Just a Day at Work

Watch what happened at this photography processing shop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AnMlQNw1M8&annotation_id=annotation_709575&feature=iv

Poinsettia: The Christmas Star

Many people think that the large red leaves of the beautiful poinsettia plant are the flowers.  Actually the flowers are quite tiny and are a yellowish-white color.  The leaves are sometimes also colored pink, white, yellow or green.  The plants, which bloom in December, are also known as “the Christmas Star,” “the lobster flower,” “the Mexican flame leaf,” and “las Flores de Noche Buena.” Since the early nineteenth century, poinsettias have had a close association with the Christmas holiday in the United States.

Poinsettias are indigenous to Mexico and Central America so it makes sense that the first known mention of poinsettias is in Aztec sources. The flowers were used as a source of a red dye to color clothing.  The Aztecs saw the intense red color as a symbol of purity.

There are two very similar Mexican legends about the origins of the plant, both involving children.  In both legends, poor children could not afford to buy flowers so they lovingly collected weeds to place on the Christmas nativity crèche at their church.  As the congregants prayed, the offering was blessed as the weeds turned into a blazing red display.

Franciscan priests in Taxco, Mexico in the seventeenth century used poinsettias in their celebration of the Feast of Santa Pesebre.  A pesebre is a nativity scene similar to a crèche.

The earliest name for the plants was the Aztec cuetlaxochitl.  The most common modern name comes from Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851), who brought the plants to the United States in 1825.  Poinsett was the first United States Minister to Mexico.

The Aztec understanding of the meaning of the poinsettia speaks to me: purity, especially since some Christians have come to associate the intense red color of the plants with the Blood of Christ.  It is sometimes forgotten that the most important Christian holiday is not Christmas, but Easter, which commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The poinsettia image is from Andre Karwath, a contributor to the Wikimedia Commons Project, and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 Generic provision.

An Excellent a capella Version of The Little Drummer Boy

An a capella version of The Little Drummer Boy by Pentatonix, a quintet who perform without instruments.  They named their group for the pentatonic scale, which has five notes per octave, since there are five members in the group.

The Little Drummer Boy was written by Katherine Kennicott Davis (1892-1980), a music teacher, composer, and pianist.  She based the tune on a Czech baby rocking carol which has never been successfully identified.  The original title of Davis' song was Carol of the Drum.  Davis left all her music royalties to Wellesley College.

What They Think of Us: Christmas Themed Horror Films

Below is an alphabetical list of Christmas themed horror films.  Most of these films are either set at Christmas time or feature a homicidal maniac dressed as Santa Claus.  In a few cases, the homicidal killer IS Santa Claus.  The list is by no means exhaustive.

Santa Claus is not actually a Christian religious symbol even though many people think that he is.  He is, of course, based very loosely on Nicholas of Myra, a very generous 4^th-century bishop in Turkey.  Santa Claus is an increasingly secularized generic symbol of cheer, goodwill, and sharing with others.

These films demonstrate more than anything else a disrespect for the Christmas holiday.  Some express outright contempt.  Depending on the exact nature of their content, some of them may be blasphemous.

Bikini Bloodbath Christmas (2009)

Black Christmas (1974)

Black Christmas (2006)

Bloody Christmas (2012)

A Cadaver Christmas (2011)

Child’s Play (1988)

Christmas Evil (1980)

Christmas Nightmare (2001)

The Christmas Season Massacre (2001)

Christmas Slay (2014)

A Christmas Tale (2010)

Christmas With the Dead (2012)

The City of Lost Children (1995)

Day of the Beast (1995)

Deadly Little Christmas (2009)

Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984)

Elves (1980)

Feeders 2: Slay Bells (1998)

Gremlins (1984)

Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (1990)

Jack Frost (1997)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Night Train Murders (1975)

One Hell of a Christmas (2002)

Ornaments (2008)

Psycho Santa (2003)

Rare Exports (2010)

Saint (2010(

Saint Nick (2011)

Santa Claus (1959)

