Research Paper – Outline
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Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport Nick Watson York St John University
Abstract: This essay examines ‘‘athletic identity’’ from a Christian theological and psycho-
logical standpoint. In discussing the concept of identity within the sports world, I address a
range of related issues such as idolatry, sin, and states of heart such as pride and humility.
According to Phil Night, founder and chairperson of Nike, sports ‘‘define the culture of the
world’’1 and thus an examination of the cultural context in which identity is formed is also
presented. Areas for future research are provided in the conclusion, for example, reflections
on identity for sportspersons with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Keywords: Athletic identity, idolatry, humility and pride, sporting excellence, heart
Introduction
Sport, as many commentators have noted, is the new religion. It has superseded Christianity
in many cultural theorists’ eyes as the social practice par excellence that initiates persons into
rules and norms of virtuous and vicious behaviours which orientate us more broadly in
the world.2
—Mike McNamee
Fourth in the Olympics hurt, but retirement is like a death in the family . . . I struggled for
three months . . . I’d walk around and just start filling up. I’d wake up lost. I didn’t know
what to do. My emotions were so intense I felt I’d lost a member of the family. I’d lost a
major part of my life, something was dead. Everything I’d lived for was over.3
—British Olympic Decathlete, Dean Macey, on retiring from sport
Theologians and philosophers4 have argued that we need to think more philosophically
about the meaning of sport participation and competition. Kretchmar has recently suggested
that in studying sport ‘‘to do ethics in vacuo,’’ without some sort of metaphysical (i.e., reli-
gious) basis is a questionable endeavour. He sees athletes as ‘‘meaning-seeking, story-telling
creatures,’’ who can encounter real drama, experience excellence and self-discovery in
healthy sporting contests.5 In relation, a small number of sport psychologists have also chal-
lenged the current dominance within their discipline of positivistic research and cognitive-
behavioural consultancy techniques advocating the need for more holistic, philosophical,
existential, and spiritual and religious approaches.6
These recent shifts toward spiritual and religious concepts, within the disciplines of
sport philosophy and sport psychology are encouraging and make a significant contribution
to my thinking in terms of understanding the complexities of athletic identity. This said, the
foundational source of identity (ontologically and epistemologically)7 throughout this body
The Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23:2, July 2011 doi:10.3138/jrpc.23.2.182
of work is, as Frankl8 states, ‘‘. . . a human phenomenon rather than divine,’’ and thus puts
the self at the centre of the framework of meaning (humanism and naturalism), rather than
God (supernaturalism). I will argue that this is diametrically opposed to a Christian theolog-
ical perspective of identity as described in the Bible, in which humans are called to deny
themselves and live in Christ (Matt. 16:24–27).9 This is not as burdensome a thing as it
may sound to some but rather something that, as C.S Lewis10 notes, actually leads humans
to freedom of heart, peace and becoming ‘‘more truly themselves . . . it is when I turn to
Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a personality of
my own.’’
In hopefully adding something new to the valuable past psychological, psychiatric and
clinical, sociological, and pedagogical work on athletic identity, and related research on self-
worth and dispositional neurotic perfectionism in sport that is based on a secular and
humanistic worldview11, this approach provides a significantly different understanding of
personhood and how we understand ourselves and others in competitive sport. Its core
premise is that humans’ identity, that is, their feeling, thinking, attitudes, and behaviour
should be grounded in, and flow from, the heart of a loving Father God. As Paul states in
the Bible (Acts 17:28) when addressing the Athenian philosophers, ‘‘for in him we live and
move and have our being . . .’’
This study is also needed due to longitudinal sports ethics research that has suggested
that athletes in Christian and secular American schools show very little difference, if any, in
moral-reasoning, and that Christian athletes had a tendency to compartmentalize their faith
and exclude it from competitive sport.12 Why is this so? Can Christian athletes simply learn
and follow the strict moral code of the Bible (an important dimension of Christian faith)
and feel, think, and act in the heat of competition and in relationships, in a Christ-like
manner? I will argue not, due to the foundational biblical principle that the state of the
‘‘heart’’ of the believer, their disposition—the depth of relationship and intimacy with God
through Jesus Christ—is the source of all right and wrong, feeling, thinking, and acting.
Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. —Proverbs 4:23)
The mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart. —Matthew 12:34
My anthropological start point is predicated on the biblical position that all humans are
made in the image of God—imago Dei (Gen. 1:27) and comprise soul, body, and spirit
(1Thess. 5:23). This division of self is useful in analyzing identity in sport. However,
throughout this paper, I wish to combat the Platonic-Cartesian mind-body dualism
entrenched in the western thought by referring to the soul, body, and spirit holistically as
the heart, a Hebrew and Pauline perspective.13 This view maintains that the human being
is thoroughly integrated, though with different aspects.
Consistent with this idea that the Christian faith can be described as a personal and
intimate relationship with God in the ‘‘heart’’ of the human believer, versus a dry rule-
governed legalistic and judgmental religion (arguably an idol and huge defense mechanism
in the modern world), and that the word heart is spoken of hundreds of times in the Bible,
it is necessary to provide some explanation of this term. In a little known and arguably
neglected book, Biblical Psychology,14 Oswald Chambers provides some clarity on the spiritual
nature of the human heart, which he calls the ‘‘radiator of the personal life’’—the source of
human identity and moral reasoning:
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183
The use of the Bible term ‘heart’ is best understood by simply saying ‘me.’ The heart is not
merely the seat of the affections, it is the centre of everything. The heart is the central altar,
and the body is the outer court. What we offer on the altar of the heart will tell ultimately
through the extremities of the body . . . the centre from which God’s working and the devil’s
working, the centre from which everything works which moulds the human mechanism . . .
Our Lord undertakes to fill the whole region of the heart with light and holiness . . .
(2 Corinthians. 4: 6) . . . Do I realize that I need it done? Or do I think I can realize myself ?
That is the great phrase today, and it is growing in popularity—‘I must realize myself.’’
‘‘I must realize myself ? ’’ Indeed, Chambers’ reflections from the early twentieth century are,
I would argue, prophetic for the age in which we live. The cultural ethos of ‘‘self-realization,’’
or what has been called ‘‘selfism’’ by psychologist Paul Vitz,15 is so encultured in the west
that I agree with those who have argued that pride of the heart ‘‘is now synonymous with
virtue’’ in the institutions of media, sport and religion.16 To be sure, this view of identity
and self-worth that has no objective foundation, as it is relative to each person, is so deeply
woven into the fabric of society, that it is, as the nineteenth-century writer Kierkegaard
states, the worst form of despair, a ‘‘fictitious health.’’17 Why? Because it is, as Kierkegaard
called it, the disposition of the ‘‘automatic cultural man’’ an unconscious denial of the reality
of life built on self, instead of the source of our being, a Holy loving God. This idea is not
new and supports the maxim, ‘‘read an old book for a new idea!’’
