ABSTRACT
In Norway, hiking in weekends is a hallmark of national identity and culture. In the majority national church, the Church of Norway, there is a long-time tradition of arranging services in particular chapels situated in popular hiking areas. Such services are often called ‘sport services’. They take place in the boundary space between religion and sports. In this boundary space, the view of the body is contested, with points of convergence as well as conflict. Conventionally, in the context of sport, the body is presented as competitive and strong (Begel, 2000). Christian anthropology is more ambivalent. The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heightened the awareness of human vulnerability, at the same time as more people went hiking due to the imposed lockdown, and participation in sports services seemed to increase. Our study focuses on how human bodies emerge and are interpreted theologically in this context and situation. In recent research, a more complex and even affirmative view of human vulnerability has emerged, not only in ethics and theology but even in sport theory. The chapter examines how the particular context of sports services in the midst of a pandemic explicitly and implicitly shapes theological reflection on the human body and its strength and its inherent vulnerability.
