A review of old inconsistencies of classical electrodynamics (CED) and
some new ideas that solve them is presented. Problems with causality
violating solutions of the wave equation, the electron equation of mot
ion, and problems with the non-integrable singularity of its self-fiel
d energy tensor are well known. The correct interpretation of the two
(advanced and retarded) Lienard-Wiechert solutions are in terms of the
creation and annihilation of particles in classical physics. They are
both retarded solutions. Previous work on the short-distance limit of
CED of a spinless point electron are based on a faulty assumption whi
ch causes the well known inconsistencies of the theory: a diverging se
lf-energy (the non-integrable singularity of its self-field energy ten
sor) and a causality-violating third-order equation of motion (the Lor
entz-Dirac equation). The correct assumption fixes these problems with
out any change in the Maxwell's equations and let exposed, in the zero
-distance limit, the discrete nature of light: the flux of energy from
a point charge is discrete in time. CED cannot have a true equation o
f motion, only an effective one, as a consequence of the intrinsic mea
ning of the Faraday-Maxwell concept of field that does not correspond
to the classical description of photon exchange, but only to the smear
ing of its effects in the space around the charge. This, in varied deg
rees, is transferred to QED and other field theories that are based on
the same concept of fields as space-smeared interactions.