PURITAN NEWS WEEKLY
www.puritans.net/news/
08/19/04
WHAT SHOULD
CHRISTIANS THINK ABOUT THE OLYMPICS?
By Parnell McCarter
This week the Olympic Games are being conducted in Athens,
Greece. Greece is the ancient home of
the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games
were an important aspect of the pagan Greek culture. The Games continued until the end of the fourth century. They were at that time abolished by decree
of the Christian Emperor Theodosius.
Theodosius labeled them as "pagan
rites", inappropriate for a Christian society. It was around this same time that Augustine
wrote: "the body which is corrupted presses down the soul and the earthly
tabernacle weighs down the mind which muses on many things." But the Games
were resurrected in modern times.
There are at least four reasons why Christians should object
to the Olympics:
- They
glorify and give venue to men and women who have spent an inordinate
amount of time on activities which at most should be peripheral in our
lives (e.g., running) and in some cases should be avoided altogether
(e.g., boxing). (Boxing for sport
is a violation of the command ‘thou shalt not kill’, because boxing does
unnecessary damage to the human body.)
As we read in I Timothy 4:8
: “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come.”
- They
glorify and give venue to women who engage in various activities that are
contrary to femininity. The modern
Games, which involve female as well as male athletes, therefore promote a
form of feminism.
- They
involve flagrant disregard for principles of Biblical modesty. For example, the attire of swimmers and
runners in the Games is hardly more than underwear.
- They
involve Sabbath desecration, inasmuch as the Games are engaged in on the
Lord’s Day. In his sermons on
Deuteronomy, John Calvin well noted: “Now, if the Lord’s Day is spent playing games and in other empty
pastimes, and in things that are clearly contrary to God, so that men
think that the way to keep the Day ‘holy’ is by offending God in different
ways, and if God’s holy regulations which he ordained to bring us to
himself are broken in this way, then is it any wonder that men act as
brute beasts the rest of the week?”
In addition to these reasons, it should be noted that most
people watch the Olympics via commercial television. But commercial television, at least in the United States, has
commercials which quite often are miniature dramas with actors and
actresses. In our Movie Reviews section
we have explained our objections to drama.
Sadly, commercial television in the United States is not regulated
according to Biblical principles, so all sorts of moral filth are permitted in
commercials. Viewers of the Olympic
Games often are spectators too of the unwholesome commercials. And this becomes another unwholesome aspect
of the way most people watch the Olympic Games.
In Romans 1:32 we
are warned not to take pleasure in wickedness.
To take pleasure in wickedness is wrong, just as engaging in the
wickedness is wrong. Therefore,
Christians should object to the Olympics, and not be entertained by them. And we should look forward to a day when the
Olympic Games are again banned.
It may be useful to consider this additional information
concerning sports:
- Concerning
Zechariah 8:5 (“And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls
playing in the streets thereof.”) Matthew Henry commented: “That childish youthful sports shall be
confined to the age of childhood and youth. It is pleasing to see the boys
and girls playing in the streets, but it is ill-favoured to see men
and women playing there, who should fill up their time with work and
business. It is well enough for children to be sitting in the
market-place, crossing questions (Mt. 11:16, 17), but it is no way fit
that men, who are able to work in the vineyard, should stand all
the day idle there, Mt. 20:3.”
Concerning this same verse, John Calvin noted: “It is not needful here anxiously to
raise the questions -- Whether it is lawful to play during times of peace?
for the Prophet here took his language from the common habits of men, and
even from the very nature of things; for we know that men give way to
cheerfulness when no fear lays hold on their minds, and that play and
sport are allowed to children.”
Henry and Calvin seem to draw similar conclusions from this verse:
that which is permissible to childhood in the way of youthful sports and
games, maturity should lay aside.
This borrows from the teaching of I Corinthians 13:11 :
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things.” The reason why Zechariah
8:5 did not mention people playing in the streets, but rather children, is
because such playing of games and sports is peculiarly for children. The recreations that are lawful for one
phase of human life are not lawful for other phases. And recreations of any kind should not
consume an undue proportion of our time.
