tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post7613088356792760258..comments2024-03-25T13:40:30.747-04:00Comments on Faith and Theology: Ten reasons why baseball is God's gameBen Myershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03800127501735910966noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-53087904832957987412011-01-24T23:27:02.933-05:002011-01-24T23:27:02.933-05:00I believe shoeless Joe Jackson was the only one on...I believe shoeless Joe Jackson was the only one on his team not to take a bribe. He however did get the blame for taking the bribe (which he never did) and got banned from baseball. Joe Jackson is not a sinner he is innocent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-17261422814740019972010-09-28T17:10:53.971-04:002010-09-28T17:10:53.971-04:00It is amusing indeed, each point has a true behind...It is amusing indeed, each point has a true behind it, so maybe it is gods game after all.Kamagrahttp://buykamagraonline.com/online.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-76462957363641745322007-05-28T04:56:00.000-04:002007-05-28T04:56:00.000-04:00After comments made over at aaron ghiloni's blog (...After comments made over at aaron ghiloni's blog (http://aaronghiloni.blogspot.com/2007/05/baseball-and-trinity.html) it becomes abundantly clear that baseball is NOT God's game if you take a traditional view of the trinity. For example, the three hypostases of the trinity (that's hypostases Barth, not modes of being) would be stuck if they occupied successive bases and anyway... someone explain how perichoresis could occur without some form of cheating being called. Plus, for the Augustinians, if one hypostasis got a home run, it would have to count as 3 because, by merit of them all sharing one ousia, what is important is that home-runs must be predicated of the unity.<BR/><BR/>I can't believe you theologians ran the comments to 38 without thinking things through sufficiently. Football however (in the pure sense of the word - Premier League etc.) solves many of the problems posed in baseball. Wonderful! Football is more a team game - viz. more trinitarian than the modalistic game of baseball...Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04051242488196178369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-70780077455887701112007-05-28T00:32:00.000-04:002007-05-28T00:32:00.000-04:00I don't know if this is conclusive evidence that b...I don't know if this is conclusive evidence that baseball is God's game, but I'm pretty sure most will find it amusing regardless of their position:<BR/><BR/>http://www.danstpaul.com/baseball.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-87980307735858439072007-05-27T18:07:00.000-04:002007-05-27T18:07:00.000-04:00Hi Steve,I'm glad you like the photo, but it's Ben...Hi Steve,<BR/><BR/>I'm glad you like the photo, but it's Ben's work. I asked him to find a stadium, - <I>any</I> stadium but Yankee Stadium! (By the way, we consult on all the Propositions pictures, but Ben tracks them down and then downloads and frames them.) <BR/><BR/>Back to the point... I wouldn't know many a modern stadium - I've been away from North America too long. But it's great that Ben found the pic of the Expos stadium - because I forgot to mention that Canadians play and watch baseball too - and still have one Major League franchise anyway (Toronto).<BR/><BR/>Cheers!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-9094415652302499812007-05-27T17:25:00.000-04:002007-05-27T17:25:00.000-04:00Herzog's book contains a foreword by Stanley Hauer...Herzog's book contains a foreword by Stanley Hauerwas...<BR/>And thank you Kim for the picture of the Montreal Expos stadium (I'm a poor fan from Montreal who lost his team...).Steve Robitaillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03747731716435549703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-80048534090308323732007-05-27T13:12:00.000-04:002007-05-27T13:12:00.000-04:00Well, I still don't baseball or cricket, but it lo...Well, I still don't baseball or cricket, but it looks like I must relent. I find that one of my favorite historical Jesus researchers, Wm. Herzog II, Dean of Andover-Newton Theological School (and fellow member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America) has not only been writing about Jesus. He has, it seems, also written <I>The Faith of Fifty Million: Essays on Baseball, Religion, and American Culture</I> (2002) and is, I am told, a lifelong member of the Red Sox Nation. So, I relent. I'll clearly have to pay more attention to "God's game,"--if I can stay awake. Sigh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-84628389834261829772007-05-27T10:37:00.000-04:002007-05-27T10:37:00.000-04:00If Brazil were the world, Kim, teams would feel ob...If Brazil were the world, Kim, teams would feel obliged to win trophies simply on the basis of their reputations, past glories, ability to play keepie-uppie well and make the most of fortune's favour. . .<BR/><BR/>Football may be Neanderthal, but baseball is hardly <I>homo sapien</I> in comparison. More like Lucy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-23160239204081140992007-05-27T07:28:00.000-04:002007-05-27T07:28:00.000-04:00Hi Terry,Yes, the Beautiful Game - unless you live...Hi Terry,<BR/><BR/>Yes, the Beautiful Game - unless you live in the UK. It used to be said over here that football is a game played by gentlemen and watched by hooligans, while rugby is a game played by hooligans and watched by gentlemen, but now the hooligans play football as well as watch it. Now if Brazil were the world ...