As articulated in the writings of St. Augustine, Kierkegaard, Dostoyevsky, Oswald
Chambers, G.K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis and of course the fountain of all their musings,
the Bible, the insidiousness of pride and narcissism in the west’s cultural value system has
resulted in widespread cultural and social fragmentation. This is, in part, a consequence of
the liberalization of ethics and the ‘‘human potential’’ movement (e.g., Esalen Institute) in
America. The titles of notable books such as The Culture of Narcissism: Life in an Age of
Diminishing Expectations (1980), Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship (1994),
and Ernest Becker’s award winning The Denial of Death (1973),18 also accurately conveys
our current situation. Nonetheless, liberal-humanist and postmodern voices that dominate
academic sports studies (e.g., sociology, philosophy, psychology, pedagogy) and other dis-
ciplines, at times seem oblivious to the evidence all around them that the 19th and 20th
century utopian ‘‘myths of progress’’ have been unable to prevent, and have often con-
tributed to, what David Blankenhorn, and many others in theology and sport and leisure
studies19 have accurately called a Fatherless Generation.
A principal aim of this paper is to suggest that the foundational answer to this problem
lies in individuals, communities, and nations coming into a knowledge and personal revela-
tion of the love of a Father God. To achieve any clear understanding of individual human
identity from this perspective, I must also examine the dominant characteristics (identity) of
the society and culture in which individual identity is formed—enculturation. For as Phil
Night, founder and chairperson of Nike states, sports arguably ‘‘define the culture of the
world.’’20
After providing a rationale for the need of this study, my first task is to analyze the con-
ceptual nature of sports competition and its role in understanding ‘‘athletic identity,’’ which
has been defined as ‘‘the degree to which an individual identifies with the athlete role.’’21
This will allow for a theological and psychological analysis of identity in sport, focusing on
pride, humility, and idolatry. Pride and humility are the two states of heart that I see as
fundamental in understanding both positive and negative aspects of identity in sport. I will
then provide extended Concluding Remarks due to the embryonic nature of the study of
identity in sport from a Christian perspective and some suggestions for future empirical
research and scholarship and a range of resources to assist in this process.
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184
Identity and Competition in Sport In his book Winning : The Psychology of Competition.’’ 22 Stuart Walker makes a number of
points about athletic competition, which are important when examining issues of identity
in sport:
Most competitors think of themselves as being primarily motivated to develop, demonstrate,
and enjoy competence. Many, however, are also concerned with the demonstration of power,
courage, and aggressiveness. They use competition to overcome feelings of dependence,
helplessness, and loss of individuality. Others are more concerned with being approved,
appreciated, and admired. They use competition to overcome feelings of being separated,
abandoned, and unloved. Competition permits the demonstration of individual significance,
which gratifies desire for both assertiveness and approval. The key word is ‘demonstration.’
Competitors perform in public; they assert themselves in the presence of others—of their
competitors at the very least.
Walker’s psychological thesis holds some weight, however as Newman23 notes. Walker over-
states his point as to how competitions are primarily activated, i.e., winning is the only
goal of the athlete. This thesis is far too simplistic and I would agree with Simon,24 who
notes that competition in sport is ethically defensible and that the ‘‘meeting of the demands
athletes place upon their talents often involves beauty, courage, dedication, and passion.’’
Nonetheless, the intense emotion and passion often present in the delicately balanced dialectic
of competitive sport, Hyland25 suggests, also carries the risk that ‘‘such intensity will devolve
into alienation and violence.’’ This is closely tied to athletes’ (and coaches’, parents’ etc.)
need for recognition, love, and demonstrating power and significance, which is conveyed
by Walker and is arguably one mainstay of modern competitive sport.
A psychoanalytical perspective of these needs in competitive sport, Kohn26 suggests,
would basically run something like: winning ¼ coach’s approval ¼ parental acceptance [in child/youth sport] ¼ acceptance of self (self-worth). In extending Kohn’s social-psychological analysis to include the spiritual, this unhealthy ‘‘disordering of our affections,’’ as church
father St. Augustine (354–430c.) put it, may lead to perversion and corruption of the activity
in which ‘‘the athlete may delude himself into thinking that his own quest for wealth and
fame, or even a championship, will make him happy.’’27 In other words, for athletes and
coaches of this mindset it would seem that ‘‘sport is life’’28 and to lose, or be unable to
play for whatever the reason, can have catastrophic consequences for the emotional and
psychological balance of an individual; that is, their identity.
England Rugby Union World Cup star, Johnny Wilkinson, has recently confessed the
underlying reason for the ‘‘near destruction of his career—an obsessive quest for perfec-
tion.’’29 This is something that is acutely conveyed in the title of his recent biography,
Tackling Life : Striving for Perfection.30 In light of the ‘‘win-at-all-costs’’ ethic, it reflects on
Wilkinson’s very honest and illustrative comments about his injuries, the meaning of rugby
for him and how this has impacted upon his psychological well-being and understanding of
life itself :
The truth is that I was wracked with anxiety, almost constantly. I wanted it [to achieve] so
badly that I was beating myself up. It was the same whether I played for Newcastle, England
or the Lions. Before the game it was nerves. After the game it was a harsh post-mortem—
why did I miss that tackle? Why did I miss that conversion? . . . All the intensity and attrition
brought with it intense fatigue. That resulted in injuries which, in turn, have resulted in a lot
of pain and anguish . . . You hear yourself saying only good things will come of this, that
there’s a reason for it and you’ve saved yourself for two years of being battered but none of
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185
it is really true . . . I would have given anything to have played consistently . . . There have
been times when it’s been hugely painful. I’ve been incredibly depressed, demoralised, even
bitter . . . I feel as if I’ve let myself down then, because it’s all about setting benchmarks as a
person and there have been times when I’ve failed to reach these marks. It has made me lose
my way in so far as all my life I’ve done nothing but think and play rugby. When it’s taken
away from you for as long as it has been, it makes you unsure over what you’re supposed to
do with your life.31
Interestingly, Wilkinson’s emotional rollercoaster following a catalogue of injuries since
his moment of glory with that famous drop-kick in the dying seconds of the 2003 Rugby
World Cup Final, has led Times journalist, Souster,32 to suggest that he has now undergone
an almost ‘‘. . . spiritual change.’’ Arguably, Wilkinson has experienced what the Jewish
philosopher Martin Buber called a ‘‘shudder of identity,’’33 that is, one of the primary sources
of meaning in life has been removed and he is searching his soul for purpose and meaning.
Ruben34 captures something of this in stating that for ‘‘many strong competitors, upon
reaching the summit of their aspirations . . . the discovery, ultimately, that ‘making it’ is
often a hollow gain, is one of the most traumatic events that the successful can experience.’’
