"God answers my prayers everywhere except on the golf-course."
Pauline athletic terminology
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Pauline athletic terminology, Carl E DeVries, MA thesis, Wheaton College, 1944
The thesis is 115 pages (including 12 pages bibliography). It is in 6 chapters
The background of Paul;
The Greek Games
The terms relating to training;
The terms relating to competition;
The results of the contests;
Conclusions.
The questions Devries is asking include: "What is the derivation of the athletic terms? What is their original meaning? What picture do they present to the reader? What point do they illustrate? What do they add to the passage? Page 2-3
Among the interesting points argued in the thesis are:
1 The strong Hellenistic influence in Tarsus where Paul grew up
"The Hellenistic influence was strong and hence athletics were bound to be both prominent and popular at Tarsus. Here as a young boy Paul had ample opportunity to obtain his first glimpse of the athletic competition". Page 16
2 The possibility that Paul attended the Isthmian Games in Corinth. Page 18
3The fact that Paul used "athletic metaphors is an indication that he was free from the prejudice that a strict, narrow Jew would have had concerning such foreign established recreation. The way in which he uses them, their intensity of meaning, their frequency of occurrence, would show that Paul had a thorough knowledge, if not familiarity with this phase of Hellenism". Page 19
4 The "differences between the races of the Greek games and the Christian life. There is no competition in the Christian race and there is more than one victor. The prize can be obtained by all who finish the course in the right way." Page 61
His conclusions were that:
1 Paul uses the athletic terms more frequently than does any other writer of Scripture;
2 Paul uses such illustrations as present a vivid mental image;
3 Paul's metaphors have a definite purpose - as illustrations;
4 Paul takes the background of his readers into account.
"The athletic terminology of Paul is important for its illustratory power, but that is all. Paul did not preach physical exercise or even sportsmanship or fair play. He had a philosophy of physical education which stated that physical exercise is profitable for a little but godliness is profitable unto all things, having a promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come". Page 99
His last word is: "Paul's language, his spirit, his physical endurance, therefore, give us reason to speak of the apostle as 'Paul the athlete', a great example of one who, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, ran a good race".