Muscular Christianity

Muscular Christianity was a philosophical movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, manliness, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. Muscular Christianity was a philosophical movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, manliness, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. The movement came into vogue during the Victorian era as a method of building character in students at English public schools. It is most often associated with English author Thomas Hughes and his 1857 novel Tom Brown's School Days, as well as writers Charles Kingsley and Ralph Connor. American President Theodore Roosevelt was raised in a household that practiced Muscular Christianity. Roosevelt, Kingsley, and Hughes promoted physical strength and health as well as an active pursuit of Christian ideals in personal life and politics. Muscular Christianity has continued through organizations that combine physical and Christian spiritual development. It is influential within both Catholicism and Protestantism. The Muscular Christianity movement was never officially organized, instead it was a cultural trend that manifested in different ways and was supported by various figures and churches. Muscular Christianity can be traced back to Paul the Apostle, who used athletic metaphors to describe the challenges of a Christian life. However, the explicit advocacy of sport and exercise in Christianity did not appear until 1762, when Rousseau's Emile described physical education as important for the formation of moral character. The term 'Muscular Christianity' became well known in a review by the barrister T. C. Sandars of Kingsley's novel Two Years Ago in the February 21, 1857 issue of the Saturday Review. (The term had appeared slightly earlier.) Kingsley wrote a reply to this review in which he called the term 'painful, if not offensive', but he later used it favorably on occasion. Hughes used it in Tom Brown at Oxford; saying that it was 'a good thing to have muscled, strong and well-exercised bodies,' he specified, 'The Muscular Christians have hold of the old chivalrous and Christian belief, that a man's body is given to him to be trained and brought into subjection, and then used for the protection of the weak, the advancement of all righteous causes, and the subduing of the earth which God has given to the children of men.' In addition to the beliefs stated above, Muscular Christianity preached the spiritual value of sports, especially team sports. As Kingsley said, 'games conduce, not merely to physical, but to moral health'. An article on a popular nineteenth-century Briton summed it up thus: 'John MacGregor is perhaps the finest specimen of Muscular Christianity that this or any other age has produced. Three men seemed to have struggled within his breast—the devout Christian, the earnest philanthropist, the enthusiastic athlete.' Despite having gained some support, the concept was still controversial. For one example, a reviewer mentioned 'the ridicule which the 'earnest' and the 'muscular' men are doing their best to bring on all that is manly', though he still preferred ''earnestness' and 'muscular Christianity'' to eighteenth-century propriety. For another, a clergyman at Cambridge University horsewhipped a friend and fellow clergyman after hearing that he had said grace without mentioning Jesus because a Jew was present. A commentator said, 'All this comes, we fear, of Muscular Christianity.' The Catholic Church traditionally focused on spirit over body and did not tend to emphasize athletics or physical training. Other groups like Puritans didn’t oppose sports, just the actions that accompanied them, like gambling or drinking. Most Catholics were more concerned about sports becoming a distraction of one's faith. However, when “The Crisis of Masculinity” became a theory in the Catholic Church, physical strength was strongly encouraged as Catholics felt that they needed to prove their manhood because the Church was becoming “weak”. Boys were being raised and taught by Catholic women, which many believed was making the boys too feminine. They were then taught to be gentlemen so they, “could button up their collars but not roll up their sleeves”.  Many wondered if there were to be a societal crisis, whether these catholic men would be able to protect them. This then changed what a Catholic man should be as members of the church felt that with the changing society, masculinity needed to be restored. Theodore Roosevelt believed that, “There is only a very circumscribed sphere of usefulness for the timid good man”, a sentiment echoed by many at the time. Followers of Muscular Christianity ultimately found that the only solution to this was to connect faith to the physicality of the body. The idea of Muscular Christianity first started in England amidst industrialization and urbanization. Like their American counterparts, Catholics were worried about the decrease in manliness among their followers, causing Muscular Christianity to become a cultural trend. It was not started by any specific person, but rather supported by churches and many individual Catholic figures, who then spread it to other congregations. At the time it was believed that physical training built stamina necessary to perform service for others and that physical strength led to moral strength and good character. Catholics felt that athletics could be a good outlet for burning off steam rather than finding a less moral outlet. Sports also helped to recruit new members into the church. Churches began forming their own sports teams and had the associated facilities for them built in or around the churches themselves. This is how the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) began in 1844 in London, although it did not yet have sports facilities until 1869 with the establishment of New York City’s YMCA. These associations became very popular and YMCA’s began appearing across the country. In 1894, boxing rings were being built above London churches. The addition of these boxing rings drew in many more followers, not only to box but to listen to services as well. Boxing became a way for catholic men to vent anger or frustration in a morally acceptable way.