The Council of Nicea referred to Lent as tessakaronka, Greek for “forty.” The Latin is Quadragesima, which means “forty” or “fortieth.” In the Latin countries of Italy, Spain, and France, Lent is referred to by a name that derives from Read more…
Today Lent is a 40-day period of repentance, fasting, self-examination, and preparation for the coming of Easter. However, the earliest evidence of Lent as a season lasting 40 days comes from the Council of Nicea, in 325 A.D., which refers Read more…
I hear many banks and loan companies trying to convince homeowners to take out loans against their homes to pay off various kinds of debts, such as credit cards, medical bills, or student loans. This can make sense in some Read more…
If you study the Qur’ân (or Koran), you will find many references to biblical persons, such as Abraham, Noah, Joseph, and Jesus. The Qur’ân even retells some of the biblical stories—except that it gets many of the facts wrong. Here Read more…
My favorite “lies” that advertisers tell: 1. “Free” – Actually, it’s almost always just included in the price. 2. “You deserve. . . .” – If I truly deserve it, why do I have to pay for it? Of course, Read more…
Thursday, February 6th, marked the warmest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica—18.3° Celsius, which is 64.9° Fahrenheit—at the northern tip of the Antarctica peninsula. Three days later, on February 9th, that record temperature was reportedly eclipsed on Antarctica’s Seymour Island, which Read more…
In Chapter 11 of my book, Beyond Blind Faith (which you can read here: https://dondavidson.net/apocalypse-soon/) I noted that climate change will promote the spread of various diseases, and for a variety of reasons. But here’s another scary possibility: climate change Read more…
Locusts in Africa are worse than they’ve been in seventy years, and it’s due to climate change. Warmer, wetter conditions in eastern Africa, caused by the warming of the Indian Ocean, have created ideal conditions for desert locusts to breed Read more…
(Back to Part 1) B.P. was a Christian who had thought about and studied these same questions, and he had answers. He made me see that I was shooting at a mirage. The religion for which I had such contempt could be Read more…
My Faith Journey. I grew up as an agnostic. At about age fifteen, I briefly and naively embraced Christianity, but my newborn faith quickly fizzled when my father assailed it with tough questions for which I had no answers (many Read more…