Foreword Michel Novak. Introduction. Andrew Parker and Nick J. Watson Part 1: Historical Perspectives on Sport and Christianity 1. Sports and Christianity: Mapping the Field Nick J. Watson and Andrew Parker 2. Was St. Paul a Sports Enthusiast? Reality and Rhetoric in Pauline Athletic Metaphors Victor C. Pfitzner 3. Sport and Religion in England, c.1790-1914 Hugh McLeod 4. Harvesting Souls in the Stadium: The Rise of Sports Evangelism Shirl James Hoffman 5. Stereotypes and Archetypes in Religion and American Sport Robert J. Higgs Part 2: Contemporary Perspectives on Sport and Christianity 6. Special Olympians as a ‘Prophetic Sign’ to the Modern Sporting Babel Nick J. Watson 7. The Technoscience Enhancement Debate in Sports: What’s Religion Got to Do With It? Tracy J. Trothen 8. The Quest for Perfection in the Sport of Baseball: The Magnanimous Individual or the Magnanimous Team? Jacob L. Goodson 9. The Vatican’s Game Plan for Maximizing Sport’s Educational Potential Kevin Lixey 10. Hard-Won Sporting Achievements and Spiritual Humility: Are They Compatible? Scott Kretchmar
Nick Watson is Senior Lecturer in Sport, Culture and Religion at
York St John University, and was the Founding Director of the
Centre for the Study of Sport and Spirituality (2003-2009). He is
the co-author and co-editor respectively of: Sport and
Spirituality: An Introduction (2007) and Theology, Ethics and
Transcendence in Sports (2011), both published by Routledge.
Andrew Parker is Professor of Sport and Christian Outreach and
Director of the Centre for Sport, Spirituality and Religion (CSSR)
in the Faculty of Sport, Health and Social Care at the University
of Gloucestershire (UoG), UK.
"… this book is an ambitious interdisciplinary collection of
material dealing with the confluence between sport and religion.
While Michael Novak’s Foreword is effusive in its praise,
describing the contents as a ‘treasure of careful and measured
studies’ (p. xii) … In my view, despite the inclusion of one or two
chapters that strike a slight note of discordance, it is fair to
say that Novak’s enthusiasm for the book is not misplaced. The text
is divided into two main thematic sections, namely the
history/genealogy of debates on the sport/religion relationship,
and contemporary philosophical debates surrounding sport and
Christianity … with Watson and Parker jointly providing a seminal
overview entitled ‘Sports and Christianity: Mapping the Field’…. as
a very thorough overview of the literature in the field, it is,
dare I say, almost worth the cost of the book itself. Lengthy
biographies for the eleven contributors and a solid index complete
this very impressive package, a collection that this reviewer
cannot really do justice to in terms of its scope and depth and its
potential to make its readers think anew about the enduring and
complex relationship between sport and Christianity." – Rob Hess,
Journal of the Australian Society for Sports History, Victoria
University, Melbourne, "This significant book is a welcome addition
to the growing literature on sport and Christianity. It is hard to
think of two people in the UK who have done more to encourage and
stimulate such thinking than Nick Watson and Andy Parker. The
book’s purpose is to “illustrate is the way in which this
relationship has developed in specific social and cultural contexts
and how we might think further about the intimate connections (and
disconnections) between sport and the Christian faith”.
The book’s ten chapters cover history, philosophy, sociology and
theology. The authors include such eminent scholars as Robert
Higgs, Shirl Hoffman, Scott Kretchmar, Kevin Lixey Hugh MacLeod and
Tracy Trothen. The longest and most significant chapter is the
authors’ “Sports and Christianity: Mapping the Field” which is the
most systematic introduction to the academic literature in the
field which is available. The authors survey and contexualize what
has been written in a chapter which will undoubtedly become a
standard text in the field.
