Muscular Christianity in the U.S.

7-9　Young Men’s Christian Association Meeting

In his famous 1858 article“Saints，and Their Bodies”，ThomasW.Higginson argued that energetic health went hand in hand with men's productive activities and religious beliefs.A sound mind and body would enable white，urban，middle-and upper-class men to pursue important opportunities in business and politics.Physically and morally fit men could support their families with economic gains and achieve respected positions in a young democracy.The concept of the“noble，idealized Christian athlete”became part of the reform message of those Americans urging sport and physical activity as acceptable and healthful for youth in American culture.Muscular Christianity referred to the belief that the body was the temple of God and that cultivating one's body for the glory of God developedmorals and built character.The Muscular Christian embo-died the bestof physical culture andmoral virtue in a trilogy ofmind，body，and spirit.Proponents ofMuscular Christianity touted sport as essential for building character，leadership，competitiveness，courage，teamwork，and discipline.Thus they emphasized sportas a kind of positive training formanhood，one thathelpedmen develop physical andmoral fitness they could transfer into their appropriate pursuits in American society.Thus Muscular Christianity combined manly athleticism with the quest for fulfillment in theworld.Sport became both a training ground formen and，thanks to the reform movement，amore widely accepted form of leisure activity.This program，spearheaded by white，middleclass reformers，stressed physical vigor，moral courage，and religion，and it provided advice to male youth on the healthfulness of sport as an antidote to urban temptations and sedentary ways.Institutionswere formed in the burgeoning cities of the Northeast—including the Young Men’s Christian Association（YMCA）1，which appeared in the United States in 1851—to combinemuscles and morals in building physical and spiritual health based on Muscular Christianity.