they may claim that they have read it just because they read some famous verses or heard parts of it being read in the church. Technically, you don't need to read the Bible to be a good Christian. Majority of Christians were illiterate; that is why the order of the Reader was established, so that the Scriptures could be read to illiterate masses. Icons played a huge role in communicating the teachings of Christianity to those who couldn't read. But not reading the Bible is like not fasting. You're depriving yourself of true treasure that will help you grow in Christ. Why deprive yourself of it?
So, how long would it take to illustrate the Bible? God only knows. The issue is that there are no rules how many verses I can fit into a single drawing. For example, I managed to fit the entire Genesis 5 into a single drawing, However, this drawing of 1 Corinthians 7:31 is just half of the verse. I generally try to illustrate at least two verses. This isn't a hard and fast rule. Inspiration plays a big role in the length of the drawings, so to speak. 1 Corinthians 7:31 could be illustrated whole, I mean, the whole verse, but I was really inspired to draw the whole skull-Earth thing.
In addition, some drawings get repeated. This is especially true of the Gospels. Last Supper is recorded in all four, Christ walking on water in three, all but Luke. Every verse that is repeated elsewhere reduced Total Drawing Time, or TDT as I like to call it, starting now.
It is a workload. I hope I finish it in my lifetime. If I don't finish it, maybe somebody else will.
At the very worst, I can finish it after the resurrection. Provided I get saved, of course. I just hope and pray this project lasts shorter than my lifespan. So there you have it. I hope I gave you at least some insight into how long this would take. Remember to subscribe if you're interested to see where my journey of illustrating the entire Bible takes me. It won't be a healthy sleeping schedule, that's for sure!
I mean 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, I mean the chapters and verses. Remember that I'm a lawyers, and us lawyers really have a knack for being bad with numbers. For most of our courses, the numbers have ended in high school. For me, numbers are wonderful magical things that don't happen very often. So a calculation may be off here or there.
This is important because illustrating the entire Bible is a workload. Division of Bible into chapters and verses as we know them today is rather novel, not older than 16th century. Before that time, there were different systems in use, a lot of them based on lectionaries, that is sections that will be read in church.
So, Protestant Bible has 66 books, Orthodox Bible, the one that I'm illustrating, contains 75 books. Protestant Bible has 1189 chapters in total, while Orthodox Bible has 1377 chapters.
I am illustrating the longer biblical canon because it is older, shorter canon being unheard of prior to Protestant Reformation. In essence, Bible is big. It takes a lot of time to read it all. If you read three chapters a day, it would take you about a year to read it through.
A lot of atheists I have met claim that they have read the Bible. Usually whenever an atheist says he or she has read the Bible, what they usually mean is that they have read some juicy quotes or rundown of famous stories. Very few have actually read it. I think that they should, though. You may love it or hate it, but the Bible is a classic that has shaped civilizations. I'd say the same for Quran in Muslim countries.
Now, many Christians haven't read the Bible either, and, like some atheists, they may claim that they have read it just because they read some famous verses or heard parts of it being read in the church. Technically, you don't need to read the Bible to be a good Christian. Majority of Christians were illiterate; that is why the order of the Reader was established, so that the Scriptures could be read to illiterate masses. Icons played a huge role in communicating the teachings of Christianity to those who couldn't read. But not reading the Bible is like not fasting. You're depriving yourself of true treasure that will help you grow in Christ. Why deprive yourself of it?
So, how long would it take to illustrate the Bible? God only knows. The issue is that there are no rules how many verses I can fit into a single drawing. For example, I managed to fit the entire Genesis 5 into a single drawing, However, this drawing of 1 Corinthians 7:31 is just half of the verse. I generally try to illustrate at least two verses. This isn't a hard and fast rule. Inspiration plays a big role in the length of the drawings, so to speak. 1 Corinthians 7:31 could be illustrated whole, I mean, the whole verse, but I was really inspired to draw the whole skull-Earth thing.
In addition, some drawings get repeated. This is especially true of the Gospels. Last Supper is recorded in all four, Christ walking on water in three, all but Luke. Every verse that is repeated elsewhere reduced Total Drawing Time, or TDT as I like to call it, starting now.
It is a workload. I hope I finish it in my lifetime. If I don't finish it, maybe somebody else will.
At the very worst, I can finish it after the resurrection. Provided I get saved, of course. I just hope and pray this project lasts shorter than my lifespan. So there you have it. I hope I gave you at least some insight into how long this would take. Remember to subscribe if you're interested to see where my journey of illustrating the entire Bible takes me. It won't be a healthy sleeping schedule, that's for sure!
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