Book Feature: The Strenuous Life and the Forgotten Gospel of Strength
Muscular Christianity.
In today's world, the phrase barely registers. Even among educated audiences, the idea is likely to draw blank stares or mild confusion. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Muscular Christianity was a driving force on both sides of the Atlantic—a cultural and spiritual movement that married Christian virtue to physical strength, discipline, and moral purpose.
At its core, Muscular Christianity asserted a simple truth: that virtue and physical vigor belong together. Its advocates believed that developing the body was not separate from the development of the soul—but part of it. From increased male participation in church life to the moral ideals behind the modern Olympic Games, the echoes of the movement were far-reaching. The YMCA, organized team sports, and even football as we know it today all bear its fingerprints.
And yet, Muscular Christianity has faded—largely forgotten in an age where the spiritual and the physical are often treated as enemies. Still, its legacy persists in surprising places. Why do we instinctively uphold moral purity in college sports? Why do we recoil at the idea of athletes cashing checks without accountability? Where does this strange blend of discipline, patriotism, and athletic excellence come from?
Ryan Swenson's The Strenuous Life offers an answer. The book centers on Theodore Roosevelt, who didn’t just advocate the movement—he lived it. Swenson portrays Roosevelt not as a great athlete, but as a man who understood the power of strength forged through effort. Roosevelt’s message was clear: a strong nation needed strong men—not in brawn alone, but in virtue, endurance, and grit.
In a time when modern sports have often detached from ideas like honor, humility, and self-mastery, this book reminds us that physical exertion has a deeper meaning. For Christian men, it becomes a call not just to train the body, but to pursue moral clarity and courageous action.
To live the Strenuous Life is to hit the line hard—and not just in competition, but in service to God.
