Calum Samuelson on Redeeming Sport

The latest Cambridge Paper from the Jubilee Centre is available online here (from where a pdf can be downloaded and where a short lecture on the topic by the author can be watched), this one by Calum Samuelson:

Calum Samuelson, ‘Redeeming Sport?’, Cambridge Papers 27, 3 (September 2018).

Here is the summary:

‘Sport is a distillation of the God-given impulse to play. It is experienced within a microcosm of self-imposed rules, which points beyond itself to a grander reality. This microcosm of sport can lead to various ills if idolised or violated. For Christians especially, sport raises difficult, perennial questions. We approach this complex topic with a biblical worldview, which helps differentiate between what sport should be and what sport currently is. Ultimately, we argue that sport should be engaged as a conduit for common grace and a symbol of redemption.’

Themelios 40, 3 (December 2015)

The latest Themelios is online here (and available here as a single pdf), containing the below articles.

Editorial

D.A. Carson

On Disputable Matters

Off the Record

Michael J. Ovey

Is the Wrath of God Extremist?

Jeremy R. Treat

More than a Game: A Theology of Sport 

Sports have captured the minds and hearts of people across the globe but have largely evaded the attention of Christian theologians. What is the meaning of sports? There seem to be two polar responses: some dismiss sports as merely a game, while others worship sports as nearly a god. This essay argues that when viewed through the lens of Scripture, sports are more than a game, less than a god, and when transformed by the gospel can be received as a gift to be enjoyed forever.

Rob Smith

The Amorality of Atheism

This essay explores the question: Can there really be such a thing as objective morality in an atheistic universe? Most atheists (both old and new) are forced to admit that there can’t be. On atheism, objective morality is necessarily an illusion. Yet due to the reality of human moral experience, many atheistic philosophers feel compelled to provide a naturalistic account of “the universally experienced phenomenon of the ought.” Such an enterprise is self-defeating, as it can only be achieved by maintaining a position that is intellectually incoherent or by redefining ‘good’ and ‘evil’ in a decidedly non-moral way. The atheist thus faces a tough choice: maintain atheism and embrace amorality or maintain morality and embrace theism.

Andrew J. Spencer

Beyond Christian Environmentalism: Ecotheology as an Over-Contextualized Theology

When Christian theology fails to adapt to the cultural context in a healthy manner, it can lead to a loss of cultural relevance. Proper contextualization is essential. This essay argues that ecotheology, which is a form of liberation theology, is an example of a contextual theology that is more closely linked to the contemporary context than it is to traditional forms of Christian doctrine. To argue this thesis, the essay will first provide an overview of ecotheology, demonstrating its consistency with praxis theology using an ecocentric hermeneutics of suspicion. Then the essay will offer critiques of ecotheology to show where the movement presents a helpful corrective and where it becomes over-contextualized.

Daniel Strange

Rooted and Grounded? The Legitimacy of Abraham Kuyper’s Distinction between Church as Institute and Church as Organism, and Its Usefulness in Constructing an Evangelical Public Theology

The question of the precise nature and scope of the church’s mission has been both perennial and thorny. In recent years many evangelicals have made positive reference to Abraham Kuyper’s distinction between the church as ‘institute’, and the church as ‘organism’ noting this is a helpful and necessary way of distinguishing between the organised church with its own particular and specific roles and responsibilities, and the church understood as Christians in the world, living out their God-given vocations in all spheres of life. This article describes and critiques Kuyper’s distinction asking whether it is a help or a hindrance, and offering possible other ways of delineating and distinguishing the mission of the church.

Andrew Ballitch

“Not to Behold Faith, But the Object of Faith”: The Effect of William Perkins’s Doctrine of the Atonement on his Preaching of Assurance

The Elizabethan Puritan, William Perkins, is accused of exclusively pointing people inward to signs of repentance or to their sanctification for assurance of salvation. It is assumed that he was bound to this strategy because he affirmed particularism in the atonement. Both Perkins’s accusers and defenders have tended to amass evidence from Perkins’s writings explicitly on assurance and, as such, there is a need to look at his actual practice. While Perkins certainly did point individuals toward themselves in his preaching, this article will show that he also pointed doubters to Christ and gospel promises for assurance.

