https://pic8.co/sh/gVfPy9.jpeg Muscular Christianity is a philosophical movement that originated in England in the mid-19th century, characterized by a belief in patriotic duty, discipline, self-sacrifice, masculinity, and the moral and physical beauty of athleticism. The movement came into vogue during the Victorian era as a method of building character in pupils 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.[1] American President Theodore Roosevelt was raised in a household that practiced Muscular Christianity and was a prominent adherent to the movement.[2] 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.[3] It is influential within both Catholicism and Protestantism.[4][5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscular_Christianity#Origins_and_background Until the Age of Enlightenment, the aesthetics of the body within Christianity were concerned chiefly with holy suffering.[6] Asceticism, and the denial of bodily needs and beauty, was of interest to laity and clergy alike in Antiquity and the medieval period.[7] A key tenet of asceticism is believing the flesh to be a distraction from divinity. Sects such as Catharism believed the flesh to be wholly corrupted.[8] Thus, although Christian-dominated cultures viewed athleticism as a virtue, it was not a Christian virtue.[citation needed] 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.[9] 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.**[10] Definitions and etymology 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.[9][11] The term had appeared slightly earlier.[12] Kingsley wrote a reply to this review in which he called the term "painful, if not offensive",[13] but he later used it favorably on occasion.[14] 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".[15] 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."[16] 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.[17] For another, a clergyman at Cambridge University horsewhipped another clergyman after hearing that he had said grace without mentioning Jesus because a Jew was present.[18] A commentator said, "All this comes, we fear, of Muscular Christianity."[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscular_Christianity#Thomas_Hughes Kingsley's contemporary Thomas Hughes is credited with helping to establish the main tenets of Muscular Christianity in Tom Brown at Oxford, which were physical manliness, **chivalry** and masculinity of character.[20] In Tom Brown at Oxford, Hughes stated that **"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."**[21] **The notion of protecting the weak was related to contemporary English concerns over the plight of the poor, and Christian responsibility to one's neighbour.**[1] Richard Andrew Meyer, a professor of Baylor University, explains Thomas Hughes's six definitions of Muscular Christianity through **six criteria.** Meyer wrote a dissertation about Thomas Hughes's notion of Muscular Christianity by analyzing the career of Lance Armstrong. The criteria are "1) a man’s body is given to him (by God); 2) and to be trained; 3) and brought into subjection; 4) and then used for the protection of the weak; 5) for the advancement of all righteous causes; 6) and for the subduing of the earth which God has given to the children of men." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscular_Christianity#Impact According to Nicholas Watson, the ideology of Muscular Christianity contributed to the development of the Olympic Games. Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, was greatly influenced by Muscular Christianity, and this was one of his primary inspirations alongside the Ancient Olympic Games of Greece.[39] **In the 21st century, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of Muscular Christianity, driven by the disproportionately high number of men becoming atheist or agnostic, and by a perceived "crisis of masculinity".[40] In the United States, Muscular Christianity is best represented by athletes such as Tim Tebow, Manny Pacquiao, Josh Hamilton, and Jeremy Lin.[41] These athletes frequently speak and write about their faith, and share their beliefs with their fans.[42][43]** New Calvinist pastors such as John Piper have pushed for an emphasis on a masculine Christianity and concept of Christ. Piper claimed that, "God revealed Himself in the Bible pervasively as king not queen; father not mother. Second person of the Trinity is revealed as the eternal Son not daughter; the Father and the Son create man and woman in His image and give them the name man, the name of the male." Because of this, Piper further claimed that "God has given Christianity a masculine feel."[44] Michael Kimmel argues in his book Manhood in America,[45] that University of Notre Dame showcases Muscular Christianity because the school practices Catholicism. Male athletes on the varsity teams are thought to practice **Thomas Hughes's six criteria for Muscular Christianity.** Notre Dame's football team, for example, are Catholic men who believe their bodies are a gift from God. Therefore, they train their bodies in the name of God.