The newspaper report referred to medical staff's suggestion that faith had played a role in his survival as a 'truce in the cold war between science and religion'. In 1934, the term was used in reference to a faith healer who received medical treatment after being bitten by a snake. The word 'cold' first appeared in a faulty translation of his work in the 19th century.

Some writers credit the fourteenth century Spaniard Don Juan Manuel for first using the term (in Spanish) regarding the conflict between Christianity and Islam however the term employed was 'tepid' rather than 'cold'. The expression 'cold war' was rarely used before 1945.

Opponents in a cold war will often provide economic or military aid, such as weapons, tactical support or military advisors, to lesser nations involved in conflicts with the opposing country. The surrogates are typically states that are satellites of the conflicting nations, i.e., nations allied to them or under their political influence.

This term is most commonly used to refer to the American-Soviet Cold War of 1947–1991. A cold war is a state of conflict between nations that does not involve direct military action but is pursued primarily through economic and political actions, propaganda, acts of espionage or proxy wars waged by surrogates.

Why is it called cold war