On the 8th Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport by Matt Hoven, J.J. Carney, and Max T. Engel (review)

Reviewed by: On the 8th Day: A Catholic Theology of Sportby Matt Hoven, J. J. Carney, and Max T. Engel Alexandria Griffin Matt Hoven, J. J. Carney, and Max T. Engel. On the 8th Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport. Cascade Books, 2022. 206pp. 27. 00 paper. Matt Hoven, J. J. Carney, and Max T. Engel begin On the 8th Day: A Catholic Theology of Sportwith two questions, drawn from the work of theologian Robert K. Johnston, that they argue any theology of sport must engage: "What the hell are they doing? " and "What in heaven's name is going on? " (3). The authors use these questions to signal two fundamental issues that On the 8th Dayseeks to address. On the one hand, given everything else going on in the world, "is sport too frivolous for Christians to really care about? " (3) On the other, despite the world's many problems, which undoubtedly spill into the arena of sport as well, the authors seek to ask how people might encounter God on the playing field. In a world where "the pews are empty, but the bleachers are full, " Hoven, Carney, and Engel argue that it is more important than ever for theologians to engage sport seriously and thoughtfully (6). In On the 8th Day, the authors seek to sketch out in a comprehensive fashion what a specifically Catholic approach to sport might look like. Hoven, Carney, and Engel excel at explaining theological concepts very clearly while not making the book too simplified for more advanced readers. Their tone is never didactic; rather, they invite the reader (whether Catholic or not) to accompany them in thinking through some of the issues presented by the intersections of religion and sport. Additionally, the authors excel at making their influences and interlocutors clear, and their interventions in existing scholarship explicit. On the 8th Day's introduction provides a useful and concise overview of how both theologians and religious studies scholars have studied religion and sport before moving into how Catholic theologians and scholars in particular have approached sport. From there, the book's eight chapters explore specific intersections of religion and sport. Chapter One, "From Saint Paul to Pope Francis: Sport in Catholic History" spans the conflicted relationship of early Christians to games and sport and all the way through Catholic engagement with "muscular Christianity" and the End Page 55growth of athletic programs at Catholic colleges and universities. From there, the second chapter explores the concept of play, and the third asks what a sacramental worldview and ideas of transcendence might bring to sport, while the fourth similarly engages theological anthropology. Chapter Five, "Sports Can Hurt: The Problem of Suffering and Loss in Sports" acknowledges that sports can "involve losing games, not meeting personal goals, decreased playing time, getting cut from a team, and painful injuries and debilitation" alongside anxiety or depression and conflict with other athletes or coaches (86). The authors use examples of loss and suffering in a sports context to ask how the paschal mystery (the story of Jesus's death and resurrection, understood as a tale of overcoming suffering) might be understood when dealing with hardship on or off the playing field. Chapter Six examines "ritual, superstition, and prayer in sports" from the history of religious rituals at sporting events and argues for a distinction between religious ritual and superstition, seeing the latter as a sort of counterfeit religious expression that tries to "manipulate or control" a person's relationship with God (104, 117). The book's final two chapters examine how sport can provide a site for thinking about morality, virtue, and sin, and how Catholic social teaching can shed light on the intersections of sport and social justice. Fittingly, On the 8th Day's conclusion addresses sport and eschatology, and the potential for sport to play a part in "communal redemption" (175). The authors close with a quote from a 2014 talk given by (in their words) "Pope/Coach Francis" to the Italian Sports Center, encouraging readers to "Go forward, seek victory, always!" While the book's economical approach is largely successful, there are a few places where the authors move quickly through. . .