The general pattern of our lives is to be characterized by six days
of labor and one day of Sabbath rest.
- Some
historical perspective on this matter is found at http://www.ioa.leeds.ac.uk/1960s/65150.htm
: “The Christian church condemned what it saw around it and, in subsequent
ages, continued to condemn the memory of the shameful end to athletics of
the ancient world…The second backward glance is to Calvinism, and its
peculiar British variant Puritanism. Calvin, although he had no use for
monastic asceticism yet in his attempt to perfect moral discipline was led
to curb all normal amusements including sport. In his academy at Geneva
he made a concession to human frailty by allowing recreation on Wednesdays
"but in such a way that all silly sports be avoided". The people of God during Old Testament
times also shunned Olympic games, as did Christians in the early centuries
of the Church and the Protestant Reformation. Those Jews which were faithful decried when Antiochus
Epiphanes set up a gymnasium or “place of exercise” in Jerusalem. The prophet Daniel had warned the Jews
about the pagan culture that Antiochus Epiphanes would seek to plant in Israel.
- Modern,
post-Reformation culture is characterized by immaturity. Adults hardly ever grow out of their
childish tendencies. Instead of
growing into manhood from childhood, children move into a stage where they
are not expected to behave as adults (albeit young and rather
inexperienced adults). And then
many hardly ever grow out of that stage.
This contrasts with a more Biblical framework, in which adulthood
begins with puberty. According to
Webster’s 1959 New Collegiate Dictionary (based on the famous second
edition of Webster’s New International Dictionary) , “puberty” means: “The
state or quality of being first capable of begetting or bearing offspring;
the period at which sexual maturity is reached. The age of puberty is
commonly designated legally, as fourteen for boys and twelve for girls.”
It is derived from the Latin word pubes (which means an “adult”). Dr. F.N. Lee has noted: “Both the
Apostolic Father Ignatius and the Westminster Father Lightfoot affirmed
that "Solomon when 'twelve years old' judged between two women"
with sufficient maturity. Dr. Lightfoot in the same breath commented on
our Lord Jesus Christ's coming of age when twelve and then -- according to
the custom -- going to Jerusalem to become prepared through catechization
for admission to manducation at the Passover. Indeed, the attaining of
their twelfth year marked both Solomon's & Jesus' coming of age at
adolescence. This is reflected also in the Westminster Larger Catechism
177, which states that the Lord's Supper is only for those who are
"of years and ability to examine themselves." And regarding
Jewish practice: "Bar Mitzvah" - (m; pl.
"Bnei Mitzvah"); literally, "son of the Mitzvah;" more
correctly, the status of having reached the level of being obligated in
all the responsibilities and entitled to all the privileges of an adult
male, in Jewish Society is attained when a young man reaches the age of
thirteen years. Dr. F.N. Lee’s book
“Paedocommunionism versus Protestantism“ at http://www.dr-fnlee.org/docs4/pvp/pvp.pdf
offers helpful insights on the incipiency of adulthood.
- Professional
sports extends sport and game into a full-time endeavor among those who
are adults. It survives on sports
“fans” (fanatics?) who consume hours watching it, not even getting the
benefit of bodily exercise.
College and Olympic sports seem to be similarly characterized as
well. One must ask whether this is
a proper stewardship of time, which Christians in scripture are commanded
to redeem.
- Some
argue that the Apostle Paul enjoyed the watching of the Greek Olympic
Games, because he often alluded to them in his metaphorical analogies to
the Christian life. But such an
argument is flawed. First, there
is nothing inherent in an analogy that demands this. For instance, in Luke 18 Jesus drew an
analogy between an unjust judge and God to make a spiritual point. But surely we cannot deduce that God
condones unjust judges, or is one Himself. Similarly, we cannot assume from the use of an analogy to
Greek Olympic runners that Paul condoned their conduct. For instance, we should not assume from
Hebrews 12:1,2 (“let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us”) that Paul condoned the Greek Olympic runners who ran
naked. The Apostle Paul
specifically, and the scripture in general, exhorts modesty of attire, and
frowns upon looking upon immodestly clad people. It was regarded as shameful for Ham to even look upon the
nakedness of his father, and Shem and Japheth rightly took care not to
look at their father when he was naked. So it is absurd to think that the Apostle Paul enjoyed
watching the ancient Greek Olympic Games.