Along with many others, Wilkinson has encountered the existential angst, fear and sense of
worthlessness that often accompanies the loss of a significant ‘‘life project’’35 like sport, what
cultural anthropologist, Ernest Becker,36 aptly describes as the ‘‘dread of insignificance.’’ This
anxiety and sense of worthlessness is likely to be more intense for professional full-time
athletes37 such as Wilkinson, in comparison to amateurs due to the greater time, signifi-
cance, meaning, and ultimately sense of identity invested in sport, a ‘‘life project.’’
Sad stories of retired athletes, for example British soccer players from the 1980s and
early 1990s in particular, sliding into alcoholism and suffering from serious relationship
problems (e.g., divorce) illustrate the potentially catastrophic identity issues that can ensue
when sport, the ‘‘life project,’’ is lost.38 The poignant and yet often failed and embarrassing
‘‘comebacks’’ of professional athletes at the end of their careers is another example of how
sport can become an ‘‘unhealthy obsession.’’ The ‘‘old pro’’ is unable to let go of their
sporting life in an anxious quest to hold onto a major source of their identity in life.
Evidence of this existential angst in elite and youth sport performers has been shown in
research on dispositional neurotic perfectionism, ‘‘fear of failure’’ psychiatric writings on
the mental health of athletes and theological and philosophical reflection on shame in
sport,39 with athletes suffering from feelings of narcissism, guilt, shame, negative mood and
resultant decrements in performance.
For an athlete in competitive sports, the feeling associated with moving teams, athletic
retirement, career-ending injuries, and defeat can be great and is often the precursor to
feelings of loss and neurotic anxiety, and in some cases what consultant sport psychiatrist
Robert Burton classifies as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD).40 Indeed, for some
athletes this loss of identity and self-worth associated with these perceived traumatic occur-
rences in sport, has resulted in clinical depression and occasionally suicide attempts, as was
sometimes the case in ancient Greek athletics.41
Although this is not a simple correlation, since many other factors determine an
athlete’s sense of identity, such as sex, personality, race and ethnicity, education, culture,
family background and past experience, the physical body, the individual’s name and group
membership,42 nevertheless playing and winning equals ‘‘being,’’ and losing equates to ‘‘non-
being.’’ ‘‘Non-being threatens man’s self-affirmation’’ suggests theologian Paul Tillich.43 In the
athletic arena this may lead to a sense of unworthiness and insecurity in the athlete when
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186
they lose, or fail to come up to the often unrealistic and unhealthy expectations of pushy
coaches, parents and even nations.
Though by definition, these losses are simply a temporal evaluation, ask any athlete or
coach and, if honest, they will admit that at times they allow their performance to define
their being and so for them a loss is tantamount to defeat or failure (symbolic death) as a
person. This is what sport psychologists call the ‘‘hero-to-zero’’ syndrome. In discussing the
loss and sorrow of losing in competitive sport, Higgs and Braswell use ‘‘the term ‘pseudo-
sorrow’ to express the emotional state of losers’’ and state that ‘‘real sorrow lives in hospitals
and in funeral homes and indeed ordinary homes without number.’’44 While of course there
is very real suffering in sport that can be a mix of physical, mental and spiritual,45 this again
conveys how sport has become for many in the west an idol that is intimately tied to the
identity and self-worth of athletes and fans. I am not suggesting that athletes should not
passionately care about sport and become emotionally involved. This is in part what makes
sport participation and competition so exciting, fulfilling and healthy.
In support of Hochstetler, Hopsicker and Kretchmar’s holistic conception of sport,46
neither do I advocate a dualistic worldview in which ‘‘real sorrow’’ only exists in ‘‘real life’’
outside of sport. I hold firmly to a biblical, Pauline, and ultimately Jewish anthropology—
mind, body and spirit are viewed as one (nephesh)—supporting the notion that our experience
of suffering, loss, joy, and sorrow is valid in all of life’s diverse situations and messiness.47
However, if ‘‘post-match blues’’ slide into prolonged self-pity, moods, and depression that
affects the athlete and is projected on to others, then arguably, sport has become an idol.
The destructive consequences of the ‘‘win-at-all-costs’’ ethic of modern sport (especially on
individual identity) has been examined in more detail elsewhere48 and is also prevalent in
organized child and youth sport that reflects trends in professional adult sport.
A wealth of studies and writings exist that have documented the negative and worrying
trends in elite child and youth sport development strategies and grassroots sport policy,
which are linked to the cultural ethos of winning-at-all-costs. I would argue the most com-
prehensive analysis of this endemic problem is Paulo David’s important book, Human Rights
in Youth Sport : A Critical Review of Children’s rights in Competitive Sports 49 that covers areas
such as overtraining, eating disorders, physical and mental burnout, elite youth sport pro-
grams and the negative effect of parental pressure and expectations.
Instead of viewing competition as a healthy test or mutual striving toward excellence,
the etymological root of the term,50 or as a playful form of developmental recreation, it has
become to some degree a questioning of the athlete’s or child’s/youth’s very existence and
their source of self-worth. This has been clearly articulated by religious studies scholar,
Michael Grimshaw,51 in his analysis of the idolatrous nature of modern sport, in which he
argues a ‘‘pagan mythology of fallible gods’’ has evolved. To be sure, for many participants
and spectators modern sport is a religion in the ritualistic and functional sense, with many
similarities evident between the practice and rituals of modern sport and religion.52
For the elite athlete, winning in sport is then frequently inflated to a form of immor-
tality53 and thus idolatry, resulting in the individual seeking to justify the meaning of their
existence through their sport participation. The complex and differing motivations of heart
to succeed, in the 1924 Olympic Games, shown by Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddle,
is beautifully portrayed in the award winning film, Chariots of Fire, and is a good example
of this. As Cashmore has noted in his socio-historical analysis of the film, Abrahams
‘‘. . . individualistic, self-interested approach to competition . . . is . . . entirely congruent with
the ‘win-at-all-costs’ mentality that was to become prevalent in [modern] sport.’’54 From a
Christian perspective, glorification of the self in any human endeavour, as was arguably one
Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport
187
motivation of Harold Abrahams in this film, is rooted in the sin of pride, the ‘‘complete anti-
God state of heart,’’ according to C.S. Lewis.55
The Role of Pride and Humility in Sporting Identity Sporting tales, as those described above, illustrate how the ego of the athlete can predomi-
nate in a quest to win and ultimately to appear and feel superior or even god-like, which
when you consider Harold Abrahams’ words and the boasts of modern athletes together
with the explicit worship of modern sports stars in the media and their institutionalization
in Halls of Fame, I would argue is not an exaggeration for some. Drawing on excerpts from
Schneider’s theology of personhood and his criticisms of Sartre’s atheism, Pannenberg56
articulates this clearly:
To the extent that human beings try to gain their wholeness and strive to be ‘in and for
themselves,’ they are always a ‘desire to be God’ . . . Thus the striving for the self-realization
that is directed toward the wholeness of one’s being is in fact to be understood as an expres-
sion of sin, of the will ‘to be like God.’
