"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Boxing and the sixth commandment
You shall not murder Exodus 20:13
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? 1 Corinthians 6:19
As we conclude the series on the 10 commandments, I want to reflect on the sport of boxing. Is there a Christian view of boxing?
Boxing seems to raise serious issues for the Christian. The fundamental question is whether a sport where the intention is to hurt, cut, injure and knock-out one’s opponent, can be reconciled with the Christian view of man and God.
Danger and injuries are, obviously, present in many sports. The difference with boxing is that hurting your opponent is the aim of the sport. Since the Second World War over 350 boxers have died from ring injuries.
The Church has always had an ambivalent attitude to boxing. When St Paul wrote to the Corinthian church “I do not fight like someone beating the air” (I Corinthians 9:26), he was not trying to write a theology of boxing. He was simply using a sporting analogy to make a point about the Christian life.
The only serious study of boxing from a Christian perspective was a publication by the Churches’ Council for Health and Healing titled Boxing: A Christian Comment. The paper summarised the purpose of the human body as:
1. The temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19)
2. "The body is further dignified by its use as a model for the body of Christ."
3. It referred to the doctrine of the incarnation in which God "honours human flesh and life".
4. "The essential message of the Gospel is the creation of health or wholeness or salvation." The report found it impossible to reconcile a sport that seeks to inflict deliberate damage to the temple of the Holy Spirit (the human body, 1 Corinthians 6:19) with Christian principles. It concluded, ‘It is, then, for both medical and Christian reasons that the working party feels bound to discourage rather than encourage boxing’.
Perhaps it is time for more Christian thinking on boxing
For a longer version of this reflection see http://www.veritesport.org/?page=canyoubox