Randall Balmer was a late convert to sports talk radio, but he quickly became addicted, just like millions of other devoted American sports fans. As a historian of religion, the more he listened, Balmer couldn’t help but wonder how the fervor he heard related to religious practice. Houses of worship once railed against Sabbath-busting sports events, but today most willingly accommodate Super Bowl Sunday. On the other hand, basketball’s inventor, James Naismith, was an ardent follower of Muscular Christianity and believed the game would help develop religious character. But today those religious roots are largely forgotten.
Here one of our most insightful writers on American religion trains his focus on that other great passion—team sports—to reveal their surprising connections. From baseball to basketball and football to ice hockey, Balmer explores the origins and histories of big-time sports from the late nineteenth century to the present, with entertaining anecdotes and fresh insights into their ties to religious life. Referring to Notre Dame football, the Catholic Sun called its fandom “a kind of sacramental.” Legions of sports fans reading Passion Plays will recognize exactly what that means.
- 192 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Information
Topic
Theology & ReligionSubtopic
ReligionTable of contents
- Cover
- Also by Randall Balmer
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Introduction. To Everything a Season: The Peculiar Passion Surrounding Team Sports
- Chapter 1. It Breaks Your Heart: The Industrial Revolution and the Origins of Baseball
- Chapter 2. A Great Moral Force: The Civil War and the Origins of Football
- Chapter 3. Soul of a Nation: The Canadian Confederation and the Origins of Hockey
- Chapter 4. A Labyrinth of Wanderings: Urbanization and the Origins of Basketball
- Conclusion. Shut Up and Dribble: From the Sanctuary to the Stadium
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
- Index
- About the Author
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Yes, you can access Passion Plays by Randall Balmer in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Religion. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.