From a psychological standpoint, this can be understood as the athlete, coach, sporting
parent (vicariously) needing to attain ‘‘self-actualization’’57 through worldly success, adula-
tion, and affirmation in competition and their career. Van Kaam58 in his incisive assessment
of modern psychology and modern culture, points to this by suggesting that ‘‘an over-
emphasis on introspective attitudes has seriously hindered the spiritual growth of western
man . . . we are ego-centered, when we should be God-centered.’’ In support of Van Kaam
and the reflections of the theologian Pannenberg, psychologist Paul Vitz concludes in his
trenchant critique of humanistic and atheistic-existential psychology—the work of Jung,
Rogers, Fromm, and Maslow—that the ‘‘relentless and single-minded search for and glorifi-
cation of the self . . . is at direct cross-purposes with the Christian injunction to lose the
self’.59 Lose the self in an age of success?
By modern worldly standards of success, Jesus Christ was the greatest failure in human
history, something that, in Christian interpretation, was clearly prophesied in the writings
of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, 700 years before his birth. To be sure, the Christian
story does not portray Jesus as a ‘‘self-actualizer’’! No, the Christian narrative records that
he ‘‘. . . made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human
likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedi-
ent to death on a cross!’ (Philippians 2:7–8). The gospels (trans. Greek, good news) in the
New Testament, which are both prophetic and historical documents, state that from the
time Jesus ‘‘set his face to go to Jerusalem’’ after his wrestling with his calling and destiny
in the garden of Gethsemane, the words of Isaiah the prophet began to be fulfilled:
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering . . . he
was despised and we esteemed him not . . . surely he took up our infirmities and carried our
sorrows . . . he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed . . . he
was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter . . . Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer . . . the Lord
makes his life a guilt offering . . . after the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life . . .
—Isaiah 5360
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188
Why did Jesus have to tread the path that theologian Timothy Savage notes, is a ‘‘ ‘strange’
and ‘alien’ glory anticipated by . . . Isaiah, a light revealed in the darkness of death, a
splendour manifested in the most appalling object of antiquity—a cross?’’61 Indeed, the
blood-soaked cross paradoxically speaks of reconciliation, light and love, as personified in
Jesus himself being described as the ‘‘light of the world’’ in the prologue to John’s gospel.
The purpose of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, as described in Christian thought, was to reconcile
his Father’s creatures (humans) back into an intimate relationship with himself: at-one-
ment. Theologians call this the ‘‘atonement’’ and contend that all three dimensions of the
trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are involved in the process62 and that it is the path
to eternal life, deep joy and a ‘‘peace . . . which transcends all understanding’’ (Phil. 4: 7a;
Isaiah 26: 3) regardless of earth’s circumstances. This is clearly described in an oft-cited bible
verse: ‘‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes
in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’’ (John 3:16)
Commenting on the meaning of the atonement for individual identity, the priest-
psychologist, Adrian Van Kaam63 notes that ‘‘an infinite love tenderly called me forth out
of nowhere and nothingness; an unspeakable Love emptied itself to redeem the identity
that I lost sight of in sinfulness; an enlightening Love keeps calling me back to what I am.’’
Herein lies the paradox of the Christian faith, articulated by C.S Lewis in that ‘‘the more we
let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become—because he made us . . . it is
when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a
personality of my own,’’64 in all domains of life, including sport.
Following this central biblical theme of surrender to Christ—‘‘If anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation’’ (2 Corinthians 5:17)—it is then the relationship in the heart of the
Christian believer with a Father God, through the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit,
that Christians believe ‘‘guards’’ their ‘‘hearts and minds in Christ Jesus’’ (Philippians 4:7b).
Coherent with the Christian anthropology laid out in my introduction, the heart is then
understood as the seat of all wrong or right feeling, thinking and behaving, and thus is the
foundational source of human identity in all of life’s activities, including sport. Considering
that the Psalmist (51:17) states that it is ‘‘a broken and contrite heart . . .’’ that allows for an
intimate relationship with God, how does this fit with a modern understanding of Christianity
in the west, and conceptions of identity in sport?
The Reverend Mark Townsend’s words in his recent thought-provoking book, The
Gospel of Falling Down : The Beauty of Failure in an Age of Success,65 conveys a realistic pic-
ture of the god-man who walked the earth 2,000 years ago and the religion he expressed:
Failure, rather than success, is at the heart of the life of Jesus and his message. He came to
liberate us from the ‘‘gospel of success.’’ It is not in ‘‘climbing the ladder of perfection’’ [i.e.,
maladaptive perfectionism] that we meet God, but in falling from it. And it is then that we
discover the most beautiful spiritual gold . . . The Gospel is not about success . . . To make
the Gospel into a means of being successful is to seriously miss the point. We live in a
success-dominated world, and much of the (especially Western) Church has become a
success-dominated religion. What is the central symbolic image for the Christian faith? It’s
a cross of wood, with a figure of a man nailed to it—a naked, bleeding man. A man so
wounded, so humiliated, so crushed that one can barely imagine. . .
Therefore, as Clements and Savage have articulated, it is through a journey of weakness
(not in character), brokenness, vulnerability and sacrificial love that Jesus went to the cross,
and it is believed by Christians, resurrected by his Father—the event on which the Christian
story stands or falls.66 Interestingly then, consultant sport psychiatrist, Dr Daniel Begel, who
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189
has worked with amateur and professional American sports teams, elucidates how thoughts
of ‘‘weakness and vulnerability’’ in modern sport are often diametrically opposed to the
identity of the modern athlete:67
If there is any character trait that is anathema to an athlete it is that of weakness. Being
unable to handle one’s feelings, and confessing that inability to another human being in
intimate conversation, is not usually concordant with an athlete’s sense of mastery . . . the
role of professional athlete may increase the risk of suffering a specific narcissistic vulnerabil-
ity, and retirement from sports at any level carries with it an increased risk of clinical depres-
sion, especially if the retirement is forced by injury, or waning abilities . . .
Not to be misinterpreted at this juncture in my argument, achievement and excellence,
strength of character and body and success in sport, are not at all antithetical to the Christian
way of life. But they can be dangerous, because of the proud and self-reliant ethos of western
culture that dominates big-business professional sport, which is often but certainly not
always, characterized by individualism, vain-glory and ultimately pride of the heart.68 Pride
of the heart is what C.S. Lewis and professor of pastoral psychology, Donald Capps,69 calls
‘‘the great sin’’ and is the root of most other sins, which are arguably prevalent in modern
sport, such as greed, vanity, and self-glorification.
Both Lewis and Capps are, however, balanced in their reflections on pride, emphasizing
that there are positive and negative forms of pride. For example in sport, having a sense of
one’s own self-worth and dignity in performance as an athlete or coach, taking pleasure in
being praised by parents, coaches, fans, and teammates and satisfaction in one’s sporting
achievements, are all examples of pride in a positive sense. This said, it has been argued,
and I agree, that pride ‘‘is now synonymous with virtue’’ in the institutions of sport, religion
and the media.70 According to Christian scripture, ‘‘life projects’’ like sport, can then easily
become idols that blind people to deeper spiritual truths about ‘‘who they are’’—their
identity—and what is ultimately important in life.
