By Eric Blauer
“The highest score.”
“The top of the heap.”
“Last person standing.”
“The perfect body.”
“Coming in first.”
“Beating all others.”
These are some of the cultural narratives that often drive, shape or influence the sports world. The Olympics, X/Games, super bowls, beauty pageants, World Series are some of our games of sport and like early Greeks we even emblazon on our own clothing the name of Nike, the Greek winged god of victory in our pursuits of greatness. The Ancient Greek’s love of faith and fitness was manifested in the Olympic games which was the most prestigious event but part of four sports festivals called the Panhellenic Games. The games were arranged in such a way that there was one going on almost every year.
- The Olympic Games was held in honor of Zeus every four years near Elis.
- Pythian Games was held every four years near Delphi in honor of Apollo.
- Nemean Games was held every two years near Nemea, in honor of Zeus.
- Isthmian Games was held every two years near Corinth, in honor of Poseidon.
These games capture the worship of power, might, combat, skill, prowess, beauty, perfection and the highest of all accomplishments, victory over others or our own selves.
I find it fascinating to read about how Christianity took root in this culture and how its counterculture ethos pushed against much of the idolatry of its time. Such a conflict resulted in eventually ending the Olympic games for almost 2,000 years. The Roman emperor Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. Theodosius I was emperor of Rome from 379 to 395. At this time the Roman Empire had been greatly impacted by the rise of Christianity, but still had some strong pagan influences. During his reign, Emperor Theodosius set out to uproot and tear down the remnants of pagandom by banning idolatry and pagan ceremonies, many of which were at the heart of the sports games. The emperor’s edict undermined the foundational practices of Greek idolatry and the practices that were at odds with the teachings of Christianity.
Edict of Theodosius:
“No person at all, of any class or order whatsoever of men or of dignities…shall sacrifice an innocent victim to senseless images in any place at all or in any city.”
The religious approval was captured in this quote from Bishop Ambrose:
“Theodosius who, after the example of Jacob, supplanted perfidious tyrants and banished the idols of the gentiles; who in his faith wiped out all worship of graven images, and trampled down their ceremonies.”
The views of the church on the games, military service and a host of other occupations were built on teachings like the third century theologian, Hippolytus of Rome in his work: “The Apostolic Tradition”:
“A charioteer, likewise, or one who takes part in the games, or one who goes to the games, he shall cease or he shall be rejected. If someone is a gladiator, or one who teaches those among the gladiators how to fight, or a hunter who is in the wild beast shows in the arena, or a public official who is concerned with gladiator shows, either he shall cease, or he shall be rejected.” (16:6-7) –http://www.bombaxo.com/hippolytus.html
The demise of the games was started by the work of Emperor Theodosius, but it was his grandson that eventually unleashed the cultural wrecking ball:
“In 426, Emperor Theodosius II finished some of the work that his grandfather started by burning the Temple of Zeus and other Olympia buildings to the ground. He demolished the great stadium of Olympia—which could hold up to more than 40,000 people.” -Gertz, “Revisiting the Pagan Olympic Games,”
So what was the big problem with games that those early Christians had? It appears that there were three prominent aspects of the game culture that were antithetical to the teachings of Christianity:
1. They were Pagan
The Olympic Games focused significantly on becoming closer to the gods, to be the very best, and the pagan sanctuary was an important and essential part of this ancient Greek values. The sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia was a centerpiece of the games with innumerable bloody sacrifices, temple prostitution and other idolatrous practices. The games themselves were riddled with idolatrous practices. From the carrying of the embers of fire of the goddess Hestia at the beginning of the games to the sacrifices to Zeus for the victors at the end, the games were drenched in pagan thought, activities and celebrations. These activities challenged the supreme allegiance of the Christian’s mind to the worship of the one true God.
2. They were Violent
The Greek and Roman cultures’ worship of war, bloodshed and empire-building through strength were values and actions that the teachings of Jesus opposed. Even though today we think of sports as a civilized answer to the human desire to dominate others, in the early games, violence and even death were normal parts of the sport culture.
“The Olympics also featured a “ferocious, no holds-barred brawl known as the pankration. . . [This] was a vicious mix of wrestling, boxing, and street fighting in which punches, kicks to the groin, shoulder and ankle dislocations, and choke-holds were allowed.” One infamous contestant earned the nickname “Mr. Digits” as he specialized in breaking his opponents’ fingers. Spectators of boxing events witnessed comparable violence—historian Stephen Miller recounts the story of one Damoxenos who jabbed his opponent with his fingers sticking straight out, pierced the man’s rib cage, and yanked out his intestines!”
3. They were Licentious
The sexuality of the games was typical to the culture from the prostitution, to the nude attire of the contestants. In the games men competed in the nude, in fact, the word gymnasium came from the Greek word ‘gymos’, which means “naked.” I imagine that had to influence one’s decision to join the local gym in those days! Married women were not allowed in the stands and the woman who ignored this prohibition risked being thrown off the local cliffs! But unmarried ladies were allowed to watch and prostitutes from the temple of Aphrodite were available to the victors.
Interesting side note:
“…young girls in Ancient Greece weren’t encouraged to be athletes – with a notable exception of Spartan girls. The Spartans believed that athletic women would breed strong warriors, so they trained girls alongside boys in sports. In Sparta, girls also competed in the nude or wearing skimpy outfits, and boys were allowed to watch (to encourage gettin’ it on later marriage and procreation).”
Such matters may seem outrageous to some today, until you read news headlines about our own modern Olympic games coming up in Rio De Janeiro Aug. 5-21. About 450,000 condoms have been ordered for the Rio games (350,000 male condoms, and 100,000 female condoms.) “This is no less than three times the amount needed in London and…FOUR times the amount we provided for the Sydney Olympic Games!”
Our own fascination and some would say idolatry of the nude body can been seen in the unrealistic and often deadly ideals of body perfectionism that runs rampant in our own culture. ESPN’s Body Issue is but one example of the worship of the perfect form of athletes.
As Christianity took root in people’s minds and hearts, a countercultural radicalism arose that defied the culture as women and men chose lives of peace and even celibacy, in a time when family and sexual freedom were touted as the pinnacles of civilized life. The teachings of Jesus undermined the faith, values and practices of the civilized and uncivilized pagans.
The same teachings of Christ are needed today as the repaganization of society is upon us.
1. Challenge the values of the world around you:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17:)
2. Challenge the worship of temporal things in light of eternity:
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8)
3. Challenge the hyper-sexualization of our lives:
“Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” (1 Peter 3:3-4)
History might not look favorably upon the subversive lives of countercultural saints, but the true and everlasting prize will be given by God to those who rise above the idolatry of our own age.
“Be faithful throughout your life, until the day you die, and I will give you the victor’s wreath of life.” -Jesus (Rev. 2:10).
Join SpokaneFAVS for a Coffee Talk forum on “Religion and Ethics in Sports” at 10 a.m., June 4 at The Community Building, 35 W. Main Ave.
Thank you Eric. Wow, 450,000 condoms. Heard similar stats about the Super Bowl…
Eric, the increase in condoms for brazil olympics has more to do with fear of the Zika virus than decrease in sexual mores. Probably the fear of the ZIka virus will decrease the sexual activity of the games. I agree with you about the nature of hyper competition and have given up being a fan of the NFL for all the reasons you state above.
I don’t see encouraging safer sex as a moral problem. I think turning a blind eye while knowing a lot of sex will occur whether or not you provide condoms is morally questionable.
But yes, we certainly are too fixated on perfecting our bodies. That’s for sure.