Santa Claus and Merlin Battle Satan (1959)

Santa Claws (1996)

Santa’s Slay (2005)

Silent Night (2012)

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)

Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming (2013)

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Silent Night, Deadly Night, Part 2 (1987)

Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989)

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy maker (1991)

Silent Night of the Living Dead (in development)

Silent Night, Zombie Night (2009)

Tales From the Crypt (1972)

To All a Good Night (1980)

Two Front Teeth (2006)

Wind Chill (2007)

Three really oddball films:

Bad Santa (2003) This (and its unrated version, Badder Santa) sounds like a horror film but is actually a vulgar comedy.

Nixon and Hogan Smoke Christmas (2010) A drug comedy.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) A children’s film.

Another Light Bulb Joke: Thanalogists

How many Thanatologists does it take to change a light bulb?
They would not change it because thanatologists prefer dead bulbs.

Sweet Baby Jesus

"Sweet baby Jesus! It's cold!"

The woman said the phrase, laughing the entire time.  I'm sure she did not understand what she had just done.  It really was cold that morning.

The woman had committed what was probably an unintentional act of blasphemy.  Blasphemy is defined as active contempt, negligent disrespect, or even casual benign failure to respect the holy.  Using the name of Jesus as an exclamation constitutes a blasphemous act.

Christianity in Herculaneum

On 24 August 79 AD/CE Mount Vesuvius in Italy began to erupt, spewing out large rocks and streams of molten lava.  The Roman communities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis were destroyed as well as several nearby villas.  The port of Herculaneum was smaller than the port of Pompeii and existed as a resort town for the wealthy.  The towns were covered by 13 to 20 feet of volcanic ash and pumice.

Excavations at Herculaneum and the other towns yielded multitudes of intact buildings after the ash was removed.  Since a 1939 excavation at Herculaneum found only the bodies of a few women and children, it was thought that the town was successfully evacuated during the cataclysm.  It was not until 1981 that over 300 skeletons were found huddled together in cluster of buildings.

During the 1939 excavation of Herculaneum it was proven that Christianity had made inroads in the area when a wooden cross was found nailed to a wall in one of the houses.

Hello, Madagascar!

Bonjour , Madagascar ! Bienvenue dans le groupe de lecteurs 120-5 autre pays des pays qui visitent également ce blog . J'espère que vous trouverez quelques-uns des messages utiles ou significatives .

Le gadget " Traduire cette page " au dessus de la «Total Pages Vues " Counter a la capacité de traduire le texte de ce blog Inglés Directement dans multitude de nombreuses autres langues dont le français , mais , malheureusement, pas malgache .
  
Cent vingt -six pays : Albanie , Algérie, Angola , Antigua -et-Barbuda , Argentine, Arménie , Aruba , Australie , Autriche , Azerbaïdjan, Bahreïn, Bangladesh , Bélarus, Belgique , Belize , Botswana , Brésil , Brunei , Bulgarie , Cambodge , Canada , îles Caïmans , Chili , Chine, Colombie , Congo , Costa Rica , Croatie , Chypre , République tchèque , Danemark , République dominicaine , Équateur , Égypte , El Salvador , Estonie , Ethiopie, Finlande , France, Géorgie , Allemagne , Gabon , Ghana , Grèce , Guam , Hong Kong , Hongrie, Islande , Inde, Indonésie , Iran , Iraq , Irlande, Israël , Italie , Côte-d'Ivoire , la Jamaïque , le Japon , la Jordanie , le Cambodge , le Kazakhstan , Kenya , Koweït , Kirghizistan , Laos , Lettonie , Liban , Lesotho , Libye , Lituanie, Luxembourg , Macédoine , Madagascar , Malaisie , Mali , Malte, Mexique , Moldova , Mongolie , Maroc , Myanmar , Namibie , Pays-Bas , Nouvelle-Calédonie , Nouvelle-Zélande , Nigéria, Norvège, Pakistan , Panama , Paraguay , Pérou , Philippines , Pologne , Portugal , Qatar , Réunion , Roumanie, Russie , Saint-Kitts- et-Nevis , l'Arabie saoudite , Sénégal , Serbie, Singapour , Slovaquie, Slovénie , Afrique du Sud , Corée du Sud , Espagne , Sri Lanka , Soudan , Suriname , Suède , Suisse , Taiwan , Tanzanie, Thaïlande , Trinité-et- Tobago , Tunisie, Turquie , Ouganda , Ukraine , Émirats arabes unis , Royaume-Uni , Etats-Unis d' Amérique , Venezuela , Vietnam , Yémen , Zimbabwe