C.S Lewis unwittingly provided a sound theoretical basis for analyzing identity in sport
from a Christian theological perspective.71 If pride, as Lewis72 suggests, ‘‘is essentially com-
petitive above all other vices’’ how does this specifically relate to understanding identity
in sport? The findings of Stevenson’s qualitative investigation of the culture of elite sport
and the moral dilemmas this raises for Christian athletes,73 sheds some light on this. One
participant comments, ‘‘It’s weird. I just couldn’t let go of not winning. If we lost, I just
couldn’t let it go for a week—it would, like, boil inside me.’’ Another participant states, ‘‘I
think there’s times when . . . as an athlete, when we’re excelling to become our best . . . [that]
we lose sight of everything [else] around us.’’
Stevenson concludes that ‘‘these athletes struggled with the overwhelming priority placed
on winning in the contemporary sport culture’’ that ‘‘led to a number of consequences with
which they were uncomfortable.’’74 Clearly, organized child and youth sports are also a major
vehicle for this cultural ethos and its subsequent problems. ‘‘In childhood, the discovery of
athletic talent may determine a person’s role within the family and identity within society in
significant, if not always salutary, ways,’’ suggests sport psychiatrist, Begel.75 It seems that
the centrifugal forces that act upon and within the microcosm of sport are difficult to step
outside of.
Thomas á Kempis (1380–1471c.), in his well-known devotional work, The Imitation of
Christ,76 advises that ‘‘no man can live in the public eye without risk to his soul.’’ Christian
teaching suggests that the ‘‘weapons’’ and source of ‘‘power’’ with which humans (modern
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23:2 July 2011
190
athletes) can combat their prideful human nature that will cause them to desire recognition,
seek vain praise and glory and act in a manner that will possibly lead to the alienation of
others (opponents and family etc.), are love and humility from surrendering to God. As
Capps has observed ‘‘pride is also a form of isolation . . . and personal bondage . . . because
it is a form of self-love in which we deny our need for community with others.’’77 Humility
is the virtue directly opposite the sin of pride that leads to alienation and isolation, which
Lewis78 contends is the ‘‘complete anti-god state of mind,’’ and which had its genesis in
the fall from grace of some of God’s angelic realm and humanity. From this point in world
history, in every dimension of life including sport, Andrew Murray79 suggests that ‘‘pride
and humility are the two master powers—the two kingdoms at war’’ in our hearts, which
will determine our feelings, thoughts, and actions in the heat of sporting competition.
Concluding Reflections The aim of this paper was to provide a psychological and theological analysis of identity
in sport while also acknowledging the importance of social, cultural, and historical forces
in identity formation. Following others, I have argued that as a ‘‘moulder and reflection of
twentieth century attitudes towards human nature,’’80 modern psychology (and sport psy-
chology) that is largely characterized by individualism, humanism, positivism, and a relativist
epistemology, is diametrically opposed to Christian psychology (especially anthropology and
ontology). As Oswald Chambers suggests, ‘‘Christian psychology is not the study of human
nature Christianised, but the endeavour to understand the wonder and the mystery of
‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ ’’81 Nonetheless, I also heartily support Dallas Willard,82
who wisely notes that ‘‘psychological and theological understanding of the spiritual life
must go hand in hand. Neither of them is complete without the other.’’ Therefore, in any
comprehensive study of identity in sport, both empirical and theoretical research in sport
psychology, on areas such as ‘‘athletic identity’’ (e.g., Athletic Identity Measurement Scale)
motivational theory, human development models (e.g., Erikson), forms of psychological
abnormality and mechanisms of the brain must be synthesized with sound theology and
biblical anthropology.
In particular, I would emphasize the accuracy of the anthropological starting point when
studying identity in sport from a Christian perspective, in that ‘‘the image of God in the
New Testament reflects a theological and philosophical struggle with some of the most
important questions of human existence. Who are we as humans, and to whom do we
ultimately belong?’’83 In trying to answer these questions in sport, scholars should carefully
examine both Hebrew and Christian anthropology 84 when deciding how they should
respond to the tenets of modern psychology, so that, as Johnson in pointing to the bible
stresses, they are not taken ‘‘. . . captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which
depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than Christ.’’
(Colossians 2:8)—humanism, secularism, nihilism, and selfishness. For those wishing to
examine issues of identity in sport from a Christian standpoint there are a number of useful
non-sport sources in the psycho-theological literature and writings on the ‘‘Fatherhood of
God,’’85 which I have argued is central to understanding Christian identity in sport.
Although previous writings specifically on athletic identity in the sports literature are
sparse, the work of scholar Ashley Null, sport psychologist Mark Nesti and analyses of
idolatry in sport, should all be of use in grasping the psychological and theological com-
plexities of identity in the sports realm.86 Following the mapping of the human genome at
the turn of the twentieth century and the valuable but primarily humanistic analyses of
Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport
191
genetic enhancement in sport,87 theological analyses are crucial in assessing the wider im-
plications of being able to interfering with the make-up (anthropology) of human-beings.88
Exploration of how states of heart, such as pride and humility, impact upon moral reason-
ing 89 and relationships in sport, is another important area to explore, for as C.S. Lewis has
suggested, ‘‘pride has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since
the world began . . . pride means enmity—it is enmity.’’90 A prideful heart that seeks per-
sonal glory, gain, and self-worth primarily in sporting success, will often alienate and dis-
regard others, leading to the damage and breakdown of relationships. The role of shame
and guilt in this process, which often leads to striving for personal glory and self-worth in
sport and to the alienation of others, is a related area for further enquiry.91
Research on how identity may impact upon sports leadership models from a Christian
worldview is also needed. The concept of Servant Leadership described in Rieke, Hammer-
meister, and Chase’s empirical study of basketball coaches, a qualitative investigation by
MacDonald and Kirk on Christian identity in health and physical education teachers, and
the legendary reflections of ‘‘Coach Wooden’’ all provide a foundation for this.92
To develop past thought-provoking work on identity in disability sport93 from a Christian
stance, researchers could build on the exploratory theological work of Watson, Watts, and
Parker and Watts94 by examining existential meaning and spirituality in athletes with physical
and intellectual disabilities. What does physical movement through sporting activities mean,
if anything, for those with profound intellectual disabilities? How does participation in sport
impact on the identity of those with physical disabilities and how, if at all, could this have
spiritual meaning? How do individuals in a society bound to a dominant worldview of com-
petition, physical competence (e.g., able-bodied Olympics), rationality and intellectualism,
respond to the broken minds of those with profound intellectual disabilities, that can’t be
fully ‘‘understood,’’ ‘‘fixed,’’ or ‘‘cured’’?
