"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
Sport and Christianity (A sign of the times in the light of faith),
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Shorter review
This is the English translation of the proceedings of a 2007 German seminar: “Sport and Christianity: Anthropological, Theological, and Pastoral Challenges”. Eleven chapters are organized in the three sections - Anthropological, Theological, and Pastoral.
The foreword poses the book’s purpose: “Is there such a thing as a Catholic perspective of sport?” Leszek Sibilski seeks to answer his own question by suggesting: “Although it is not proper to speak of a ‘Christian sport’ per se, it is, however, fitting to speak of how Christianity specifically enlightens sporting activities by offering discernment criteria and by broadening sport’s horizons, enabling sport to remain open to the deeper questions of human existence”.
Part 1 of the book is called Anthropological Aspects with the following chapters:
Man, Mortality, and the Athletic Hero: yesterday and Today - Karen Joisten
Overcoming Dualism: The Unity of the Human Person in Sport - Pedro Barrajon, LC
Morality and Beauty: Sport at the Service of the Human Person - Christoph Hubenthal
While anthropology is referred to in the title of the seminar, I felt that most of these chapters were neither about sport nor Christianity!!
Part 2, Theological Aspects, contains five chapters one on Biblical foundations, three on the views of particular popes on sport and one setting out a “Christian vision of sport”. The section aims to cover the four pillars of Catholic theology: Scripture, tradition, ecumenical councils and pontifical teachings
Biblical and Patristic Foundations for Sport by Alois Koch was for me far and away the pick of the book. Koch reviews the Biblical material and concludes that it provides no assessment or approval of contemporary athletics.
The contribution of Pius XI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI to our understanding of a Christian view of sport is assessed in three chapters before Dietmar Mieth’s Christian Vision of Sport, which includes a discussion of the body and a section on making competition fairer.
Part 3 is called Pastoral Aspects and has three chapters. The authors challenge the church to be “engaged proactively” in sport because of its importance in society, seeing it as a vital mission field. Moreover the concern should stretch to “coaches, parents, fans, owners, and others affiliated with these sporting events” and not just the player.
In “Sport as a Pastoral Opportunity: The Sports Chaplain” Bernhard Maier drawns on his experience of chaplaincy to elite sport in Austria. He gives some helpful insights into the role of being a chaplain. Norbert M?ller’s Concrete Pastoral Action within Sport notes the great value of sport as a contribution to Christian education.
There are two references to co-operation between Catholics and Evangelicals in Germany. However, this is based on a mistranslation of the German word “Evangelisch” which means Lutheran or Protestant, the Protestant State Church rather than evangelical.
Overall a useful contribution to the relationship between sport and Christianity but with some material that is of marginal relevance.