Pastoral Pensées

Matthew Barrett

The Duty of a Pastor: John Owen on Feeding the Flock by Diligent Preaching of the Word

In the twenty-first century the pastor is expected to fulfill an incredible amount of ministry responsibilities. Too often, unfortunately, the proclamation of God’s Word becomes just another duty in an unending list of ministry assignments. In order to counter such a trend, this article looks to the Puritan, John Owen, who reminds pastors that their first priority is to “preach the Word” (2 Tim 4:2). After a brief exploration of Owen’s own pastoral ministry, we will examine a sermon Owen gave at an ordination service in 1682 in order to understand why, exactly, Owen believes everything hinges upon gospel-proclamation. In doing so, we will probe four pillars Owen affirms as indispensable to such a task, as well as identify the specific tools Owen says every pastor must possess and utilize. Whether one is a brand new pastor, a seasoned shepherd, or a professor training others for future ministry, Owen sheds invaluable light upon the most important undertaking in the church, namely, feeding the people of God the Word of God. 

Book Reviews

Paul Bickley on Christianity and Sport

Paul Bickley, The State of Play (Swindon: Bible Society, 2014).

‘Have we unintentionally skewered our sports stars between the twin-horned dilemma of marketing and the media? In marketing we airbrush them to embody the brand ideals of our consumer culture but then in the media we peel back the layers to expose the blemishes the advertisers left out. And so the athletes pin-ball back and forth between our praises and our curses, from sporting idol to fallen idol.’

So says Christians in Sport, who recently, with Bible Society, commissioned a piece of research by Theos into the relationship between sport and Christianity, particularly around the ‘role model’ status of sportspeople. Combining theological reflection with empirical research – specifically interviews with elite players and sports chaplains – the report, written by Paul Bickley, has now been published.

Here are a few paragraphs from the Executive Summary:

‘This report addresses the connections between Christianity and sport, particularly in the light of what is perceived to be a growing ethical crisis in the world of sport. What is an authentic Christian response to the growing significance of sport?

‘The report reviews some of the growing body or literature which seeks to explore the connections between religion and sport, specifically that which offers a theological account of sport. It then explores the outline of a theological account in the context of semi-structured one-to-one interviews with Christian professional athletes, chaplains and others working in the field. These theological engagements with sport have identified it as offering a field of human freedom and joy and indeed of offering the possibility of transcendent, “godward”, experience.

‘The corresponding critique is that sport is increasingly subjected to a range of extrinsic concerns – for example, market or public policy demands. Sport’s transcendental and aesthetic possibilities, as well as its sheer popularity, also open it to the possibility of “idolatry” or – in other words – to accord it an ultimate significance. These factors combine to create an environment where athletes are under pressure to act as societal role models, but also to achieve sporting success, sometimes resulting in high profile accounts of poor behaviour on and off the field of play...

‘In conclusion we argue that an authentic theological response to sport is to celebrate it, but also to circumscribe its importance. Practically, sport chaplains do this by focusing not on player performance but on athlete well-being – and indeed the well-being of others in sports clubs. We call for reflection on what other acts might simultaneously celebrate and limit the importance of sport.’

Good Sport

I contributed this week’s ‘Connecting with Culture’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

The last few weeks haven’t gone well for fans of the England football team. Even those of us who went into the World Cup with fairly low expectations can’t help feeling disappointed. Still, at least there was an opportunity to salvage some national pride with the cricket. Alas no, as it turned out. Anyway, there’s always the tennis. Well, we shall see. And if not, the Commonwealth Games start next month.

High profile though these tournaments are, they represent a mere fraction of the global phenomenon which is sport. For every type of sport and sporting event covered on the back pages of our newspapers, there are dozens more – each with their participants, aficionados, and spectators. Sport has the capacity, it seems, to embrace the leisure-seeking novice as well as the high-profile professional and everything in between. How might we account for its popularity?

Two recent books – Lincoln Harvey’s A Brief Theology of Sport and Robert Ellis’ The Games People Play – shed helpful theological light. Both review the troublesome history the church has had with sport, where it has either been rejected (understandable, perhaps, in contexts where sport was bound up with pagan rituals) or been harnessed to the church’s own agenda – whether using jousting to prepare knights for the Crusades, or extolling the virtues of a ‘muscular’ Christianity.

Both books take their cue from creation. For Ellis, we play because we’re made in the image of the powerful, playful Creator, such that sports can provide ‘signals of transcendence’ in a secularised world. For Harvey too, sport is a type of play, an expression of freedom, an ‘unnecessary-yet-meaningful activity’. As such, it reflects God’s creation, the ‘unnecessary-yet-meaningful reality of being freely loved into existence in Jesus Christ’. Or in lay terms, ‘sport has everything to do with our deepest identity’!

That sport is woven into the very fabric of our created being helps us appreciate its popularity. It also enables us to understand how easily it can become an arena for idolatry, disfigured through politicisation, commodification and narcissism – though this potential for corruption doesn’t make sport inherently evil. Sport is sometimes seen as a vehicle to a ‘larger’ purpose such as evangelism. Yet, while it may open up such opportunities, like other contexts do, Christians are in a position to celebrate it as a good in its own right and see it as a significant factor in human flourishing from the hands of a gracious God.