Commenting on the theme of my last question, Graeme Watts95 draws on the pro-
vocative suggestion of Wolf Wolfensburger96 that people with an intellectual disability may
have actually been chosen by God to be the prophets of our age—an age in which many
seek to win-at-all-costs, to appear competent, to ‘‘have it all together.’’ Watts observes that
Wolfensberger may be making this case with more than a touch of hyperbole but argues
that in promoting values opposite to those so tightly held as ‘‘normal,’’ it is perhaps the
obviously limited capacity of those with an intellectual disability which acts as a reminder
that to be human also includes those who are dependent and fall short of generally held
ideals. In this context I would also agree with Stanley Hauerwas’97 assertion that those
with profound disabilities often ‘‘. . . remind us of the limits of our power, and we do not
like those who remind us,’’ something that has perhaps significantly affected the Church’s
limited theological reflection on disability. Further study in this area may help ‘‘self-reliant’’
westerners to consider life’s purpose, which of course includes the meaning and purpose in
sports and accurate conceptions of humility. Some sections of the Church have historically
had a false view of humility, in which God-given gifts, talents and desires of the heart have
been de-emphasized and shunned ‘‘under the guise of devotion to Christ.’’98 Following Bill
Johnson, I would argue this is not an accurate portrayal of Christian life, in which
creativity, joy, and excellence should, where possible, be sought in all domains of life,
including sport. I also wholeheartedly support some of the conclusions of Smart,99 in his
comprehensive analysis of The Sport Star . . . Sporting Celebrity : ‘‘the achievements of high
profile professional sporting figures possess a quality that is increasingly rare in a world
made cynical (corruption in sport) . . . the excitement and emotion aroused by the uncer-
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23:2 July 2011
192
tainty of sporting encounters . . . the pleasure derived, and frequently collectively shared . . .
as a spectator or viewer.’’ In this vein, through analyzing Karl Barth’s work on the famous
composer, Wolfgang Amadaeus Mozart and his appreciation of Mozart’s playful creativity
and expression of his musical gift in the world, Metzger100 reminds us that the Christian
God delights in his creatures being: . . . creative within human culture . . . to give glory to
God by simply being . . . by simply working or playing, one glorifies God . . . God is glorified
in the very imaginative and enterprising acts of human creation and recreation. Before God,
there is room for free play’.
Beginning with the seminal work of Dutch historian Johan Huizinga and followed by
reflections from theologians and sport philosophers,101 this playful, aesthetic, and creative
dimension of life that is often seen in sport, has been well-documented. It seems to most
readily manifest itself in fun ‘‘pick-up games’’ and when sport competition is played in the
spirit of a ‘‘mutual stringing together for excellence,’’ the etymological root meaning of
the term, competition.102 In the modern era, the men’s 2008 Wimbledon Tennis final (and
the 2009 Australian Open final) between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was perhaps, an
example of this. The TV commentator and ex-British number one tennis player, Andrew
Castle, said of this exciting and passionate dual between two men at the height of excellence
in the field, that it was not solely a demonstration of great tennis but an advert for the value
and beauty of sport itself—it had a transcendent dimension (my paraphrase). There seemed
to be a deep mutual respect between the Spaniard (Nadal) and the Swiss (Federer) and a
form of humility that ironically is often only witnessed in those at the very peak of their
field, in this case sport. Because, from a humanist’s standpoint, they are secure (if with a
degree of fragility, perhaps), in who they are and confident in their abilities, their selves.
Sport itself could then be argued to possess a spiritual dimension, in that it seems to
provide opportunity akin to what the sociologist of religion, Peter Berger,103 called ‘‘signals
of transcendence . . . within the human condition.’’ Indeed, the great nineteeth-century
Russian novelist, Dostoyevsky,104 was not ignorant to the fact that ‘‘the universal and ever-
lasting craving of humanity’’ is ‘‘to find someone to worship’’ and in the sporting realm it
is perhaps these ‘‘moments of transcendence’’ and aesthetic beauty (among many other
‘‘earthy’’ things), and the sporting demi-gods who provide them, that fit the bill. There is,
however, a real danger in this quasi-transcendent understanding of life and sport, as poeti-
cally described by C.S. Lewis:
The books or the music [and sporting moments] in which we thought the beauty was
located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them,
and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our
own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing
itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are
not the thing in itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a
tune we have not heard, news from another country we have never visited . . . Our lifelong
nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel
cut off . . . is no mere neurotic fancy, but the truest index of our real situation.105
Our ‘‘real’’ situation? In his analysis of the idol-pride interface in the human heart, in both
Augustine’s autobiography, Confessions, and his most well-known theological work, The City
of God, Reno concludes that ‘‘. . . we wrap our love of worldly things in this false tinsel
of divinity and propose them to ourselves as idols worthy of worship. This strategy of self-
deception allows us to pursue the finite goods of creaturely life as if they were images of
Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport
193
the divine.’’106 Similarly, when describing the human’s often unconscious yearning for
eternity, Van Kaam suggests, this leads to seeking ‘‘. . . something lasting amidst the transi-
toriness of countless self-expressions.’’107
It is argued that sport could just be one such ‘‘transitory self-expression’’ among many
others, if it is an idolatrous quest and thus may lead to self-deception as to the deeper
spiritual meaning of life. As C.S. Lewis contends above, if a human-being takes a ‘‘life-
project’’ like sport, which Christians believe is a gift from God, but mistakes it ‘‘. . . for the
thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers.’’ History
shows that human beings begin to consider and commit to religious faith for a whole range
of reasons, nonetheless, it is quite often only when there is, as the Jewish philosopher Martin
Buber called it, a ‘‘shudder of identity,’’108 when the pride and self-sufficiency of the human
heart (not character) has been ‘‘weakened,’’ or what Wolfensburger109 calls ‘‘gentled,’’ through
an athlete’s life—retirement, career-ending injury, or failure—that the deep religious-
existential question might be asked: who am I without my abilities, my source of self-worth,
my importance and status in the media, sporting subculture and world? This said, I do not
want to propose a false dichotomy in this broken and messy world and I emphasize again,
personal excellence, aesthetic beauty, creativity, and human achievement should be sought
in all walks of life, including sport. Nelson Mandela, in his inaugural presidential speech,
conveys something of this:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves,
who am I to be brilliant . . . talented . . . ? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of
God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about
shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you [false humility]. We were
born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in every-
one. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to
do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates
others.110
To be sure, such inspirational words resonate deep into all our hearts but I challenge the
reader to consider where this inspiration and motivation comes from? The Catholic priest-
psychologist, Adrian Van Kaam, I would argue was writing prophetically in 1975, when
he observed that ‘‘we are on the rebirth of the awareness of human need for the trans-
cendent . . .’’111 The following two quotes I then believe can both be true, if we ‘‘. . . seek first
his kingdom and his righteousness’’ (Matthew 6:33). A recent newspaper advertisement
for Gillette112 that features three of the sporting world’s demi-gods, Tiger Woods (until
recently), Roger Federer, and Thierry Henry, encourages the reader to:
‘‘Show the world how phenomenal you can be.’’
