A bibliography on a Christian approach to sport

updated 22 Sept 2018.

John Byl and Tom Visker Physical education, sport and wellness. Sioux Center, IA : Dordt College Press, 1999.

Contents: 

• The Bible and the body: a Biblical perspective on health and physical education / John Cooper

• The Incarnation and the flesh / Bud Williams

• Somatospiritual model: a biomechanist looks at the Bible / Brian W. Bergemann

• Transforming wellness: linking spiritual concepts to personal health / Timothy J. Voss

• Spirituality and wellness: student perspectives / John Byl

• Attitudes of member institutions of the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities (USA) towards required health and fitness courses in the core curriculum / Allison J. McFarland

• Developing an aim-centered K-12 physical education program based on Christian tenets / Marvin A. Zuidema

• Leadership theory as it applies to academic work / Beth A. Easter and Dale E. Gibson

• Sport education: more necessary than ever / James Timmer, Sr.

• Intentional integration of scripture into the study of sport sociology / Allison J. McFarland

• Christian sports and leisure: oxymoron or redundancy? / Carl E. Zylstra

• We coach "Play the whistle" but what happens when the whistle breaks? / Gregory Gidman and David Turkington

• Sport ethics via Thoreau / Douglas Hochstetler

• A reflection on the moral value of interscholastic athletes / Calvin P. Van Reken

• Pressure to win? But I'm a Christian coach at a Christian college / Karol Hunt

• Moral reasoning: what is it and how it is best accomplished in the classroom and gymnasium / Sharon K. Stoll

• The effects of religiosity, education and experience on the moral reasoning levels of NCAA division III male head athletic directors / James R. Timmer, Jr.

• Senior student's perspectives on physical education and sport / Murray W. Hall

• Calvinism and Mennonites :a pilot study on SPEPHERDing Christianity and sport in Canada / John Byl

• A contrast between physical activity in the early church and muscular Christianity: what implications does this have for the 21st century? / Dale E. Campbell.

P Heintzman, G A van Andel and Tom Visker 1994. Christianity and Leisure: Issues in a Pluralistic Society. Sioux Center, IA: Dordt College Press

ContentsSection One: Biblical and historical perspective

• Work and play: a Biblical perspective / Robert K. Johnston

• Implications for leisure from a review of the Biblical concepts of Sabbath and rest / Paul Heintzman

• The Puritan ethic and Christian leisure for today / Leland Ryken

Section Two: Methodological issues

• Toward a Christian perspective in the leisure sciences / Gordon Spykman

• Leisure science, dominant paradigms, and philosophy: the expansion of leisure science's horizon / Paul Heintzman

Section Three: Present practices and challenges in leisure

• Whatever happened to the leisure revolution? / Gordon Dahl

• Leisure and the New Age movement / Glen E. Van Andel

• Contemplative leisure within Christian spirituality / Joseph D. Teaff

• Leisure at L'Arche: communities of faith for persons with developmental disabilities / Cathy O'Keefe

• Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot / Don DeGraaf

Section Four: Play, sport, and athletics

• Sport, play, and leisure in the Christian experience / Shirl J. Hoffman

• Coming to terms with play, game, sport and athletics / John Byl

• Play, game, and sport in a Reformed, Biblical worldview / Tom Visker

• Atheletics from a Christian perspective / Marvin A. Zuidema

• Towards an understanding of 'muscular Christianity': religion, sport, and culture in the modern world / James A. Mathisen

• Competition in Church sport leagues / Kimberly A. Keller, Gary H. Naylor, and David R. Stirling

• Christian ethics in North American sport / Murray W. Hall

Section Five: Leisure and culture

• From the Super Bowl to worship: the roles of story in work and leisure / Quentin J. Schultze

• From faith to fun: humor as invisible religion / Russell Heddendorf

• Leisure, drama, and Christianity / Gwen Laurie Wright.

Brian Bolt. 2018. Sport, Faith, Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin Shorts.

Robert Ellis 2014. The Games People Play: Theology, Religion, and Sport. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press.

P Heintzman, G A van Andel Christianity & Leisure II: Issues for the twenty-first century. Sioux Centre, IA: Dordt College Press.

Lincoln Harvey 2014. A Brief Theology of Sport. London: SCM.

Lincoln Harvey, A Christian perspective on sport.  https://www.uniontheology.org/resources/doctrine/the-holy-spirit-and-the-christian-life/a-christian-perspective-on-sport

Shirl James Hoffman 2010.  Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press

Robert K. Johnston 1997. The Christian at Play. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Jim Parry, Mark Nesti and  Nick Watson 2013. Theology, Ethics and Transcendence in Sports (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society). London: Routledge.

Clifford Putney 2003. Muscular Christianity: Manhood and Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Mark Roques. 2003.  Fields of God: Football and the Kingdom of God  Carlisle: Authentic.

B J van der Walt. 2007. 'Spotlight on sport: a Christian-worldviewish philosophical reflection'. Transforming Power. Potchefstroom: ICCA, ch 13

Tom Visker 2002. Just do it right: the experience of shalom in sport participation. Pro Rege 30:17-21.

Tom Visker 1992-93. Sports participation in a Reformed biblical worldview Christian Educators Journal 32 (Dec 92/ Jan 93): 6-7 and 18-19.

T. L. Visker & S. J. Hoffman.1999  Leisure, Play, Game and Sport in a Christian Perspective Dordt College Press.

Nick J. Watson and Andrew Parker (eds.) 2015. Sports and Christianity: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Routledge Research in Sport, Culture and Society). London: Routledge.

Nick J. Watson and Andrew Parker. 2014. Sport and the Christian Religion: A Systematic Review of Literature. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.

D F M Strauss. 2005. Philosophical Perspectives on Leisure, Play and Sport. In: Relativity and relativism: historical and systematic considerations. In: Acta Academica Supplementum. 2005(2):199-231 Journal for Christian Scholarship, Year 40, 4th Quarter (pp.149-168)

 Marvin A. Zuidema 2006. Foundational thoughts on a Christian philosophy of play, sports and athletics. Pivot

Useful websites:

https://sportandchristianity.com/