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Is there evidence to believe the Gospels? The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John—are four accounts of Jesus’s life and teachings while on earth. But should we accept them as historically accurate? What evidence is there that the recorded events actually happened? Presenting a case for the historical reliability of the Gospels, New Testament scholar Peter Williams examines evidence from non-Christian sources, assesses how accurately the four biblical accounts reflect the cultural context of their day, compares different accounts of the same events, and looks at how these texts were handed down throughout the centuries. Everyone from the skeptic to the scholar will find powerful arguments in favor of trusting the Gospels as trustworthy accounts of Jesus’s earthly life.
When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had been made by earlier translators. In Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman tells the story behind the mistakes and changes that ancient scribes made to the New Testament and shows the great impact they had upon the Bible we use today. He frames his account with personal reflections on how his study of the Greek manuscripts made him abandon his once ultraconservative views of the Bible. Since the advent of the printing press and the accurate reproduction of texts, most people have assumed that when t...
How did the organ become a church instrument? In this fascinating investigation Peter Williams speculates on this question and suggests some likely answers. Central to the story he uncovers is the liveliness of European monasticism around 1000 and the ability and imagination of the Benedictine reformers.
There is a powerful sense of place at the seaside. You know what to expect. Fishing villages usually have a pier, boats, lobster pots, and masses of seagulls while resort towns have esplanades, piers, grand hotels and gardens. Certain seaside towns have just about everything: Weymouth, for example, has a grand parade of hotels, a wide esplanade and a small fishing village. Blackpool has more of everything - three piers, miles of hotels, the Tower, Winter Gardens, trams, illuminations - but no fishing and no castle! There is something about the seaside that brings out the beating heart of John Bull in the English: doggedly erecting our wind-breaks to capture every vestige of a watery sun; wre...
The "Chromatic Fourth" is a musical pattern of six notes moving by step up or down the scale. In this essentially practical study Peter Williams draws on his extensive knowledge of the music of four centuries to investigate and analyze over 200 examples taken from composers ranging from Bach to Bart k, and from Schubert to Shostakovich.
Most books dealing with the history of the organ have confined themselves to a single period, area, or even country. This invaluable new work is the first complete survey of the organ ever to have been made in any language. The author firmly bases his interpretations and judgment on extant documents whenever possible, on his practical experience in playing organs all over Europe, and on his close examination of a great variety of instruments at different stages of restoration or transformation. Eight chapters are devoted to the early period and four to the Renaissance. Then individual chapters consider the French classical organ, the organ of Bach, the Spanish baroque organ, the Italian baroque organ, the English organ before 1800, and the northern European organ. The final eight chapters discuss developments in the 19th and 20th centuries. Supplementing the text are a glossary and plates illustrating a full range of organs that are typical of their kind. The eminent English musicologist, organist, and harpsichordist, Peter (Fredric) Williams ranks among the foremost authorities on the organ.
A Faithful Guide to Philosophy is the only British Christian introduction to philosophy, a book that will be used as a course textbook and by church study groups and individual readers alike. It covers subjects of central importance to the Christian worldview, discussing the broadest range of topics covered by any Christian introduction to philosophy, and will be prized by many.
This is an accessible response to the contemporary anti-God arguments of the 'new atheists' (Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, Hitchens, Grayling, etc). Atheism has become militant in the past few years, with its own popular mass media evangelists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett. In this readable book, Christian philosopher Peter S. Williams considers the arguments of the 'new atheists' and finds them wanting. Williams explains the history of atheism and responds to the claims that: 'belief in God causes more harm than good'; 'religion is about blind faith and science is the only way to know things'; 'science can explain religion away'; 'there is not enough evidence for God'; 'the arguments for God's existence do not work'. Williams argues that belief in God is more intellectually plausible than atheism.
Whilst there is extensive literature analysing the design and function of new buildings and places, the actual process through which development proposals are actually fashioned – through complex negotiation and deal making, involving many different stakeholders with different agendas – is largely undocumented. Conventional planning theory tends to assume a logical, rational and linear decision-making process, which bears little relationship to reality. This book aims to shed some light on that reality. The King’s Cross scheme is one of the largest and most complex developments taking place in Britain today. The planning negotiations, which took six years, were probably some of the most exhaustive debates around a development ever. A report of over 600 pages of technical information was eventually presented to the committee, and after two evenings and ten hours of presentations and debate, the committee approved the scheme by just two votes.
Peter Bishop and Lesley Williams explore the growing interest among practitioners at the cutting edge of architecture, urban design and regeneration, in temporary, interim, 'pop-up' or 'meanwhile' uses for land and buildings in our urban areas. They explore the origins and the social, economic and technological drivers behind this phenomenon, and its place within modern planning theory and practice. Using sixty-eight diverse case studies from Europe and North America, it challenges our preoccupation with long-term strategies and masterplans and questions our ability to achieve these in the face of increasing resource constraints and political and economic uncertainty.