Author Description
The star quarterback takes the field for the national championship game, "John 3:16" scrawled on his eye black. The NBA's Most Valuable Player leads his team in Bible study. The newly crowned World Series champion thanks God in a postgame interview while wearing a t-shirt that declares "Jesus Won." Such displays of faith have become commonplace on America's baseball diamonds, basketball courts, football fields, and beyond. How did religion become so entwined with big-time sports in America?The Spirit of the Game provides the answer to this question by offering a sweeping history of the Christian athlete movement in the United States. Beginning in the 1920s, American Protestants sensed that sports were becoming a rival for Americans' devotion, so they sought to carve out a home for religion within big-time sports. Their success was remarkable. By the end of the twentieth century they had created a thriving religious subculture that provides spiritual support for coaches and athletes while also recruiting successful sports stars to promote an evangelical Protestant version of the Christian faith and the American story. The Spirit of the Game tells the story of this remarkable movement and its impact on American religion--and America's religion of sports.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates the historical origins and development of the Christian athlete movement in the United States and how it successfully integrated evangelical Protestantism into the culture of big-time sports. Paul Emory Putz, a historian specializing in the intersection of religion and sports, utilizes archival research and historical analysis to trace this phenomenon from the 1920s to the present. He argues that the movement was a deliberate effort by Protestants to reclaim sports as a venue for faith, eventually creating a pervasive subculture that influences both athletic institutions and the broader American religious landscape.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Historical analysis of the Christian athlete movement from the 1920s through the late twentieth century.
- Examination of the institutionalization of Bible studies and religious displays in professional sports.
- Discussion of the symbiotic relationship between evangelical outreach and high-profile athletic success.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on Protestant evangelical influences rather than a comprehensive survey of all religious traditions in sports.
- The analysis centers on the United States, excluding international developments of similar religious-athletic intersections.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and reviewers recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of American religious history and the cultural influence of sports. Experts highlight the clarity of the author's historical framework and the depth of his research into the institutional growth of the Christian athlete movement.
Page Count:
272
Publication Date:
2024-10-02
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190091061
ISBN-13:
9780190091064
History
Sports
Religion
Christianity
Americas
Sociology
American Studies