A total solar eclipse will bisect the USA today for the first time in 99 years. It could be the most viewed total solar eclipse in history. Millions will experience it for the first time, but another one will cross America in another direction seven years later on 8th April 2024. The midday Moon, usually …
Category: History
Big Ben falls silent at noon today
Big Ben is taking a rest for four years while its clock tower is refurbished. Its iconic bong will not be heard except when it will be reactivated on special occasions such as heralding the New Year in the UK. It will fall silent after announcing 12 noon on Monday 21st August 2017, or more …
American Independence Day
Today, American Independence Day, reminds us of 'no taxation without representation'. This was the principle on which the American War of Independence was fought. It was not simply a desire for independence, but a revolt against undemocratic control. Another blow for freedom was struck exactly 200 years later on 4/7/1976, when the Israel Defence Forces …
Signs of the Times
We are living in interesting and significant times, with a number of notable anniversaries co-inciding. 31st October 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. Martin Luther unwittingly commenced the Protestant Reformation when he posted his 95 Theses for discussion on the door of the Castle …
The majority of mankind will be saved
The majority of mankind will be saved – will you be among them? It is not uncommon to hear the depressing and unbiblical doctrine that only a minority of the human family will arrive in heaven. Various biblical texts are wrongly used to support this unbiblical idea. Jesus was asked: "Are there few that be …
RBS and the SNP
Can someone explain why Royal Bank of Scotland, bailed out by the tax-payer, is held accountable for shareholders losing their money after being duped by Fred Goodwin and co? If RBS had not been bailed out, it would have failed and shareholders would have lost out. Being bailed out by the tax-payer, it is essentially …
Denial and post-truth – the real problem with faith
The film Denial has been recently released in British cinemas after its premier at the Toronto film festival on '9/11' last year and its UK premier on Holocaust Memorial Day 27th January 2017. It gives the outline of the libel trial brought by notorious Holocaust denier David Irving against the American historian Deborah Lipstadt for …
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What is Islamic Reformation?
Tonight, 14 Feb 2017, BBC Newsnight's Viewsnight carried an opinion that Islamic State is a Reformation in islam. Canadian author Graeme Wood compared the similarities of the rise of Islamic State (ISIS) with the Protestant Reformation under Martin Luther, pointing to 1. the call to return to the original sources (the Bible and Quran) to …
Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospel
Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospel by Patrick Hamilton, 1527. Patrick Hamilton was Scotland’s first Reformer and martyr, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic cardinal Beaton at St Andrews in 1528 for preaching the Gospel. Of noble birth, he graduated MA from the College of Montaigu, Paris, in 1520 and enrolled …
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PLUTO and the ANZACs
We had a very full evening on Street Pastors last night. It began with a brief chat with an athlete who slowed down her running for a chat about the constellation Orion, shining clearly in the sky, then we came across a veteran of the South Korean war who told us about Pluto. I suspected …