Thanksgivingkuh

When I first heard about Thanksgivingkuh, it somehow did not sound right to me.  It is a sort of comical take on the extremely rare occurance of the American secular holiday, Thanksgiving, and the first day of the Jewish religious holiday, Hanukkah, occurring on the same day.  The next time this convergence will occur is on 28 November 79,811.   Since the Hanukkah festival lasts for eight days, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have and will continue to occur on other days within the eight-day period over the years.  The last time both holidays fell on the first day of the festival was on 29 November 1888.  Hanukkah 2013 began on Wednesday 27 November because the Jewish day begins at sundown.  Since the Jewish calendar is lunar-based and on a nineteen year cycle, the festivals move around in date much more than in the common Gregorian Calendar.  Hanukkah begins each year on the 25^th day of the month of Kislev.

Thansgivingkuh (Thanksgiving + Hanukkah) cards have appeared along with a menurkey (menorah + turkey).  A menurkey is a turkey decoration whose tail holds the candles normally place in the sacred menorah.

I asked a Jewsih friend what he thought of Thanksgivingkuh and he said he had not heard of it but that he was amused. My friend did not share my feeling that the merging of the two holidays, one secular and one religious, was somehow sacrilegious.  Though Hanukkah is a religious holiday, many American Jews see it as overly secularized and commercialized.  Some see it as a time to give gifts so that their children will not be upset about not celebrating Christmas.

Hanukkah celebrates a Jewish military victory in 165 BC/BCE over the Greek/Syrian army of Antiochus Epiphanes after which the candle in the Temple burned for eight days on a supply of oil sufficient for only one day.  The battle ended on 25 Kislev. This was seen as an affirmation from God of the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.  The word “Hanukkah” derives from the Hebrew verb חנך   which means “to dedicate.”  The festival is mentioned in the New Testament at John 10:22-23.  The events of Hanukkah are recounted in the apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees.

Rachel Gurevitz, the Senior Rabbi at Congregation B.nai Shalom in Westborough, Massacusetts, sees Thanksgivingkuh as a chance to discuss Jewish and American history with children, seeing a convergence of meaning in both holidays.  Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, on the Fox News Channel, said essentially the same thing.

I am not a humorless Scrooge, but Thanksgivingkuh still strikes me as questionable.

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I am not sure who first pointed this out, but Hanukkah, from a Christian perspective, is very important.  If Antiochus Epiphanes had succeeded in basically exterminating the Jewish religion, then Jesus would probably not have been born as a Jew.   Jesus had to be truly human, He had to be truly divine, and He had to be Jewish.  Salvation comes through the Jews (John 4: 22).  God used the Jewish nation over the centuries to reveal Himself in a manner intellible to man’s limited understanding.  All of history before the Crucifixion was a preparation and an explanation of what God is like and what the Crucifixion and Resurrection mean.

What They Think of Us: Using an Image of Jesus in Secular Advertising

Some people see nothing wrong with using the image of Jesus in a commercial advertisement.  This politically charged image concerns the often close ties between the United States and Brazil.  The ties at times have been so close that they are “in bed together.”

This is an advertisement image for an airline.  Apparently, the airline has stated that the advertisement is a fake.

Look at This!

Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, displacing at least 600,000 people and killing upwards of 3200 people.  The death toll continues to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue.  Supplies of food and water are only now beginning to reach many of the victims.   The people need our prayers and support.

