| Bloomfield, Anne. “Muscular
Christian or Mystic? Charles Kingsley Reappraised,” International Journal
of the History of Sport Vol. 11, No. 2 (August 1994): 172-190.
In her treatment of Kingsley’s role in the history of human movement, sport, and aesthetic gymnastics, Bloomfield examines his mystical nature and his changing views on the religiosity of body, mind and soul. She also hypothesizes that Kingsley’s views were influenced by the work of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). She concludes that Kingsley’s work in human movement must be viewed as being more significant than his commonly accepted role in Muscular Christianity. “Kingsley possessed a deep commitment to the mystical aspects of Christianity as well as its physical elements, and in terms of the philosophical development of human movement this accords him a place uniting two important branches of human movement, the sports ethic and the dance ethic, both of which currently stand distanced and bifurcated at polemical points within a common aesthetic field” (189). Muscular Christianity; Swedenborg, Emanuel; Sport; Athleticism; Sexuality. |