This is followed by a table of key resources to help the reader
take it further. There is a list of 35 key texts as well as a 32
page bibliography, with enough material there to keep you reading a
lifetime.An extremely useful book which will be essential reading
for anyone who is serious about understanding the relationship of
sport and Christianity for some years to come". – J.Stuart Weir,
Verite Sport"The essays in Sports and Christianity form a disparate
collection, clearing the ground for more systematic inquiry into
the intersection of sport and Christian faith...Certain themes
recur in the volume: the senses in which sport is a rival or
complementary pointer to the "sacred"; the parallels between "flow"
or "peak experience" in sport and in the arts and ritual action;
the theological and ethical questions raised by "disability" sport
and by bio-technological enhancement; the proper part played by the
body, given the history of Christian devaluation of the physical as
against the spiritual; and the place of sport in Christian
education". –Dr Inge"This is an ambitious book. It largely measures
up to its ambition, when it could so easily have faltered, falling
between the two stools or parts of its sub-heading. This is a
compliment not only to its extremely experienced authors but to its
wise editors, though they modestly claim to be relatively recent
arrivals in the field, whose first chapter, after their short
introduction and the philosophical flourish of Michael Novak’s
brief foreword, placing sport firmly within ‘the kingdom of ends,
not the kingdom of means’, provides a helpful overview of the
field, a hefty 80 page map of this rapidly developing field. The
latter is worth the price of this handsome hardcover alone if you
want a panoramic overview." – Dr Gordon Preece is Director of
Ethos: EA Centre for Christianity & Society and an Honorary
Research Fellow at MCD University, Australia. Published in
Australian Religious Studies Review.“The purpose of this book is to
reflect on the ways in which the underpinning principles of the
Christian faith might allow consideration of the challenges, values
and practices of modern-day sport … Watson and Parker have put
together a stellar cast of scholars featuring the leading writers
in this area … Overall, this book represents an absolute must-read
for those beginning or experienced scholars with an interest in
this field … It is impossible not to agree with a key conclusion of
this text; that the lack of empirical research in this area of
study represents the most major challenge to our understanding of
this most complicated of social interactions.” – Dr Don Vinson,
International Review of the Sociology of Sport“Nick Watson and
Andrew Parker, leading researchers in the rapidly developing field
of religion and sport, have assembled a work that will become a
standard text for future teaching and research. Part I (historical
perspectives) begins with a lengthy introductory essay, “Sport and
Christianity: Mapping the Field”, a comprehensive review of the key
texts in the academic study of religion and sport … The extensive
introductory essay by the editors provides an indispensable
overview of the academic field of religion and sport from its
beginnings several decades ago in the United States. The essay
achieves its stated goals of identifying central texts and events
(also presented in a systematic time-line); key conversations (on
sport as religion, muscular Christianity, theological and ethical
reflections on Christian involvement in sport, and the theology of
play) and areas for future investigation (theological analyses of
exercise and health; reflections on difference in the areas of
disability and gender; consideration of Christian traditions of
prayer and chaplaincy; and deeper study of aesthetics, human
relationships, and popular culture as they intersect with sport and
religion). Although it is common for scholars to use the term
‘religion’ when they actually mean only Christianity, Watson and
Parker do not fall into that trap. And although they focus on sport
as it intersects with Christianity, their survey does not ignore
the essential works on sport in other religious traditions.” –
Professor Rebecca Alpert, Journal of Contemporary Religion“In this
volume, editors Nick Watson and Andrew Parker present essays that
bring Christian principles to bear on historical and contemporary
practices in sport … Emphasising that historical developments do
not occur in a vacuum, the editors point to the need to consider
social, economic and political conditions … While noting that many
Christian calls for the ethical rehabilitation of sport have failed
to be influential, Watson and Parker argue that qualitative and
quantitative empirical research on theology of sport and on the
history of Christian involvement in sport could provide an avenue
for effecting positive change in sporting institutions and
practices. … In sum, Watson and Parker have amassed an array of
theological and historical perspectives on the intersection of
sport and Christianity with the goal of exploring ways that
Christianity might improve contemporary sport.” – Professor Annie
Blazer, International Journal of the History of Sport“In this
collection of readings, editors Nick Watson and Andrew Parker seek
to examine the relationship between sport and Christianity … from
both historical and contemporary perspectives. The book includes
contributions from notable scholars including several with
extensive publications on sport and Christianity … the editors
target this work towards a varied audience—not only students but
academics and the general reader as well. In this sense, the
finished product certainly fits the audience. This project
dedicated to sport and Christianity provides both a timely and
insightful look at historical and philosophical perspectives
regarding sports and Christianity. Future research along these
lines could potentially mine other faith traditions with respect to
sport in a similar manner.” – Professor Douglas Hochstetler,
Journal of Sport History“This is an ambitious book. It largely
measures up to its ambition, when it could so easily have faltered,
falling between the two stools or parts of its sub-heading. This is
a compliment not only to its extremely experienced authors but to
its wise editors, though they modestly claim to be relatively
recent arrivals in the field, whose first chapter, after their
short introduction and the philosophical flourish of Michael
Novak’s brief foreword, placing sport firmly within ‘the kingdom of
ends, not the kingdom of means’, provides a helpful overview of the
field, a hefty 80 page map of this rapidly developing field. The
latter is worth the price of this handsome hardcover alone if you
want a panoramic overview.” – Dr Gordon Preece, Director of Ethos:
EA Centre for Christianity & Society, Honorary Research Fellow at
MCD University, Australia. Australian Religious Studies Review
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