Hoffman, Shirl James. Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2010. 356 + xiii pp. $24.95 (USD). ISBN: 9781932792102.

[1] Good Game does not take sides in the evangelical battle for American sports (Hoffman is writing to a US audience); the author introduces us to sports and religion in two important historical chapters, taking us from Greece and Rome through Medieval times. Sports and religion were where sacrifices were made to gods and the competitors were proudly smeared in the blood of these sacrifices. The church had difficulty adjudicating sports in the form of recreation and in the form of “arena” sports. Some sports were even played on church grounds, including jeu de paume (palm game; later played in French churchyards with racquets and becoming a serious part of church life played by the Bishop every Easter Sunday), the precursor to tennis. A love for big time sports wove its way into the fabric of the American social fabric, and allayed the suspicions Protestants had for them, “gradually becoming more optimistic about sport’s place in the Christian life” (100).

[2] There may have been four important moments in Christian rejection or acceptance of sports: (1.) Christians were once thrown into the Coliseum as part of the Roman games which took place to worship pagan deities. (2.) The church struggled with accepting mass games (in the medieval period) but eventually played games on churchyards, some ending in litigation. (3.) The “spectator age” (99) saw golf and tennis on Staten Island, The Big Ten Athletic Conference, and the National Baseball League; Madison Square Garden opened in 1879. (4.) Evangelicals were embracing culture; the “strategy for bridging the cultural divide has spawned a lively Christian pop culture featuring Christian movies, music, and consumer goods in which the Christian is eased ... in the back door” (221).

[3] Hoffman admits that the Christian community, his audience, are in need of a book that addresses the what and why questions—What is the purpose of sports in the Christian life? Why should Christians play sports?—but this is not that book. He does offer his own philosophical/theological sketch concerning the how questions (How can sports be made spiritually affirming rather than spiritually challenging? [265-92]). The book is polished as an academic or research book, so one does not have to be a sports fan in order to appreciate it; if one is a Christian sports fan, the first two chapters will be extremely helpful in the constant engagement with the church.

[4] The author cites churches that change the time of their services or bring large screens into church so their congregants may enjoy sporting events together. Canadians might do something similar for the Stanley Cup; I know the Youth Group I have attended held regular hockey pools each season. Hoffman’s aim is to deal with Christian athletes’ testimonies and on-field prayers, examining their proximity to The Medium and the Message; one wonders whether these Christian testimonies are not swallowed in the larger medium, namely, the NCAA or the NBA, and such.

[5] Not surprisingly, Hoffman focuses on evangelicals in sport. If his view is to understand testimony against the medium of professional or college sports, then his best odds are to focus on those who believe in giving a testimony. The author allows us to see into the minds of those who ride from town to town, up and down the freeway, to see their favourite team—enough to miss their daughter’s wedding— when Texas A&M was playing the Tennessee Volunteers, their arch rival. This book will interest the Christian sports fan, those interested in studying the culture of sports, and evangelicals with whom Hoffman dialogues.

[6] Good Game is well-written and has no obvious typographical errors. My one peeve is its use of endnotes. This is a somewhat lengthy, well-researched book and one would like to see the research rather than flip back and forth. What Baylor does do is include note pagination on the page which is helpful. Hoffman intersperses narrative and research quite well. Good Game is not a pro-evangelical work; it is a fair (both critical and hopeful) read that is worth the price. A theme the acute pop culture student will soon is the similarity of roles evangelicals play in sports and the in the theatre of everyday morality.

Dr. Harold Penner

Ph.D. McGill University

harpen2@mymts.net