Centre for Public Christianity (May 2013)

Among other items, the latest newsletter from the Centre for Public Christianity contains a link to a piece by Simon Smart on ‘the way the drugs in sport scandal reveals both the pervasiveness of utilitarian thinking in our society, as well as its limits’, a link to an audio interview with Lynn Cohick on ‘what life was like for women in the ancient world – and how their lives were changed in their encounter with Jesus’, and a link to a video interview with Erin Wilson on ‘the religious dimensions of contemporary political life’.

Encounters 41 (July 2012) on Sport and Mission

The latest issue of Encounters from Redcliffe College is now available, this one focusing on sport.

According to the introductory blurb on the website:

‘If the literature on the theology of sport is limited, missiological reflection on this ubiquitous human activity fares little better. We hope that this issue will provide a way in to some of the literature that does exist and prompt further discussion and writing. Even more importantly, we hope that many will be motivated to engage in the practice of “sports mission”. In one of the articles we receive a profound challenge: “For the church to have no designated strategy for reaching this huge people group is at best ignorance and at worst folly”. We hope that this edition of Encounters provides encouraging evidence that such a strategy is developing and prompt further efforts to demonstrate the Lordship of Christ in the world of sport.’

Individual articles are available from here, or the pdf of the full issue is available here.

The Bible in Transmission (Spring 2012) on Sporting Life

The latest issue of the excellent publication, The Bible in Transmission, from Bible Society, is now available (pdf here), offering a collection of articles on ‘Sporting Life: Reflections on Sport, Culture and the Church’.

Matthew van Duyvenbode

Editorial

Dominic Erdozain

‘I will not cease from mental fight’?: Sport and the Protestant Work Ethic

Sport is a serious business and is strongly influenced by secularised versions of the Protestant work ethic. To a large extent sport has lost its sense of enjoyment, its playfulness. A Christian approach to sport should relativise its importance, without trivalising it: the game is just a game.

David Oakley

Common Ground?: Sport and the Church

David Oakley highlights the central place of sport in the world. He presents sociological arguments as to why Christians should critically embrace the appeal of sport and argues that churches have real possibilities through sport to rediscover their role within the community.

Synthia Sydnor

Sport, Women and the Mystical Body of Christ

An overview of conventional critiques surrounding ‘women and sport’ shows that most call for cultural changes to achieve gender equity. A Christian vision of sport begins with the premise that man and woman have unique masculine or feminine characters, endowed by God.

Nick Watson

Sport, Disability and the Olympics

An exploration of the status and prophetic role of the Special Olympic Movement in light of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Andrew Parker and J. Stuart Weir

Sport, Spirituality and Religion: Muscular Christianity in the Modern Age

An overview of the key features of the ways in which the relationship between sport and religion has developed during and since the nineteenth century. In Victorian Britain, long-standing religious values began to permeate and underpin sporting endeavour but these have subsequently been modified in various ways.

Chris Rose

The Street Child World Cup: From Durban to Rio

The story of the inaugral Street Child World Cup in Durban South Africa, a tournament that proved to be a great success and helped changed perceptions and practices in several countries. Planning is well under way for the next tournament, which will be hosted by Brazil in 2014.

James Catford

News from Bible Society

Paul Bickley and Sam Tomlin on Reclaiming Sport for the Common Good

Paul Bickley and Sam Tomlin, Give us our Ball Back: Reclaiming Sport for the Common Good (London: Theos, 2012).

Theos have produced another helpful-looking booklet, this one written by Paul Bickley and Sam Tomlin, on sport.

There is more detail here, it’s available for download here, and here’s the back cover blurb:

‘Sport is everywhere. Yet in spite of its prominence, its position in society is relatively under-analysed.

‘As sport becomes more central, we realise that we don’t just want it for its own sake, but because of what it can do for us. We believe it has the power to make us good, peaceful, prosperous and healthy. Today, there is no such thing as ‘just a game’ – sport is treated as an arena for moral development, a way to resolved deep sectarian and international conflicts, a key plank in government strategies to make us healthier, and it is ‘big business’.

‘This report assesses how the claims stack up, and argues that the more governments, inter-governmental organisations, and NGOs pump sport for its social, political and economic benefits, the less it will be able to offer for the common good. Inflated rhetorical claims have distorted our understanding, expectations, and often our political decisions.

‘Sport is just as capable of making us bad as it is of making us good. It is just as likely to promote and excuse conflict as it is to reconcile. Although the sporting economy is growing, the claim that mega-events like the Olympics will contribute substantially to the economy must be carefully scrutinised. Finally, the participation agenda has faltered, raising questions about methodology and strategy for getting people healthy. Again and again, sport has been set up to over-promise and under deliver.

