The Game of Nonsense

by John Wilson

Elizabeth Sewell’s classic study of Lewis Carroll, “The Field of Nonsense,” sheds light on the allure of baseball. Continue Reading »

8 Apr 2022

The Sporting Spirit

by Matthew Schmitz

First Things brings a sporting spirit to the intellectual life—a willingness to sweat, a belief in fair play, and the desire to win. Continue Reading »

19 Jun 2017

Theology of Sport

by Peter J. Leithart

Long invisible, theology of sport is suddenly a growth industry. Robert Ellis’s “The Games People Play and Lincoln Harvey’s 
“A Brief Theology of Sport” both sum up the patristic criticisms of sport, both talk about Puritanism, both highlight the role of Victorian Muscular Christianity in the reconciliation of religion and sport. Theologically, both focus on creation, though in intriguingly different ways. Continue Reading »

20 Jun 2014