THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH: THE MALE BODY IN SPORTS EVANGELISM A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY by Scott D. Strednak Singer December 2016 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Rebecca Alpert, Advisory Chair, Department of Religion Dr. Laura Levitt, Department of Religion Dr. Terry Rey, Department of Religion Dr. David Harrington Watt, Department of History Dr. Michael Sachs, External Member, Department of Kinesiology © Copyright 2016 by Scott Donald Strednak Singer All Rights Reserved € ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the functions of athletic male bodies within sports evangelism. I argue that the production of the male body within sports evangelism – both physical and symbolic - plays an integral part in the mission of Christian athletes by using the body as a medium for conveying religious messages about masculinity to young men. I focus upon sports evangelism as both entertainment spectacle and as a performance of masculinity, the commercialization of evangelism in the contemporary United States, legitimated violence as religious expression, and the paradoxical relationship between bodily improvement and bodily harm within sports. I begin with a review of the sports and religion literature, identifying common themes and shortcomings, with particular regard to how Christian athletes supplement their oral ministrations with physical action. Following this, I offer a very broad survey the role of sports as socializing institutions within Western Christian history, culminating in the 20th century transition from an athletic culture driven primarily by participation to one primarily driven by consumption and spectatorship. The remaining chapters are case studies of how sports ministries and evangelical athletes have championed particular political positions from the 1980s to the present. I conclude by discussing the limits of these performances of masculinity, highlighting how masculinist fantasies of power and Christian identity in sports evangelism support conservative Christian political practices and ideologies, inscribed on the bodies of participants. iii To Katie, with whom I’ve found my home, and in whom I’ve met my match. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Projects of this length are, inevitably, the product of many caring people. Those who helped this work come into being remind me that the generosity of family, friends, colleagues, and strangers is the fundamental building block of any successes in my professional world. If God is found in other people, then the spark of divinity burns a little brighter in these souls. I cannot adequately state my gratitude for the tireless efforts of Rebecca Alpert, whose candid guidance and support as my doctoral advisor has been of incalculable value. Thank you for encouraging me to explore this topic and for helping to professionalize the religion and sports subfield. I am also endebted to Laura Levitt, Terry Rey, and David Harrington Watt for their work as my examiners and as members of my dissertation committee. Though he may not know it, Terry’s being barefoot in his office the day we met helped solidify my decision to come to Temple. For all of her brilliant wisdom, career advice, and writing help, Laura also provided some much needed personal guidance. David was gracious enough to serve as an examiner and to join my dissertation committee when he had no obligation to do so. And thank you to Dr. Michael Sachs for agreeing to be an outside reader. Thanks to you all for your challenges and encouragements along the way. The religion and sports research community has been supportive of this work over the years. The members of the AAR Religion, Sport and Play group deserve special recognition, not least of which because they heard most of the body chapters in draft form and offered constructive feedback and questions. I’ve looked forward to seeing Annie v Blazer, Art Remillard, and Eric Bain-Selbo every November since the group began. Eric also provided me the chance to present some of these ideas to the religious studies senior seminar at Western Kentucky University in my hometown of Bowling Green, KY. Even though we haven’t met in person, Adam Park’s work on Christian mixed martial arts, and the dozens of emails we’ve sent back and forth over the past three years, have helped me structure my own thoughts on the subject. I’d also like to thank Nancy Heisey and Provost Fred Kniss at Eastern Mennonite University for inviting me to present these findings as part of EMU’s colloquium series. Lastly, this work would never have happened without W. David Hall’s “Basketball as Religion” class at Centre College. I am extraordinarily blessed with good friends and family. My graduate study program would not have been possible were it not for my parents’ generous giving of time, resources, and love. My colleagues and friends at Temple University contributed many good ideas and conversations that made thinking through this work more pleasant, especially Jesse Brenner, Kin Cheung, Amy Defibaugh, Ed Godfrey, Holly Gorman, Mohamed Hassan, Yarekh Hernandez, Brett Krutzsch, Beth and Kime Lawson, Vincent and Amy Moulton, and Adam Valerio. I’d also like to say thank you for the love you all showed while I recovered from surgery. To Vinnie and Amy, thank you for letting me stay with you while I took my exams. And to Linda Jenkins, thank you for all that you’ve done for me, for the other students, and for the faculty of the department. I am very grateful for Marilyn Mattingly at the Interlibrary Loan Office of Warren County Public Library in Bowling Green, KY, the staff of Helm-Cravens Library at WKU, and the staff of Samuel Paley Library at Temple University for their help in tracking down obscure titles. I’d also like to say a special thank you to the congregation vi of Franklin Presbyterian Church, the students and staff of the Simpson County Literacy Center, and the students and staff of Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College for their support over the years. Every day, my gratitude begins and ends with Katie Strednak Singer, without whose love and support I would be lost. I’m looking forward to the hours we can spend together now that this is over. Thank you for loving me through it anyway, even though sports will always be whateverball to you. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v CHAPTERS 1. SKIN IN THE GAME ...................................................................................................1 Review of Relevant Literature.................................................................................7 Sport and Religious Identity ........................................................................9 Sport and Christianity ................................................................................13 Sports Evangelism and the Body ...............................................................20 Christian Ethics and Sports Evangelism....................................................24 Contribution to the Field........................................................................................32 2. PROSCRIPTIONS AND PROHIBITIONS: THE MALE BODY IN CHRISTIAN SPORTS DISCOURSE .........................................................................38 Pagan Sporting Culture and Early Christianity......................................................40 The Ambiguity of the Body and the Dangers of Sport Spectacles………………...45 Selective Adoption of Sport and Games in the Middle Ages ................................52 The Protestant Male Body in Leisure and Labor...................................................59 Manliness and Social Reform in the Muscular Christian Movement....................65 The Muscular Christian Male Body in America....................................................68 Sports Evangelism in the Age of Mass Culture.....................................................80 viii Sport and Conservative Christian Anxiety in the mid-20th Century......................92 Transition to Case Studies .....................................................................................96 3. FROM MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY TO HARD BODY CHRISTIANITY: MORAL MUSCLE DURING THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION .......................99 The Age of the Spectacular..................................................................................103 Masculinity in the Action Cinema and Youth Programming ..............................105 Desiring Real Men ...............................................................................................113 Bodybuilding Jesus..............................................................................................115 Sanctifying Destruction and Individual Determination .......................................118 Hard Bodies and Sex Appeal ...............................................................................122 The Twilight of Hard Body Christianity..............................................................126 4. SEXY ABSTINENCE: SPORTS EVANGELISM AND SEXUAL ETHICS IN THE NEW MILLENIUM ....................................................................................134