Summer reading: Civil religion, doctrine, finding my roots, and sci fi fun

I've been juggling a lot of books this summer. I've been making more of an effort to set aside reading time rather than snippets here and there, which has helped me work through the stacks sitting by my bed. I still love audiobooks, and I try to squeeze in listening time whenever I can. So here's what I've been reading:

I finished A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the Road to Righteous War by Richard M. Gamble.  Some of my friends were disappointed to learn of the non-Christian, Unitarian origins of the song. I don't relish being the bearer of bad news. Honestly. I really don't want to be like Mikey in the Life Cereal commercial who hates everything, but to paraphrase Hannah Anderson, we need to pursue the truth no matter who it implicates. And to paraphrase Dr. Gamble, history is not obligated to make us feel good about ourselves. To continue the theme of civil religion in America, I was able to borrow Dr. Gamble's 2nd book, The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation via interlibrary loan. When I finish this, I will go back to his first book In Search of the City on a Hill.

My latest audiobook was None Greater by Matthew Barrett on the undomesticated attributes of God. This was so good and very clear especially about the aspects of God that are hard to wrap our minds around. Being grounded in who God is can make all the difference in the middle of a trial which I can testify to, so theology proper is very practical. Lord willing, the women's reading group that I facilitate will be starting this. I still have James Smith's cultural liturgy trilogy waiting to be read, and I just ordered Trinity Without Hierarchy since ESS seems to be digging in its heels.

As I've gotten older, I've been getting in touch with my Chinese roots and appreciating them more. But having grown up in the West, I am becoming more aware of the differences between Eastern and Western culture. The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett examines the differences in how the East and West think. Previously he would have assumed that people think generally the same until he was challenged by a Chinese grad student. After numerous experiments and studies, there is a difference which goes back to fundamental differences in ancient philosophy. Namely Confucius vs. Aristotle. Interestingly the further West one goes (think America) the stronger the difference with the East. And for Asian immigrants, there is a blend of both East and West, which I can see in myself.

To continue the Asian theme, I've been listening to a series of lectures on 5000 years of Chinese history. It's fascinating and I want to learn more. I'm particularly interested in the role of Chinese women and their treatment by society. Out of curiosity, I did a Google search and ran across this article - Women in Traditional China:

In the centuries after Confucius, it became common for writers to discuss gender in terms of yin and yang. Women were yin, men were yang. Yin was soft, yielding, receptive, passive, reflective, and tranquil, whereas yang was hard, active, assertive, and dominating. Day and night, winter and summer, birth and death, indeed all natural processes occur though processes of interaction of yin and yang. Conceptualizing the differences between men and women in terms of yin and yang stresses that these differences are part of the natural order of the universe, not part of the social institutions artificially created by human beings. In yin yang theory the two forces complement each other but not in strictly equal ways. The natural relationship between yin and yang is the reason that men lead and women follow. If yin unnaturally gains the upper hand, order at both the cosmic and social level are endangered.

This sounds remarkably like the Victorian (even Christian subculture with different terminology) ideal of men and women which has Greco-Roman roots, as noted in Rachel Miller's forthcoming book. Hmmm. On that note, this will be my next interlibrary loan request, Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and Virtue in Early China.  

Lastly, I was on the launch team for a Christian sci fi series for kids - The Quest for Truth. The last book, Hope, just came out, so I am going to go back to the beginning and reread the series again. This will be my light reading for the summer.

What are you reading this summer?