In the midst of the death and destruction there are, of course, acts of heroism and nobility, and there is one thing which stands out as truly amazing.  I am a rather concrete, historically based, and non-superstitious Christian.  Images of Jesus on food, or in the shape assumed by a Cheeto, or in a stain on a door, I find to be ridiculous.  I am skeptical of religious relics, signs, and supposed miracles.  I do not deny their existence, I merely realize that we cannot base our faith on them. 

Look at this. 

Baptist Top 1000 Ranking

Saints on the Loose! is currently ranked number 362 on the Baptist Top 1000 website, the world's largest directory of Baptist websites.

The worldwide number of websites continues to grow at a rapid pace.  In 2008, there were about 165,000,000 sites.  By December 2012, the number had grown to about 634,000,000 and by April 2013 the number had reached 649,000,000 with about 412,000,000,000 individually indexed pages.  (The statistics are from the internet security and data mining company, Netcraft.) 

Only about 187,000,000 of the sites are active.  Many of the inactive sites were created to lock up every imaginable variation of domain name for commercial companies in order to prevent cyber-squatting.  Also, some of the sites are pre-registered for later sale by web domain companies.

Christian Heresies: In a book titled The Word's Way

I frequent used bookshops and one of my favorites is the enormous warehouse-sized 2^nd and Charles, the used book outlet for Books-a-Million.  I find many excellent older Christian books there in their religion section.  This is a secular national bookstore chain and they sell books.  Since the chain has no religious orientation or affiliation they do not screen the books they sell.  As they said in Latin, “Caveat emptor!”  (“Let the buyer beware!”)

I, for one, do not think there should be official censorship except for pornographic books and books which explicitly advocate pedophilia, and political or sexual violence (yes, books such as this exist).  Sometimes, you can learn things from people with whom you totally disagree.

In the bookstores, there are “Christian” books which cause me to raise a skeptical eyebrow.  Some of the books advocate ideas like the heretical Prosperity Gospel, reincarnation, social justice as the meaning of the Gospel, viewing a religious group’s founder as a near deity, and even Marxist interpretations of Christian theology.

The Word’s Way, by Victor Paul Wierwille, published in 1971 by the American Christian Press, is one book which orthodox Christians should anathematize. ἀνάθεμα is a Greek word meaning “cursed” or “rejected.” A book which is anathematized can be read and understood but should never be the basis for any formulation about doctrinal matters.

You will not get far into The Word’s Way before you will see why this book is to be rejected.  On pages 26 and 28, this appears,

“God is eternal whereas Jesus was born. …How was Jesus with God in the beginning?  In the same way that the written Word was with Him – in God’s foreknowledge.  God knew that Jesus Christ would be born and that He would redeem man.”

This is classical Araianism.  Arius (ca 250 -336) was a Christian bishop in Alexandria, Egypt who denied the deity of Jesus.  He declared that Jesus was a created being (”born”) and not of the same nature and substance as the father.  Arius was excommunicated by his fellow bishops but had many followers and the doctrine he advocated was widely accepted by many for many years.  The controversy was one of the factors which led to the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity.  Roman Catholic Church councils rejected the doctrine of Arianism in 325, 360, and 431. In other Councils, they rejected other heterodox ideas about the nature of the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.   Protestants do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity because of the bishop’s councils but we do agree with their decisions about the nature of the Trinity.  We believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly taught in Scripture. 

Another Light Bulb Joke: Scientologists

How many Scientologists does it take to change a light bulb?
A pre-clear and an auditor need at least six auditing sessions.

A Flower Vase on a Grave

As my wife and I drove away from a recent visit to her parent’s graves, I saw, in the corner of my eye, another couple standing by a grave.  The man looked around to see if he was being watched and then walked over to another grave.  From that grave, the man took a flower vase and placed it on the grave his wife was viewing.

Besides being petty theft, this was an insult to the person from whose grave the vase was removed. I also believe that it was an insult to the person on whose grave the stolen vase was placed. It was as if the man thought so little of them that he would rather use a stolen vase and flowers rather than purchase some of his own.  

