Nothing New Under the Sun*

July 18th, 2012

Here’s one of the Ecclesiastical truths that’s most prominent and most hard to understand or accept.

Could it be that he lived so early that nothing yet had been invented?

But what would that say about the iron age, the bronze age, the age after age of magnificent architecture, and accumulated wisdom the likes of which the world has hardly seen since?

And maybe that’s the point. The principles have been laid down from the beginning, the world runs on a certain course, all is governed by certain laws, and nothing will ever be added to it. Anything that follows is only further discovery of what has always been.

That discovery, however, has kept minds busy for generations, with certain spurts at certain times and places. We like to think we’re in one now, evidenced by many things, particularly science breakthroughs and technological innovations. But the principles have always been here.

Take this typography we’re using to communicate with. It’s nothing but a bunch of pixels arranged and communicated electronically over airwaves that have always been here. The prototypes of these particular letters were first formed by the Greco/Romans and their predecessors devised from earlier alphabets in various languages.

A lot of this is traceable in history, like the approximate date of the first alphabet (around 1500 BC), or in pre-history, like the first division of languages from one. But before that? Well, man’s been communicating from the beginning, and there’s nothing new about that.

I’m thinking even the term “invent” should probably really be “discover.”

For such tinkering, however, I would like to give credit to my friend and son-in-law with the particular design of the typography we’re using to communicate. Britisher Vernon Adams is married to our American daughter Allison and they’re just now in the process of changing countries, moving to the U.S. That’s not the whole reason we’re now with them (actually touring Scotland), but part of it.

Vernon designs fonts for a living, and no, they’ve not all been invented. The two I’ve been using from the beginning on this blog are Kameron (for text) and Grupo (for heads). If you’re interested in others he’s designed to date see the link at the bottom. You’ll note the name of his company, of all things, Newtypography.**

Not new under the sun, of course. Just a new variation on a very old theme: Communication.
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*Ecclesiastes 1:9

**Newtypography.co.uk

5 Comments

  1. Tom Jul 18, 2012
    12:42 pm

    “Nothing new under the sun,” whether that includes physical science or not, it certainly is true of what comes out of the heart of man and is then birthed into the fallen world he lives in.

  2. Norm Jul 18, 2012
    12:42 pm

    I’d like to think that God is delighted with our discoveries, especially in the realm of communucation. The Trinity in Scripture is all about exchange, and our discoveries in that area would then only replicate that dynamic. Vernon’s app’s are a perfect example, which he executes well. Take the most advanced prototype automobile. There once was a time when a guy simply wanted to move a large boulder over a few yards to be closer (or further away from) his neighbor. A log rolls, hmmm …

  3. carmen Jul 18, 2012
    7:23 pm

    You are so right. The only thing “new” about anything is our awareness of it. When our children or grandchildren were toddlers playing in the back yard, they discovered bugs, flowers, birds and planes in the air. All of which were “new” to them.

  4. jcl Jul 20, 2012
    10:13 am

    Interesting.

  5. Larry L. Thomas Jul 20, 2012
    10:44 am

    Great insight Hyatt…..I love it.

    Thank you so much and travel safe.