Monday, October 9, 2023

It is the 9th of October, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Okay, well- here we go- I’m going to answer a question I have received multiple variations of over the years- here goes from Drew in Athens, Ohio- also home to Joe Burrow, who, along with Nick Chubb, have made my fantasy season, tough… and Drew gets that reference because he writes:

“I know you like sports with all your references on the show, but I wonder if you might have any thoughts on sports from a theological and historical perspective- thanks, and Go Reds.”

All right- the Reds are a fun team- Elly De La Cruz is a blast to watch.

So- sports are as old as humankind if we see leisure and competition as part of the human experience. We can add cooperation to competition when we speak of team sports.

It’s worth noting that the Apostle Paul uses references from athletics to make points about discipline in the Christian life- so he understood this as part of his audience’s context. And he didn’t condemn it.

The early church was nervous about many things that were popular in the Roman Empire. And to be fair, the brutality of the sports (i.e., Gladiator games) made them pretty easy targets. The pomp and circumstance mirrored religious services, and thus the early church held them at a distance. But as is often the case, there was an overreaction. The gnostics thought anything physical was inherently bad- ergo, sports bad. Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century was helpful with his aphorism, which could be translated as “physical competition good, the cult of the body, no.”

This would be an issue during the Reformation with questions about the Sabbath or Lord’s Day. (And I know, “Calvin played bocce ball” is quoted in these conversations, but that is apocryphal). It was King James- of King James Bible fame who had his own “King’s Book of Sports” in it. He declared what could and couldn’t be played on the Lord’s Day. He declared that many pole dancing and other sports that used the pole were permitted after the Divine service while “bear and bull-baiting, interludes, and (at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited) bowling.” That’s Lawn bowling. It was his predecessor, James IV, who dropped the long-time ban on golfing (people were golfing instead of practicing archery, and previous monarchs thought that hurt the security of the state).

You may have heard of the “Muscular Christianity” movement in the UK and America in the late 19th and early 20th century. This was a parallel to the early church that thought training the body and competing were not, as some gnostics believed, bad things but part of the created order.  

And there was a Canadian Presbyterian at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School in Massachusetts who served as a chaplain and physical education director who, in 1891, was tasked with creating a game for students to play to replace some of the more brutal and dangerous games played by college students. He was James Naismith, and he would invent the game of basketball.

Peter Berger, the Christian sociologist, claimed that sports- leisure and competition were a signal of transcendence in a secular, disenfranchised society. Our modern temples are stadiums. There is a lot of literature comparing sports to religion, and I think that can certainly be the case. Jeremy Treat wrote:

“Imagine a modern religion where people worship a golden image (in this case, the NBA Finals trophy). They gather regularly at the temple (The Staples Center), where they take up an offering (ticket purchases) and worship with emotive expressions (cheering fans). Of course, as with any religious service, they make sacrifices (their time, their money, and often their families). The high priest (the coach) oversees the activities, and those involved have a series of rituals they perform to prepare (team huddles and chest-bumping), all beneath the icons of the saints of old (retired jerseys in the rafters). There are strict programs of discipleship, learning about the gods so they can become like them (which is why they wear their jerseys and buy their shoes).”

I think Augustine is really helpful here with his definition of sin as disordered loves. It’s not that doing x, y, or z is necessarily bad (sports, gardening, dog breeding). It’s when the love of it becomes disproportionate and in the wrong place that it becomes a problem. If something isn’t inherently sinful, then it's not a matter of “yes” or “no” but “in what place”? And with this definition, we can broaden out to any pastime- if you’re not a sports person- what’s your thing? And how do you properly order your affection for it? I think the real question is, can you be a fan of the lousy cheating Astros and still be a Christian, but I’ll leave that for off the air… thanks Drew, for your question- you can send me yours at danv@1517.org

The last word for today is from the book of Philippians and the use of an athletic metaphor.

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 9th of October 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose Purdue Boilermakers gave us one of the greatest athletes of a time- a man shaped like a square with a neck roll- the beast Mike Alstott.  Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who knows it's dangerous that I’m getting kind of optimistic about my Clippers this year… if we can stay healthy…ooh boy. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.