‘The report concludes with a theological appraisal of sport as an unnecessary and playful, yet serious, activity that does not require utilitarian justification. It makes several proposals with a view to sport taking a different but still essential place in society – reclaimed from the social, political and economic agendas of the age for the common good.’

Anvil 28, 1 (2012) on Christianity and Sport

The latest issue of Anvil is now available online, with essays on Christianity and Sport.

Robert Ellis

‘Faster, Higher, Stronger’: Sport and the Point of It All

This article traces the rise of ‘modern sport’ since the middle of the nineteenth century and notes both a corresponding decline in church attendance over the same period and the use of sport in the service of religious (missionary) ends. The author asks whether sport itself may be said to have any religious dimensions. Having answered in the positive, a theology of sport is sketched with the notion of self-transcendence taken as the key idea around which such a theology might cohere. Finally, some cautionary theological observations are made regarding sport – relating to such matters as the distorting effects of competition. Sport mirrors, and perhaps sustains, some problematic notions of class, ethnicity, and gender, and its commercialisation also raises questions of which the theologian should be aware.

Dominic Erdozain

In Praise of Folly: Sport as Play

This paper considers the relationship between Christianity and sport under three headings, each broadly representing a different era in the relationship between religion and leisure: ‘puritanism’, ‘muscular Christianity’ and ‘sports evangelism’. It argues that each has led to impoverished experiences and understandings of sport. The first tended to condemn sport, along with other leisure activities; the second, exemplified by ‘Muscular Christianity’, tended to instrumentalise sport for moral gains, with mixed results; and the third, labelled ‘Sportianity’ by some commentators, has attempted to combine evangelism and the values of modern sport in ways that have arguably compromised both. The paper argues that a missing ingredient in each case is ‘play’ – a constituent element of any definition of sport which has so often been lost. It concludes with some practical and theological reflections on putting play back into sport.

Lincoln Harvey

Towards a Theology of Sport: A Proposal

This article seeks to understand sport in light of the Christian doctrine of creation. It does so by highlighting first a systematic connection between the ontology of the creature and the reality of play. Within this framework, sport is then argued to be the ritual celebration of contingency, a ritualised way in which we chime with the non-serious nature of our being. As a result, I propose that sport – though distinct from the Christian act of worship – needs to be accorded a rightful place within the life of the Sabbath-shaped creature.

Andrew Moore

‘Nearer My God to Thee?’: Theological Reflections on Mountaineering

Is mountaineering a sport, a game, or a lifestyle, and what might it have to tell us about the nature and meaning of sport? These are the questions discussed in the first part of these personal theological reflections. Central to the attraction of climbing is risk but that, the article argues, is only a simulacrum – albeit an instructive one – of the risks involved in Christian discipleship. The final section of the article argues that spiritual reflections on outdoor activities, including climbing, can be theologically and spiritually misleading both as to the nature of ‘nature’ and as to how the God who addresses us in Jesus Christ is known.

More from Cardus on Abraham Kuyper

Cardus continues to post entries in its series on ‘Kuyper for Christians’:

Richard Mouw

Kuyper for Christians

Kyle Bennett

Taking the Game a Little More Seriously

Jeff Liou

Neither Salad Bowl, Nor Melting Pot

Edward Yang

Art: A Gift of God

William Whitney

‘Pray More’ is Not Counselling

Matthew Kaemingk

Faith, Work, and Beards: Why Abraham Kuyper Thinks We Need All Three

Bob Covolo

How Abraham Kuyper Saved My GPA (Or, Why College Ministries Need Kuyper)

Cory Willson

Learning Proper Manners for the Religious Roundtable: Kuyper and Convicted Civility

Clay Cooke

Evangelicalism and Neocalvinism: Friends or Enemies?

More on Abraham Kuyper

I’m still waiting for my copy of Richard Mouw’s new book on Abraham Kuyper (see here). Meanwhile, taking his cue from Mouw, Byron Borger has another lengthy set of semi-autobiographical reflections here on how Kuyperian themes have influenced their ministry at Hearts & Minds Books.

In addition, Cardus continues to post entries in its series on ‘Kuyper for Christians’:

Richard Mouw

Kuyper for Christians

Kyle Bennett

Taking the Game a Little More Seriously

Jeff Liou

Neither Salad Bowl, Nor Melting Pot

Edward Yang

Art: A Gift of God

William Whitney

‘Pray More’ is Not Counselling

Matthew Kaemingk

Faith, Work, and Beards: Why Abraham Kuyper Thinks We Need All Three