This recent book by Patrick Kelly, SJ, addresses a topic little known outside of a very small group of dedicated scholars. When the subject in question is that of sport and its place in our lives, it is commonplace to claim that sport's importance can be traced back to the growth of industrial society, and before that, to a particular Protestant spirit associated with “muscular” Christianity and asceticism. Sport could justifiably claim to be the new religion in many countries, especially those in the Western world. It dominates whole sections of the media and the conversation of a very sizable segment of the population. And in the ivory towers, academic courses abound in such areas as sport psychology, physiology, kinesiology, and leisure management studies. It seems that sport is highly valued, and as a consequence there is little we don't know about it.
Reading Kelly's book fundamentally challenges this idea. His thesis is that the roots of modern sport do not lie in Puritan and Protestant foundations but in the soil of medieval Catholic culture. His work adopts a historical perspective to reveal how the Catholic Church supported the development of sport and the playing of games. The historical argument is backed by numerous examples from medieval sources to show how Catholic culture and the church provided the milieu within which people were encouraged to give praise to God through their leisure pursuits.
Although primarily a history, there is much here for the theologian to admire. Kelly traces the church's understanding about the virtue of play as it sought to advance a balanced view whereby leisure and recreation were seen as ways to keep work in its place, and as vehicles for contemplation and joy. In carrying out this task, Kelly refers to the church fathers and classical Greek thinkers. Moreover, and significantly, since his work is often ignored, the ideas of Thomas Aquinas constantly appear throughout. To Catholics this should not be a surprise, given the angelic doctor's views on the virtues and on all human activity as a potential source of God's grace. Attitudes toward sports are also connected to the more familiar (for some) contemporary debates about the body and the mind, culminating in Catholic accounts of the human person. It is this concept of the person that, according to Kelly, counteracts the tendency to fall into one of two camps. The first position involves seeing the body in materialistic terms, as associated with instrumentalization and objectification. The other equally erroneous position is to see the body as bad, and therefore to resist anything that seeks deliberately to elevate the physical over the spiritual.
Theological debates are skilfully woven into much of this book, but not in a way that would be off-putting for the nonspecialist. We are led through the centuries up to the present day, with many humorous accounts of sport from olden times. New perspectives arise on each page thanks to the extensive use of original sources and presentation of arguments that have rarely ever been mentioned elsewhere. Yet, this book can profitably be read by anyone with a passion to know more about sport, its foundations, and traditions. In fact, this is an ideal text for introducing undergraduates to theology.
In terms of the book's few failings, one might be that the author has provided only a cursory account of youth sport. In addition, the approach could be criticized as too US-centric. However, this is quite understandable given Kelly's own background and the likely audience for the book. There is also little reference to professional sport, which has become such a pervasive phenomenon in the past forty years or so in much of the world. Finally, although the frequent reference to the works of Thomas Aquinas is a great strength of the book, there is no mention of arguably the foremost Thomist philosopher of the twentieth century, Josef Pieper. This is unfortunate, not least because Pieper's writing on the concept of leisure and his ideas about contemplation support much of what is contained in this book.
Kelly writes about difficult topics with lightness and clarity; this is an easy book to pick up and read. The writing style is confident but not strident, and arguments are incisive, rather than narrow or parochial. This is a seminal text, taking a fresh look at things often taken for granted. The content should prove to be refreshingly different for many, positively welcomed by others, and may likely be viewed as provocative and controversial by some. I have no doubt that for those who approach this book with an open mind it will be a stimulating and deeply enjoyable read.