And it is also absurd to think that Paul condoned participation in
such Games, simply because he, like other early Church Christians, may
have been compelled to participate under dangerous conditions with wild
beasts (I Corinthians 15:32). It
is wrong to engage in life-threatening sport simply for fun. The early Christians participated not
willingly, but by compulsion, often as punishment for being Christian.
- The
question of music often comes up along with the topic of sports. Whereas passages like Zechariah 8:5
seem to suggest the playing of sports as recreation should be confined to
the youth, many passages in scripture suggest music is an appropriate recreation
even for adults. For example,
David played musical instruments as an adult, even entertaining the King
with such for good. Indeed, the
playing and teaching of musical instruments as an occupation was
allowed. While the Levitical
priesthood, with its professional playing of musical instruments in public
worship, has been abolished, there is no sound basis for thinking
professional music as such has been abolished, nor is it unlawful to be a
professional teacher of the playing of musical instruments.
- Some
have asserted that we are seeking to conclude too much from Zechariah
8:5. In order to ascertain the
merits of our conclusion, let’s consider its logic applied to a similar
proposition. The proposition
“babes suck from their mother’s breasts” implies that it is peculiarly a
characteristic of babies to suck from their mother’s breasts. The construction of the sentence
indicates the term “babe” is being characterized by a generalization
(namely, that they suck from their mother’s breasts). We would only have reason to believe
there were exceptions if there were explicit indications of such. Furthermore, we can deduce from the
proposition that an older child wanting to suck from his mother’s breasts
would be acting immaturely. Such
an older child, objecting that there is no explicit passage in scripture
which says older children and adults should not suck from their mother’s
breasts, would inappropriately be ignoring what can be deduced from the
proposition “babes suck from their mother’s breasts” and the **lack** of
explicit evidence for an exception to the generalization. A generalization is there being made,
such that to believe there were an exception would require explicit
indication of such. Now let’s
apply what we have learned to Zechariah 8:5. It contains a generalization about children. That generalization is that they
peculiarly play (sports and games) in the streets. A generalization is there being made,
and we would only have reason to believe there were exceptions with
explicit indication of such. But
there is not a shred of explicit evidence in scripture that playing sport
and game is appropriate for adults.
So adults who maintain a “right” to play in sport and game, ignore
what can rightly be deduced from the proposition (that ‘children play
[sports and games]’) that is found in Zechariah 8:5. .
- When
does adulthood begin? Dr. John
Calvin, as well as the Jews historically, have agreed that adulthood
begins at age 13, based upon the Biblical data. John Calvin wrote: “In the [ Post-Apostolic A.D. 251f]
Early Church, indeed, the Lord’s Supper was frequently given to infants
[or small children] - as appears from Cyprian and Augustine.... But the
practice justly became obsolete.... It was, [more] anciently, customary
for the children of Christians, after they had grown up, to appear before
the Overseer - to fulfill that duty which was required of such adults
as present themselves for Baptism.... [Such infantly-baptized covenant
children were] “toward the end of their boyhood or on adolescence brought
forward by their parents and were examined by the Overseers in terms of
the Catechism.... “.
- The FP Magazine May 2007 issue rightly commented
as follows: “Sport is essentially an activity for
children, and the absorbed attention bestowed on professional sport is one
of the evils of present-day society. “When I became a man”, said the
Apostle Paul, “I put away childish things” (1 Cor 13:11), and we believe that
faithful religious leaders would have been warning the players and crowds
on both sides to prepare for eternity, rather than sharing with them in their
childish vanities.”