I am sure that this man thought this was a negligible act, not worthy of a thought.  This was an intentional act, but even unintentional sins are still sins and the wages of sin is death.  How wonderful it is that Jesus has washed His people clean.

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

“And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.” Leviticus 5:17

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

Predictive Text Technology Threatens Chinese Ideography

An recent article in the USA Today newspaper talks about how the use of cell phones and computers with predictive text technology is causing a degradation in the ability of Chinese users to write the traditional Chinese language ideographic symbols. Many say that the technology causes the user to become fast but inaccurate.

Modern cell phones and word processors use predictive text technology in which one key or button represents many letters or characters. When the user enters a key or button, the program chooses the most likely next letter or character (a “prediction”). The next entry results in a smaller set of possible letters or characters based on the first two entries. As more keys or buttons are entered, the predicted text becomes increasingly likely. (Google and other search engines use predictive algorithms of words instead of letters to hone in on your desired search subject as you type in your request).

Predictive text technology as applied to the Chinese language makes use of the pinyin writing system. Written Chinese is an ideographic system rather than an alphabetic system. Alphabetic writing systems  represent sounds by using a set of distinct letter symbols. Ideographic writing systems use symbols to represent ideas or concepts. Alphabetic writing systems are much more compact and flexible than ideographic systems and are able to incorporate foreign or “loan” words much more easily.

Alphabetic writing systems (and the number of letters used by each) include English (26), German (26), French (26), Italian (21), Arabic (28), Urdu (38), Korean (24), Spanish (29), Russian (33), Greek (24), Vietnamese (30), and Hindi (46). In contrast, knowledge of 4000 characters is necessary to achieve functional literacy in written Chinese.

Chinese predictive text programs used in cell phones and word processors make use of the pinyin system which they “translate” into Chinese characters. Pinyin is the official phonetic system for transcribing the sound of Chinese characters into Latin script in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. An example: 北京 is represented in pinyin as Běijīng, which, in English is rendered as Beijing. In the older Wade-Giles system this was presented as Peking.

Some Chinese have become concerned that as the digital predictive text technology proliferates, traditional Chinese calligraphic script will fade away. That process has probably already begun with pinyin eventually being the victor. This is a sad phenomenon because written Chinese is visually beautiful, but it is probably inevitable at some time in the future

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/november/chinese-typewriter-historian-112812.html

http://www.lastwordonnothing.com/2013/01/04/5218/

To demonstrate the beauty and the complexity of the written Chinese, see the following quotation from Acts 28:31, the verse from which this blog takes its theme.

“Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”

In the Greek, the final word of this verse is ἀκωλύτως, “unhindered,” hence, “Saints On the Loose!”

Acts 28:31 in the Simplified Chinese characters:

宣布神的国度，并教导有关主耶稣基督 - 所有的他勇气和！不受阻碍

Acts 28:31 in the Traditional Chinese characters:

他宣布神的國度，並教導有關主耶穌基督 - 所有的勇氣和不受阻礙

Acts 28:31 in Pinyin transliteration:

fang4dan3 chuan2/zhuan4 jiang3 shen2 guo2 de* dao4 , jiang1/4/qiang1 ye1su1 ji1du1 de* shi4 jiao4dao3 ren2 , bing1/4 mei2you3 ren2 jin4zhi3

Why I Sometimes Post Shocking Things on This Blog

Some web pages and sources referenced on this blog may shock you. Some may contain profanity, hostile attitudes, offensive images, and other disturbing elements. As Christians, we need to know about these things.  It is short-sighted to be like the proverbial ostrich and “hide our heads in the sand.” (See the note at the end of this post.)

 

I never edit sources which I quote here because I believe we are all big boys and girls.  Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

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Ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand. http://www.ostriches.org/factor.html#head

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Rene Joseph Letourneau: (b. 1929, Massachusetts, USA – d. 2013) Korean War veteran. Alabama Bowlers Hall of Fame. Roman Catholic.