In the gospels, the founder and cornerstone of Christianity, Jesus of Nazareth, a humble
carpenter and who Christians believe to be the son of God, encourages the reader to con-
sider where this talent came from and what ultimately matters:
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the
whole world, yet forfeits his soul? —Matthew 16:24–26
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23:2 July 2011
194
Acknowledgements Major sections of this paper are taken from a significantly longer book chapter: N.J. Watson,
‘‘Identity in Sport: A Psychological and Theological Analysis,’’ in J. Parry, M. Nesti, and N.J.
Watson, Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports (London: Routledge, 2011), 107–148. I
would like to thank Professor Drew Gibson (Union Theological College, Belfast, Northern
Ireland), Professor Scott Kretchmar (Penn State University, USA), and Professor Andrew
Parker (University of Gloucester, UK) for their most insightful comments on my first draft.
I would also like to thank Dr. Chris Bell and Kath Watson for their invaluable help in
proofreading this work.
Notes 1. B. Smart, The Sport Star : Modern Sport and the Cultural Economy of Sporting Celebrity (London: Sage
Publications Ltd., 2005).
2. Cited in the Foreword of J. Steenbergen, P. De Knop, A.H.F. Elling, ed., Values and Norms on Sport:
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Sport, 2001), 11.
3. O. Slot, ‘‘Fourth in the Olympics Hurt, but Retirement is Like a Death in the Family,’’ The Times
(Sport), December 19, 2008.
4. Recent examples include: N.J. Watson and A. Parker ed., Sports and Christianity: Historical and Con-
temporary Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2012); J. Parry, M. Nesti, and N.J. Watson ed., Theology,
Ethics and Transcendence in Sports (London: Routledge, 2011); S. Hoffman, Good Game: Christianity
and the Culture of Sports (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2010); D. Deardoff II, and J. White
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56. Pannenberg, Anthropology in Theological Perspective, 234.
57. A. Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being (Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1962).
58. A.L. Van Kaam, In Search of Spiritual Identity (Denville, NJ: Dimension Books, 1975), 177, 195.
59. Vitz, Psychology as Religion, 91.
60. See Isaiah 9:1–7; 52:13–15; 53:1–12.
61. T.B. Savage, Power through Weakness: Paul’s Understanding of the Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians
(Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 86) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1996), 188.
62. A. McGrath, Christian Theology : An Introduction, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2001). See
chapters 10 and 13 of McGrath. The doctrine of atonement explains how following the separation
of God the Father (creator) from humans (creatures) at the fall of humanity (Genesis 3), in which
humans in their pride, wilfully chose to disobey God’s will for their lives, God the Father mercifully
sent his Son, the second person of the trinity, the ‘‘sacrificial lamb,’’ to atone for the sins of
humanity. This, it is argued in Christian thought, was so that God the Father could come back
into a relationship with his creatures (humans)—at-one-ment—and offer eternal life, deep joy and
a ‘‘peace . . . which transcends all understanding’’ (Phil. 4:7a).
Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport
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63. Van Kaam, In Search of Spiritual Identity, 143.
64. Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, 80.
65. M. Townsend, The Gospel of Falling Down : The Beauty of Failure in an Age of Success (Winchester,
UK: O books, 2007), 44-45.
66. R. Clements, The Strength of Weakness: How God Uses our Flaws to Achieve His Goals (Scotland:
Christian Focus Publications, 1994), and Savage, Power through Weakness.
67. D. Begel, ‘‘Introduction: The Origins and Aims of Sport Psychiatry,’’ in D. Begel and R.W. Burton,
eds., Sport Psychiatry: Theory and Practice (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000), xiii–xx.
68. N.J. Watson, ‘‘Identity in Sport: A Psychological and Theological Analysis,’’ in ed., J. Parry, M.N.
Nesti, and N.J. Watson, Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports (London: Routledge, 2011),
107–48, and Watson and White, ‘‘Winning at All Costs.’’
69. D. Capps, Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987), 46–52, and Lewis,
Mere Christianity.
70. Higgs and Braswell, An Unholy Alliance, 372.
71. Watson and White, ‘‘Winning at All Costs.’’
72. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 101.
73. C.L. Stevenson, ‘‘Christian Athletes and the Culture of Elite Sport: Dilemmas and Solutions,’’
Sociology of Sport Journal 14 (1997): 241–62.
74. Ibid., 244–245.
75. Begel, ‘‘An Overview of Sport Psychiatry.’’
76. T. Á Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, trans. Leo Sherley-Price (London: Penguin Books, 1952).
77. Capps, Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues, 50.
78. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 100.
79. A. Murray, Humility (New Kensington, PA: Whitaker House, 1982).
80. E.L. Johnson, ‘‘Christ, The Lord of Psychology,’’ Journal of Psychology and Theology, 25, 1 (1997):
11–27.
81. O. Chambers, ‘‘ The Psychology of Redemption,’’ in ed., D. McCasland, The Complete Works of
Oswald Chambers (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1922), 1059–104.
82. D. Willard, ‘‘Spiritual Formation in Christ: A Perspective on What is and How it Might be Done,’’
Journal of Psychology and Theology, 28, 4 (2000): 254–58.
83. D. Krause, ‘‘Keeping it Real: The Image of God in the New Testament,’’ Interpretation: A Journal of
Bible and Theology, 59, 4 (2005): 358–68.
84. A. McFadyen, The Call to Personhood: A Christian Theory of the Individual in Social Relationships
(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990); O. Chambers, ‘‘Our Portrait in Genesis,’’ in
D. McCasland, The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House
Publishers, 1957), 957–981; John Paul II, The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan
(Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 1997); J.A.T. Robinson, The Body: A Study in Pauline Theology
(Colorado Springs, CO: Bimillenial Press, 2002).
85. See Journal of Psychology and Theology, the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, the Journal of
Psychology and Judaism and the recent text: W.R. Miller and H.D. Delaney, eds. Judeo-Christian
Perspectives on Psychology: Human Nature, Motivation, and Change (Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association, 2005). The work of psychologists such as: P.C. Vitz, Faith of the Fatherless:
The Psychology of Atheism (Dallas: Spence Publishing Company, 1999); P. Morea, In Search of
Personality : Christianity and Modern Psychology (London: SCM Press, 1997), and the writings of
Swiss psychiatrist Paul Tournier, see, C.R. Collins, The Christian Psychology of Paul Tournier (Grand
Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1973). As I have argued, the doctrine of the ‘‘Fatherhood of God’’ is
also central to understanding Christian identity in sport, see: M. Stibbe, From Orphans to Heirs:
Celebrating our Spiritual Adoption (Oxford, UK: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1999) and C.J.H.
Wright, Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2007).
