New Paths to Salvation in 19th and 20th Century Europe

Abstract

In interpreting the secularising tendencies in 19th and 20th century Europe, we should look not only at the impact of secularist movements or of social change. We should consider how movements which were not intrinsically irreligious, and may even have begun with a religious rationale, could come to take over many of the functions of religion, and could be seen as offering new forms of salvation, superseding older forms. This article focuses on the ever-growing place of sport in European societies and its relationship with religion. The crucial development in the 19th century was the claim that practising sports was not only enjoyable but it was virtuous: sport made for better people and better societies. The article starts with the relationship between salvation and nationalism, from the time of the German gymnastic movement in the 1810s, and with the role of sport in education, beginning in 1850s England. It then discusses football fandom from the 1890s to now, the cult of running from c.1970, and the ‘Olympism’ of Coubertin with his claim that sport could contribute to peace,. It concludes by analysing the relationship between sport and secularisation, as well as the continuing of more positive connections between sport and religion.

Keywords

• secularising
• salvation
• sport
• nationalism