What is Muscular Christianity?
[[File:Muscular Christianity Gruger.jpg|thumb|300px|Illustration by [[Frederick R. Gruger|F. R. Gruger]] for the novel ''Hepsey Burke'', by F. N. Westcott, 1915. The [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] rector Donald Maxwell (left) gets little pay because of interference from Sylvester Bascom (right), so Maxwell shovels stone to support himself and his wife. Here he confronts Bascom, who accuses him of having no [[pride]].]] '''Muscular Christianity''' is a movement which started during the [[Victorian era]]. It stressed the need for active [[Christian]] [[activism]] and belief of vigorous [[masculinity]]. It is most associated with the English writers [[Charles Kingsley]] and [[Thomas Hughes]], and in Canada with [[Ralph Connor]]. Kingsley and Hughes promoted physical [[Strength training|strength]] and health (at least for men) as well as an active pursuit of [[Christianity|Christian]] ideals in personal life and [[politics]]. Muscular Christianity has continued itself through organisations that combine physical and Christian spiritual development.<ref name=Continued>{{cite book|author=David Yamane, Keith A. Roberts|title=Religion in Sociological Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O6j6joobFCIC&dq=Muscular+Christianity+Athletes+in+Action&pg=PA365|quote=Muscular Christianity's main focus was to address the concerns of boys directly, not abstractly, so that they could apply religion to their lives. The idea did not catch on quickly in the United States, but over time it has become one of the most notable tools employed in Evangelical Protestant outreach ministries.|publisher=Pine Forge Press|year=2012|isbn=9781412982986|accessdate=1 August 2011}}</ref> It is influential within both [[Catholicism]] and [[Protestantism]].<ref name=C&P>{{cite book|author=[[Alister E. McGrath]]|title=Christianity's Dangerous Idea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQzhEclsl94C&dq=Muscular+Christianity+Athletes+in+Action&pg=PT380|quote=Nor is sport a purely Protestant concern: Catholicism can equally well b