John Bowden

You have a wonderful opportunity to add to the magic of your daughter's wedding. Your words will linger in memories - they may even be captured on video for future generations to hear. So what are the golden rules of speech-making? How can you convey emotion, seriousness and add a touch of humour?

What are the golden rules of speech making? How should you respond to the toast to the bride and groom? And which people do you need to thank and how? The answers to all these questions and more are here in this much-needed book. Now you can make your wedding day speech memorable for all the right reasons!-- Add sincerity, sparkle and humor-- Enjoy the big dayContents: Learning the essentials; conveying your feelings to guests; adding a little humour; finding the ideal beginning and ending; putting it all together; getting the delivery right; stories, jokes and one-liners for your speech; sample speeches.

Brisk, easy-to-read and never dull, the strengths of this history lie in a concern for all aspects of the history of Israel and Judah, political and economic factors, religious and theological interpretation, methodology, geography and topography.

Universities are rarely structured to facilitate learning and when they are, it is often done so in a limited way. This book looks at the theory and practice of learning and how universities can improve their quality and competence. It tackles the past failure of the quality and competence movements and advocates a move towards 'Universities of Learning'. The authors advocate an integration of elements that are often dealt with separately - theory and practice, teaching and research, and the levels of institution and individual - and handle these dimensions of integration in conjunction with each other. This new paperback edition will be essential reading for all those who are concerned with improving learning in higher education. It includes an updated preface that takes account of developments since the publication of the hardback edition.

Of all the early Christian authors before the second half of the second century, we know by far the most about Paul. Of no figure in early Christianity before Tertullian and Origen do we learn so many biographical details and are we given so clear a character sketch. Yet much of his activity as an apostle, which extends from around 33 to 64, i.e. more than thirty years, remains obscure. This important new book, a sequel to Martin Hengel's The Pre-Christian Paul, is about some of that period. It covers the time between Paul's conversion in Damascus and his arrival in Antioch. With an unparalleled wealth of historical material and a reconsideration of Paul's own writings, we are not only given a new picture of Paul's own activity, but also shown in more detail than ever before the background against which it took place; the church in Damascus to which he was introduced on his conversion; the methods of the first Christian mission; the situation in Arabia and King Aretas IV, the Nabataean king who confronted Paul on his first mission; the mission territory in Tarsus and Cilicia to which he then moved; the nature of the church in Antioch. And over all this hovers the question of relations between the Jerusalem church and Paul's own activities. Martin Hengel has always challenged overly sceptical assessments of the New Testament record and accused their authors of insufficient familiarity with the sources. This latest book provides powerful support for his position and is a challenging addition to the literature on Paul.

In response to the interest aroused in the west by eastern religions, this book offers readers with little knowledge of Hinduism the essential keys for understanding it.