Sport and the Christian Religion

In a masterful way, [Watson and Parker] provide an enormous amount of bibliographic material, some of which is in 'semi-annotated' form. The material is nicely woven into the narrative throughout the seven chapters and conclusion of the book. Moreover, as accomplished scholars whose work is included in this volume, their voices enter into the narrative at appropriate moments and do not overshadow the contributions of the vast number of excellent scholars they cite. On the whole, the synthesis of the material presented in the book is laudable. Currently, this book is the most inclusive review to date of the literature addressing the connection between religion andsport generally, Christianity and sport specifically.

There are many strengths to be found in this exhaustive survey. As well as the impressive overview and analysis of the literature, the volume includes a very useful listing of academic and practical developments in Sport and Christianity in the appendix.

The book rightly bemoans the lack of empirical qualitative on "how Christian athletes negotiate the paradoxical cultures and norms of elite-competitive sport and Christianity". [The authors] note that while there has been in recent years a significant amount of scholarship on sports and Christianity, there is a distinct lack of primary empirical research in the area. [...]The contribution of Andy Parker and Nick Watson to the study of sport and Christianity has been immense. This is another "must read" book for anyone who is interested in thinking seriously about how faith and sport interact.

Sport is a key component of contemporary culture. But what are Christians to make of it? Nick Watson and Andrew Parker have devoted their careers to answering this important question. This book records Watson and Parker's intellectual travels in search of an answer. It painstakingly identifies all the literature that is currently available on the subject. It therefore allows its reader to discover at arm's length – in remarkably simple terms – the utter complexity of the topic in hand. There is sport and religion here, sport and spirituality, sport and ethics, sport and the Bible, competition, muscular Christians, the Olympics, chaplains, feminists, big business, young children, wider society and everything else. The entire discipline is charted here. There are over 1000 references. The bibliography is over 70 pages. This is a very impressive literature review. But this book is more than just a review. It is also a preview. Watson and Parker finish each chapter by identifying areas for future research, pointing out where the odd gap exists. In doing so, they raise all sorts of interesting questions for researchers to pursue: about sport and reconciliation, psychological conditioning, the spiritual life, fandom, nationalism, humor, laughter, eating disorders and much more besides. Panoramic in scope, with a distant horizon, this book will stimulate academic research for many years to come. […] The book deserves nothing but applause, mainly because it amounts to an act of generosity, quite rare in the academy. We should be grateful. This is knowledge being made public, the opposite of Gnosticism, which is very appropriate given the subject matter.

This slim volume will prove an invaluable resource for scholars interested in a serious and multidisciplinary investigation of sport and will therefore no doubt be a discipline-defining document for years to come. Nick Watson and Andrew Parker have produced a winning combination of ecumenical and disciplinary breadth which is notable for the generosity with which they offer future scholars and students well-informed and sharply articulated questions for further scholarly investigation. Precisely because of the modesty and diligence evident in the labour of producing a comprehensive bibliography of the field, they win readers over for their ground-breaking (and theologically faithful) insistence that types of methodological analysis that Christians have often avoided, such as that of Marxism or psychoanalysis, ought to be taken seriously by Christians, and by Christian scholars. This contribution is sure to render the book mandatory reading for every undergraduate and graduate student interested in the theme of sport of religion or sport and Christianity.

More than 1,050 references are cited in this comprehensive review of the literature. The text is not merely a report on the results of recent and current research. Rather the authors, Nick Watson and Andrew Parker, insightfully and critically interpret the literature. Each chapter reads like a scholarly narrative, one that describes what we currently know, what we still do not know, what seems controversial, where current debates stand, and what needs further study.

Watson and Parker have created a splendid work … This is much more than a bibliography or even an annotated bibliography. The authors have managed to sort a diverse literature into helpful analytic categories (something not easily done in this domain), and accompany it with rich commentary. They have made heavy use of electronic databases and hard copy sources, as well as feedback from those working in the field. The result is an impressive reference that likely will serve the interests of those who plough this fertile territory for decades to come. The book is divided into seven chapters along with a 70+ page bibliography plus an appendix outlining "academic and practical developments in sport and Christianity" which will be of interest to ministers, sports chaplains and other practitioners who often serve as interpreters of the religious meaning of sport to athletes and fans … These chapters sketch out an excellent outline for a course on sport and religion buttressed with valuable and accessible references … As one who has devoted a substantial part of his academic life to the study of sport and Christianity I assumed that, at one time or another, I had placed my finger on most of the important literature on the subject. This book was an awakening. Watson and Parker's astute biblio-scavenging turned up a treasure trove of interesting and important works.

Nick J. Watson's and Andrew Parker's volume Sport and the Christian Religion is, in a way, what it says on the cover: a review of existing research and scholarship, but it is also more than that … When briefly skimming through the book, one instantly notices the vast bibliographic section that, with its roughly 70 pages, is almost half as long as the main text of the book (about 130 pages). The vast bibliography is both impressive and daunting and leads to a first (but ultimately wrong) impression that the book might be a mere (annotated) list of existing research on sports and Christianity. When engaging with the main body of the text, however, one quickly realizes that the book offers more. While the subtitle "review of literature" might not necessarily invite potential readers, the authors are presenting the vast amount of existing research and cited references in an inviting way that engages the reader. The authors themselves have a vast knowledge of the field as their own contributions (and entries in the bibliography) show. At no point, however, does one get the impression that the authors try to advertise their own work over the work of other scholars … It is a valuable resource for theologians and religious studies scholars who want to gain an overview of research that has been done in the social sciences and non-theological/religious studies disciplines.