86. Watson and White, ‘‘ ‘Winning at all Costs’ ’’; M. Nesti, ‘‘The Spirit of Sport: An Existential Psychology
Perspective,’’ in Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction, by J. Parry, S. Robinson, N.J. Watson, and
M.S. Nesti (London: Routledge, 2007), 119–134; M. Nesti, ‘‘Persons and Players: a Psychological
Perspective,’’ in Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction, by J. Parry, S. Robinson, N.J. Watson, and
Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 23:2 July 2011
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M.S. Nesti (London: Routledge, 2007), 135–150; J. White, ‘‘Idols in the Stadium: Sport as an ‘Idol
Factory,’ ’’ in D. II Deardorff and J. White, eds. The Image of God in the Human Body : Essays on
Christianity and Sports (Lampeter, Wales: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2008), 127–172; J. Moltmann,
‘‘Olympia between Politics and Religion,’’ in Gregory and John Coleman Baum, Sport (Edinburgh:
T and T Clark, 1989), 101–109.
87. For example, A. Miah, Genetically Modified Athletes : Biomedical Ethics, Gene Doping and Sport
(London: Routledge, 2004).
88. T.J. Trothen, ‘‘Better than Normal? Constructing Modified Athletes and a Relational Theological
Ethic,’’ in J. Parry., M.S. Nesti, and N.J. Watson, Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports
(London: Routledge, 2011), 64-81; T.J. Trothen, ‘‘Redefining Human, Redefining Sport: The Imago
Dei and Genetic Modification Technologies,’’ in D. Deardorff II and J. White, eds. The Image of God
in the Human Body : Essays on Christianity and Sports (Lampeter, Wales: The Edwin Mellen Press,
2008), 217–234.
89. E.L. Worthington Jr. and J.W. Berry, ‘‘Virtues, Vices, and Character Development,’’ in W.R. Miller
and H.D. Delaney, Judeo-Christian Perspectives on Psychology: Human Nature, Motivation, and
Change (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2005), 145–64.
90. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 102.
91. Hamilton, ‘‘An Augustinian Critique.’’
92. M. Rieke, J. Hammermeister, and M. Chase, ‘‘Servant Leadership in Sport: A New Paradigm for
Effective Coaching Behaviour,’’ International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching 3, 2 (2008):
227–239; MacDonald and Kirk, ‘‘Pedagogy, the Body and Christian Identity’’; P.J. Schroeder and
J.P. Scribner, ‘‘ To Honor and Glorify God: The Role of Religion in One Intercollegiate Athletics
Culture,’’ Sport, Education and Society, 11, 1 (2006): 39–54; J. Wooden, Wooden on Leadership with
Steve Jamison (London: McGraw-Hill, 2005).
93. For example: B. Smith and A.C. Sparkes, ‘‘Changing Bodies, Changing Narratives and the Con-
sequences of Tellability: A Case Study of Becoming Disabled through Sport,’’ Sociology of Health
and Illness 30, 2 (2008): 217–236; A.C. Sparkes and B. Smith, ‘‘Sport, Spinal Cord Injury,
Embodies Masculinities, and the Dilemmas of Narrative Identity,’’Men and Masculinities 4, 3
(2002): 258–85.
94. N.J. Watson, ‘‘Special Olympians as a ‘Prophetic Sign’ to the Modern Sporting Babel,’’ in N.J.
Watson and A. Parker, eds., Sports and Christianity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (London:
Routledge, 2012); N.J. Watson and A. Parker, (manuscript in preparation), ‘‘Step Aside We’re
Coming Through: A Case Study of the Role of Sport in the Life of a Father and his Son who has
Profound Disabilities,’’ Practical Theology (manuscript to be submitted for consideration); A. Parker
and N.J. Watson, ‘‘From Rural Kenya to London 2012: a Case Study of Anne Wafula Strike, a
Christian Female Paralympian,’’ Journal of Religion, Disability and Health (manuscript to be sub-
mitted for consideration); G. Watts, ‘‘Athletes with a Disability—Mixed Messages from the Bible,’’
paper presented at the Inaugural International Conference on Sport and Spirituality, Centre for the
Study of Sport and Spirituality (2003–2009), York St John University, York, UK, 28–31 August 2007.
95. G. Watts, ‘‘Spirituality in the Context of Profound Intellectual Disability,’’ paper read at a conference
on Spirituality, Human Development and Well-being, University of Western Sydney, Sydney,
Australia, 24–25 July 2008, 8–9.
96. W. Wolfensberger, ‘‘The Prophetic Voice and the Presence of Mentally Retarded People in the World
Today,’’ in W. Gaventa and C. Coulter, The Theological Voice of Wolf Wolfensberger (Binghamton,
New York: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 2001), 11–48.
97. S. Hauerwas, Suffering Presence (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1986), 176.
98. B. Johnson, Dreaming with God: Secrets of Redesigning your World through God’s Creative Flow
(Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers Inc., 2006), 38.
99. Smart, The Sport Star, 198–99.
100. P.L. Metzger, The Word of Christ and the World of Culture: Sacred and Secular through the Theology of
Karl Barth (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 197.
101. J. Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture (Boston: Beacon, 1950); J.
Moltmann, Theology of Play (New York: Harper, 1972); R.K. Johnston, The Christian at Play (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983); S. Kretchmar, ‘‘Why Dichotomies Make
Theological and Psychological Reflections on Identity in Sport
199
it Difficult to See Games as Gifts from God’’, in ed., J. Parry, M. Nesti, and N.J. Watson, Theology,
Ethics and Transcendence in Sports (London: Routledge. 2011), 185–200.
102. Hyland, ‘‘Competition and Friendship.’’
103. P. Berger, A Rumour of Angels (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970), 52.
104. F. Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov 1, trans. Constance Garnett (London: J.M. Dent and Sons,
1967/1927), cited in Metzger, 188.
105. This quote from chapter 2 of Lewis’s book, Transposition and Other Addresses was cited in ed., C.S.
Kilby, A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C.S. Lewis (New York: Harvest Books, 1968), 22–23.
106. R.R. Reno, ‘‘Pride and Idolatry,’’ Interpretation : A Journal of Bible and Theology 60, 2 (2006): 176.
107. Van Kaam, In Search of Spiritual Identity, 138.
108. Agassi, Martin Buber on Psychology.
109. W. Wolfensberger, ‘‘ The Most Urgent Issues Facing Us as Christians Concerned with Handicapped
Persons Today,’’ W. Gaventa and C. Coulter, eds., The Theological Voice of Wolf Wolfensberger
(Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 1983), 98.
110. Cited in M. Mason, Practicing the Presence of People : How We Learn to Love (Colorado Springs, CO:
WaterBrook, 1999).
111. Van Kaam, In Search of Spiritual Identity, 181.
112. See Gillette Mens Razors and Blades Range—Gillette Fusion Roger, Thierry And Tiger,
http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Gillette-Fusion-Roger-Thierry-And-Tiger-Gillette-Mens-Razors-
Blades-Range/55260 (accessed 30 May 2011).
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