<BR/><BR/>Still, there is something rather Neanderthal about a sport in which you hit the ball with your head and can't use your hands.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-33579120572519400032007-05-27T05:34:00.000-04:002007-05-27T05:34:00.000-04:00All this talk of baseball and cricket is pointless...All this talk of baseball and cricket is pointless. God's <I>real</I> game is association football. When God said, 'Go forth and multiply', obviously he had in mind that this glorious sport would spread from Eden (otherwise known as England) across the whole world. From the FA Cup to the Champions League to the MLS, to the Socceroos, to - well, I believe even Greenland has a national team (though I don't think it's recognised as such by FIFA). Baseball is too provincial, cricket has a colonial subtext. . . but football! Football! <I>That's</I> God's game, and self-evidently so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-76817661516324164302007-05-26T18:57:00.000-04:002007-05-26T18:57:00.000-04:00Hi Brendt,My lawyer advised me to use the word "al...Hi Brendt,<BR/><BR/>My lawyer advised me to use the word "allegedly" - :) - I mean, look at the guy; and I know about Shoeless Joe's Conradian tragedy - and "repentance". Many would say that baseball's greatest ever sinner was also its greatest ever player - Ty Cobb, a cauldron of distorted desire whose bat was filled with grace (rather than Sosa's cork!), yet whose spikes were WMD.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-58275688568076684562007-05-26T18:30:00.000-04:002007-05-26T18:30:00.000-04:00Great post, Kim! But I have one quibble with #5.Y...Great post, Kim! But I have one quibble with #5.<BR/><BR/>You state <I>definitively</I> that Jackson took a bribe, but Bonds only <I>allegedly</I> took steroids.<BR/><BR/>Please tell me you're joking, or at least a Giants fan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-4331711636983580452007-05-26T17:28:00.000-04:002007-05-26T17:28:00.000-04:00Kim,Thanks, I loved it! I am a lifelong baseball f...Kim,<BR/>Thanks, I loved it! I am a lifelong baseball fan, but - living in the UK - have quickly developed an abiding fondness of Cricket. Growing up in Chicago, I am a diehard Cubs fan, and I die every year. I have naturally gravitated towards rooting for the English Test Cricket team, especially in the Ashes (although darned if they aren't taking it to West Indies now). Two points: Shoeless Joe Jackson, of the infamous Black Sox scandal, is widely believed to have been innocent of throwing the games - he was a pawn. Or so I'm led to believe.<BR/><BR/>And the second point is specifically for Dave Belcher: Friend, it's not that I don't feel your pain over the Rangers not having ever won the world series, but they've only been around 35 years. It is now 99 years - 99! -since my beloved Cubs last won the world series. My dear departed grandfather wasn't born until 11 years <I>after</I> they last won it, to put it in perspective. Few if any franchises have known futility in this scale.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, enough kvetching. And I promise to say something theological next time.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03293060522916880547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-12547943113125913702007-05-26T16:23:00.000-04:002007-05-26T16:23:00.000-04:00Guys... Honestly... One of the worst crimes known ...Guys... Honestly... One of the worst crimes known to mankind is the film "Field of Dreams" - saying that it is good is the biggest overstatement since that wisecrack who said - "That's the Titanic - it's unsinkable..."<BR/><BR/>I can agree on all other points but NOT on this - My conscience is held captive by the Word of God - Here I stand... I can do no other.Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04051242488196178369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-88893702941403767732007-05-26T15:38:00.000-04:002007-05-26T15:38:00.000-04:00I frequently get pointed to your decalogues from t...I frequently get pointed to your decalogues from the Boar's Head Tavern. While I can't say that I always agree (who could?), I always enjoy reading them.<BR/><BR/>But whatever doubts I might have had have been dealt with once and for all: this one <I>proves</I> that you're a flaming heretic. ; )Phil Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07682724722979908589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-80993394346612115412007-05-26T15:06:00.000-04:002007-05-26T15:06:00.000-04:00Maybe I just don't have much of a sense of humor, ...Maybe I just don't have much of a sense of humor, but I don't think any game where people relish 'the other guy' striking out is "God's game." It would be appropriate to say, however, that baseball, football, etc., are very much games that have the same personality as the different Christian denominations, most of whom encourage their members to feel superior (though may be generally unrecognized) than everyone else; the typical sports enthusiast mindset.<BR/><BR/>I would say God’s game, if anything, is acknowledged by the Devil in the movie ‘Time Bandits’; he complained that God wasted so much time on things like 42 species of parrot….Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-80451176909428938342007-05-26T14:04:00.000-04:002007-05-26T14:04:00.000-04:00Kim - Attababe! This is easily your best 10 yet....Kim - <BR/><BR/>Attababe! This is easily your best 10 yet. Yes, Joe Jackson did take a bribe, but he tried (unsuccessfully) twice (once more than Judas) to return the 5 grand. Then he goes and hits .375 for the series, commits no errors in the field, and throws out 5 (!) runners at home. Is this not a drama of repentance?! <BR/><BR/>And Pete Rose! "For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." (Hebrews 12.17)a. stewardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11088882067112605988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-58269609305430074192007-05-26T13:18:00.000-04:002007-05-26T13:18:00.000-04:00Thank you once again for laying out such wonderful...Thank you once again for laying out such wonderful theological principles. Truly baseball is God's game, and of course since God is a loving and merciful God, God will welcome Barry Bonds into the Hall of Fame -- even if Bud doesn't show up. Of course I'm a die hard Giants fan and I can't help myself!!<BR/><BR/>As for hockey -- there's a reason why they went on strike and no one cared.Robert Cornwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04581876323110725024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-61493211112373143632007-05-26T13:15:00.000-04:002007-05-26T13:15:00.000-04:00Agreed, even the slowest hockey game is 7 times, n...Agreed, even the slowest hockey game is 7 times, no make that 7 times 7, more exciting that the best baseball game!<BR/><BR/>Go Ducks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-8279868251820802652007-05-26T12:42:00.000-04:002007-05-26T12:42:00.000-04:00Baseball is deadly boring. Vive le hockey!Baseball is deadly boring. Vive le hockey!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-70779664848773170282007-05-26T11:36:00.000-04:002007-05-26T11:36:00.000-04:00Kim said:I love American football too... and follo...Kim said:<BR/><BR/>I love American football too... and follow the NFL season (a Jets fan).<BR/><BR/>As a New Yorker, all I can say is ... my condolences.<BR/><BR/>Pax,<BR/>JohnAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-59748432046065220922007-05-26T11:00:00.000-04:002007-05-26T11:00:00.000-04:00Oi, Ben - I see you've put this post down in my Pr...Oi, Ben - I see you've put this post down in my Propositions contents as an "interlude". This is no interlude, mate: all the other (23) Propostions were a mere prelude - I was just clearing my throat! :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-13217884946781823802007-05-26T09:54:00.000-04:002007-05-26T09:54:00.000-04:00first, kim you have outdone yourself with this pos...first, kim you have outdone yourself with this post.<BR/><BR/>the disgruntled comments all illustrate the truth of point 9. in order to love baseball you must come as a child. the clamoring for more action comes from the mind of reasonable adults who have grown weary of the beauty of simplicity and prefer the endless banality of action to the beauty of hope, nuance, repitition, and wonder that each spring, each series, each game, heck even each batter-pitcher encounter offer. <BR/><BR/>somewhere g.k. chesterton wrote that it is adults (not God or children) who become bored with the regular beauty that surrounds them and thus clamor for the different. baseball reminds us that there is endless diversity in the most simple of things. Sounds a bit like the Trinity. <BR/><BR/>aaron g, i grant that bonds is a villian and it pains me that he is on my team, but he is far from signs and wonderment and mere hype. a bit more like the very best in a very tainted era. i cannot think of a better theological example. <BR/><BR/>as for the great satan: as a giants fan i am quite sure that you are mistaken about the yankees. they are merely a demon. the dodgers are the great satan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-62986206584021599072007-05-26T09:29:00.000-04:002007-05-26T09:29:00.000-04:00Hi Chris,Great comments. And hang in there with y...Hi Chris,<BR/><BR/>Great comments. And hang in there with your wife (I'll pray for her soul) - my wife is Welsh/German and "unreached" rather than apostate; my hope is that, after Rahner, she is an "anonymous" fan.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Oh, and <I>please</I> post that photo - or let us know where I can get one. The three great Refomers - they'd look nice on my wall next to Blake's "Trinity"!<BR/><BR/>Finally the negative comments may yet turn me into a believer in double predestination. And as for BK, <I>anathema sit</I>!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14261952.post-22777173309706596802007-05-26T09:13:00.000-04:002007-05-26T09:13:00.000-04:00Red Sox, Cubbies, even the Brewers for God's sake....Red Sox, Cubbies, even the Brewers for God's sake...yes, we have some suffering servants. <BR/><BR/>But, the real "cursed" team should be the Texas Rangers: the oldest team to have never won a World Series! In this case, then, the "eschaton" of baseball would be when Texas finally wins a world series. Either that, or when they are sold to some billionaire and moved to Sacramento, or Charlotte, North Carolina, where we see baseball doomsday finally arrive, knowing that no hope is left for the Rangers...leaving some sort of divine intervention to bring all teams that once were lost back into the kingdom of wins and no-hitters.<BR/><BR/>My hope still lies with the Braves, though; that truly in these we see dimly the kingdom here on earth.Dave Belcherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08964414652031988664noreply@blogger.com