The church fathers were initially dismissive about the engagement of man in physical activities. They succumbed to a way of thinking that resulted in their refusal to the physical nature of man even when confirmed in Biblical writings. Despite the fathers being influenced by philosophical thinking of that time, time came where physical exercises were approved (Christensen & Levinson, 2003). Gymnastics and Palestra were fully welcomed by Clemens of Alexandria. Men were permitted to wrestle with naked bodies and play with the ball. The principle of cultural continuity – people are willing to adopt a new religion to the extent that it retains cultural continuity with conventional religions that they are already in. For instance, as Christianity …show more content…
James Mathisen believes that baseball and other American sports are more than just the pop culture variant of folk religion. Baseball has become almost sect like in the country with everyone expected to be a baseball fan. However, it goes even further. Every baseball fan has to identify himself with a specific team. This is not unlike how the Protestants are expected to have a specific religious affiliation to the set of pluralistic denominations ascribed to them as options. Baseball manifests itself folk religion in three main ways: ideological dimension, its historical character, and cultic practice. In his understanding, civil religion is another form of folk religion. He believes that sports including baseball are a way of implementing cultural values and ideas (Dailey, 2002).
The ideological dimension inculcates the myths, beliefs, and values enshrined in baseball and American culture. Its cultic practice can be observed through collective disturbances and rituals. The historical character of baseball includes historical records, heroes such as Babe Ruth and other traditions (Dailey,