RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Davidson Day
(1892-1900), and Oriental and Old Testament literature (since 1900), in the same institution. In theology he is Calvinistic, and in Old Testament criticism is a conservative. He has written Genesis and Semitic Tradition (New York, 1894) and A Dictionary of the Bible (Philadelphia, 1898).
DAVISON, WILLIAM THEOPHILUS: EngKsh Wesleyan; b. at Bath, Somersetshire, Oct. 5, 1846. He was graduated at London University in 1869, held various pastorates 1868-81, was for ten years professor of Biblical literature in Richmond College, Surrey, was professor of theology in Handsworth College, Birmingham, until 1904, and in 1905 returned in a similar capacity to Richmond College. He is a member of the faculty of theology in London University, and in 1901 was president of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference. He has written: Praises of Israel (London, 1893); Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament (1895); The Lord's Supper (1895); Strength for the Way (1902); and Psalms in The Century Bible (1903).
DAWSON, SIR JOHN WILLIAM: Canadian Presbyterian layman; b. at Pictou, N. S., Oct. 13, 1820; d. at Montreal Nov. 19, 1899. He studied at the College of Pictou and the University of Edinburgh (B.A., 1846). In 1850 he was appointed superintendent of education in Nova Scotia, and three years later was made professor of geology and principal of McGill College and University, Montreal, holding this position until he retired as professor emeritus in 1893. He was the first president of the Royal Society of Canada in 1883, of the American Association in 1884, of the British Association in 1886, and of the American Geological Society in 1893. He was made a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1882, and two years later was knighted. In theology his position was conservative. He wrote more than twenty books, of which those of special theological interest are: The Bible and Science (London, 1875); The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science (1877); Facts and Fancies in Modern Science : Studies of the Relation of Science to Prevalent Speculations and Religious Belief (Philadelphia, 1882) ; Egypt and Syria, Their Physical Features in Relation to Bible History (London, 1886); Modern Science in Bible Lands (1888); Modern Ideas of Evolution as Related to Revelation and Science (New York, 1890); and Eden Lost and Won : Studies of the Early History and Final Destiny of Man as Taught in Nature and Revelation (London, 1896).
DAWSON, WILLIAM JAMES: English Congregatiohalist; b. at Towchester (45 m. n.e. of Oxford) Nov. 21, 1854. He studied at Didbury College, Manchester, and entered the Wesleyan ministry in 1875. He held pastorates at Wesley's Chapel, City Road, London, and at Glasgow and Southport until 1892, when he became a Congregationalist and was appointed minister of Highbury Quadrant Church, London, resigning this position in 1905 to become an evangelist. He has lectured widely on literary and historical topics, and in 1891 was a delegate to the Methodist Ecumenical Conference at Washington, D. C. He has
written: Arvalon (London, 1878); A Vision of Souls (poems; 1884); Quest and Vision : Essays on Life and Literature (1886); The Threshold of Manhood (1889); The Makers of Modern Poetry (1890); The Redemption of Edward Strahan : A Social Story (1891); The Church of To-morrow (1892); Poems and Lyrics (1893); The Making of Manhood (1894); The Comrade-Christ (sermons', 1894); London Idylls (1895); The Story of Hannah (1896); The House of Dreams (1897); Through Lattice Windows (1897); The Endless Choice and Other Sermons (1897); Table Talk with Young Men (1898); Judith Boldero : A Tragic Romance (1898); Makers of Modern Prose (1899); Savonarola : A Drama (1900); The Doctor Speaks : Episodes in the Experiences of John Selkirk, M.D. (1900); The Man Christ Jesus (1901); The Quest of the Simple Life (1903); The Reproach of Christ and Other Sermons (1903); The Evangelistic Note (1905); Makers of English Fiction (1905); and The Forgotten Secret (1906).
DAY, THE HEBREW: The civil day was reckoned by the Hebrews from sunset to sunset, so that the day began at that time both on ordinary occasions and on Sabbaths and feasts. In this matter the Hebrews were in accord with the Athenians, and the Greeks in general, as well as with the Ger mans; and this mode of reckoning goes well with the habits under a cult of the moon (see Moon, Semitic Conceptions of). Yet according to Delitzsch and Dillmann (in their commentaries on Genesis i. 5), the reckoning indicated in Gen. i. 5 sqq. is not to be taken as from evening to evening, but after the Babylonian fashion, from morning to morning. Excepting only the seventh day, the days of the week had no proper names, that system of designation which gave the days the names of the sun, moon, and planets being rejected because of heathen associations.
For the divisions of the day, besides the ordinary terms of dawn, morning, midday, and evening, there were in use such expressions as " the heat of the day " (Gen. xviii. 1), " the height of the day," or " the perfect day " (Prov. iv. 18), and " the cool of the evening " (Gen. iii. 8). The reckoning by hours does not appear in the Old Testament until the book of Daniel, when the word used is Aramaic. In the New Testament the reckoning by hours is customary, the first hour is sunrise and the sixth is midday (cf. Matt. xx. 1 sqq.), though it is debatable whether the Gospel of John does not follow the Roman civil mode by reckoning the hours from midnight (cf. John xix. 14 and xviii. 28 with Matt, xxvii. 45; Mark xv. 25, 33; Luke xxiii. 44). The hour, dependent upon the sun and the seasons, varies in the latitude of Palestine from forty-nine to seventy-one minutes in length. A sun-dial (doubtless an obelisk with steps), which marked the hours as the shadow passed, was used by Hezekiah (II Kings xx. 9-10). The night was divided by the Hebrews into three watches (Lam. ii. 19; Judges vii. 19; Ex. xiv. 24). In New Testament times the Roman division of the night into four watches was employed (Mark xiii. 35), though the Talmudists retained the earlier division into three watches. (C von Oeelli.)
Day of the Lord Deacon