John Brown: (b. 1763, Ireland – d. 1842) Presbyterian minister.  President of the University of Georgia (USA) from 18111-1816.

Johann Valentin Andreae: (b. 1586, Germany - d. 1654: aka: Johannes Valentinus Andeaea)  Author of Christianopolis (1619), a novel about a democratic utopian society governed by scholars and artisans.  He became interested in esoterics and the occult and was involved in the foundation of Rosicrucianism.

Zewditu I: (b. 1876, Ethiopia –d. 1930; aka: Askala Maryam; Queen of Kings) Daughter of Meneiik II of Ethiopia, Empress of Ethiopia 1916-1930.  She was known to be intensely devout. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo.

Angela Dorothea Kasner Merkel: (b. 1954, West Germany)  Chancellor of Germany 1994-1998.  Lutheran.

What They Think of Us: Curt Cobain and Nirvana

Shortly before he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) and his band Nirvana, performed this song, Lake of Fire.  Nirvana was an extremely popular band and sold over 75 million record albums worldwide.

Lake of Fire Lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nirvana/lakeoffire.html

Lake of Fire was originally released by a band called The Meat Puppets.  The most common definition for a meat puppet is someone who is controlled by someone else, having no will of their own.

There have been various attempts to explain the meaning of Lake of Fire.  Obviously, the possibility exists that the song has no meaning at all, but that is not likely. Some say that it is political (anti-military), or that Cobain was thinking about his own death, or that he was having stirrings of religious feelings, or that the song is a reference to drug use.  My personal opinion is that of drug use since one obscure meaning of “fry” is to be under the influence of drugs.  After his suicide, Cobain’s body was found to contain the following drugs: marijuana, LSD, heroin, alcolhol, rohypnol, and diazepam.

Cobain clearly expressed his feelings toward Christianity when he performed Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam, a song written by the Scottish rock band, The Vaselines.  The band has no connection to the Vaseline product. Vaseline is a petroleum jelly product used as a lubricant and a moisture insulator for skin conditions such as rashes, cuts, and burns.

Jesus Doesn't Want Me for a Sunbeam Lyrics:

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Jesus-Doesn't-want-Me-for-a-Sunbeam-lyrics-Nirvana/69C03466661F04E24825682D0003753F

Film Comment: The Phantom of the Paradise

At the grocery store I recently heard a little ten year old girl tell a woman, “When I’m twenty, I’m going to be rich.  I’m going to be an actress and a model.”  The child was quite serious, not realizing the near impossibility of her goal.  She certainly was unaware of the many compromises that people are willing to make to reach such a goal.

The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) is a highly exaggerated and stylized expression of the quest for success at any price.  The film incorporates influences, to name a few, from Faust, The Phantom of the Opera, The Cabinet of Dr, Caligari, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Psycho.

The film concerns a music producer who has sold his soul to the devil, a drug-addled mindless rock star who is complicit in the evil contract, and a mutilated and vengeful music composer.  The film is violent and bloody and all about success at any price. “He sold his soul for rock n’ roll.”

How much are you willing to sacrifice for your goals?  Are your goals worthy goals?

A Milestone

This blog has just gone over 100,000 page views.

How Great Thou Art

You have probably never seen “How Great Thou Art” performed like this.

http://vimeo.com/59093411

From Wikipedia:

“"How Great Thou Art" is a Christian hymn based on a Swedish poem written by Carl Gustav Boberg (1859–1940) in Sweden in 1885. The melody is a Swedish folk song. It was translated into English by British missionary Stuart K. Hine, who also added two original verses of his own composition. It was popularized by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during the Billy Graham crusades.[1] It was voted the United Kingdom's favourite hymn by BBC's Songs of Praise.[2] "How Great Thou Art" was ranked second (after "Amazing Grace") on a list of the favorite hymns of all time in a survey by Today's Christian magazine in 2001.”

http://www.ingeb.org/spiritua/howgreat.html