This book investigates how Buddhism gradually integrated itself into the Chinese culture by taking filial piety as a case study because it is an important moral teaching in Confucianism and it has shaped nearly every aspect of Chinese social life. The Chinese criticized Buddhism mainly on ethical grounds as Buddhist clergies left their parents' homes, did not marry, and were without offspring-actions which were completely contrary to the Confucian concept and practice of filial piety that emphasizes family life. Chinese Buddhists responded to these criticisms in six different ways while accepting good teachings from the Chinese philosophy. They also argued and even refuted some emotional charges such as rejecting everything non-Chinese. The elite responded in theoretical argumentation by (1) translations of and references to Buddhist scriptures that taught filial behavior, (2) writing scholarly refutations of the charges of unfilial practices, such as Qisong's Xiaolun (Treatise of Filial Piety), (3) interpreting Buddhist precepts as equal to the Confucian concept of filial piety, and (4) teaching people to pay four kinds of compassions to four groups of people: parents, all sentient beings, kings, and Buddhism. In practice the ordinary Buddhists responded by (1) composing apocryphal scriptures and (2) popularizing stories and parables that teach filial piety, such as the stories of Shanzi and Mulian, by ways of public lectures, painted illustrations on walls and silk, annual celebration of the ghost festival, etc. Thus, Buddhism finally integrated into the Chinese culture and became a distinctive Chinese Buddhism.

This book contains divine inspirations truly sent from God to me. I feel so very humbled that God chose to give me encouragement in the face of battles, a clear understanding of grace through faith, and to know, without a doubt, He is the Lord, my Father God, who knows all things within my heart. His promises are true in every sense. I accept the gifts He has given and have faith in the promises He has made, no matter what the storm. Let the words given me in this book be an encouragement to anyone that may one day read its contents and be a blessing as it helps others in their lives.

A trial lawyer by trade, a Christian by heart - author Mark Lanier has trained in biblical languages and devoted his life to studying and living the Bible. Living daily with the demands of his career and the desire for a godly life, Lanier recognizes the importance and challenge of finding daily time to spend in God's Word. His study of the first five books of the Bible - the Torah, the Law - has brought Life to his life. In Torah for Living, Lanier shares a year's worth of devotionals - one for each day of the year. In each devotional, Lanier reflects on the biblical text, relates the text to the struggles facing faithful readers of the Bible, and concludes with a prayer for the day.

Although Turkey is a secular state, it is often characterised as a Muslim country. In her latest book, Lejla Voloder provides an engaging and revealing study of a Bosniak community in Turkey, one of the Muslim minorities actually recognised by the state in Turkey. Under what circumstances have they resettled to Turkey? How do they embrace Islam? How does one live as a Bosniak, a Turkish citizen, a mother, a father, a member of a household, and as one guided by Islam? The first book based on fieldwork to detail the lives of members of the Bosnian and Bosniak diaspora in Turkey, A Muslim Minority in Turkey makes a unique contribution to the study of Muslim minority groups in Turkey and the Middle East.

How do contemporary teenagers experience and understand religious, spiritual, gender and sexual diversity? How are their experiences mediated by where they go to school, their faith and their geographic location? Are their outlooks materialist, religious, spiritual, or do they have hybrid identities? Freedoms, Faiths and Futures: Teenage Australians on Religion, Sexuality and Diversity offers powerful insight into how teenagers make sense of the world around them. Drawing on rich data from a major national study, this book creates new ways of understanding the complexity of young people's lives and how school education covering diversity best addresses their world. This book argues that school education focused on worldviews is founded on ways of thinking about young people that do not reflect the complexities of Generation Z's everyday experiences of diversity and their interactions with each other. It argues that certain kinds of education in schools can play a significant role in developing religious literacy, tolerance and positive attitudes to diversity.