2 of 2

Muscular Christianity also faded in its original power bases, mainline churches and ecumenical institutions like the YMCA, but a modified version flourished among fundamentalists and their evangelical descendants. An energetic, athletic young Billy Graham routinely included sports stars in his crusades. Later came the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Christian Camping International, Promise Keepers, and Kurt Warner. Newer faith-and-fitness programs have ditched the old racial fears (reconciliation is a major focus at Promise Keepers) and generally reach out to women as well as men, but the idea that fit and fresh-faced Christians make the best ambassadors for faith lives on.

You just won't hear about it at the Olympics.

Past newsletters and articles on the topic of Christianity and sports:

Olympia Revisited.

The Sport of Saints?

Books & Culture featured a Special Section on Sports in its May/June 1998 issue.

Other related links:

The Official Website of the Olympic Movement Click here for the article.

A Brief History of the YMCA Movement Click here for the article.

Putney's Muscular Christianity is available at Amazon.com. A more celebratory book by the same name, by Tony Ledd and James Mathisen, is available at our partner store, ChristianBook.com

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian History magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Christian History.

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

FREE E-Newsletter Sign up for the ChristianHistory.net e-mail newsletter. Discover more about your Christian heritage with this weekly e-newsletter that features key people, topics, and events from the history of Christianity.      RSS Feed   RSS Help