The Greek Olympics From mythical dreams to sobering realities   See also Olympic Myths and Earthy Magic – 1994 The Olympic Dream: A Renaissance of Unholy Oneness – 1996  Olympic spirits and global illusions – 2002  |  The Olympic Flame – 2002  Olympic gods and C. S. Lewis  – 2006 Olympics 2008, Part 1: Guiding the Olympic Vision – 2008 “Olympics 2008, Part 2: One World – One Dream” – 2008

Olympics   Berit Kjos 2004 Home

“Athena,
the goddess of wisdom, is the protector of this congested Olympic city
ringed by mountains and haze. But she doesn’t work alone anymore. …The
protection comes in the form of 70,000 troops, law enforcement
personnel, an undetermined number of behind-the-scenes support people,
seven nations including the United States, and NATO. … There are at least 1,400 security cameras set up at key
locations…. Near the Acropolis in the center of the city, military helicopters buzz
overhead…. Patriot missiles are situated in the region.”[1]

Don
Walker, “Fortifying
Olympics is toughest game of all“

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“Immortal spirit of antiquity,” sang the Olympic chorus during the
long-awaited opening ceremony. “Father of the true, beautiful and good,
descend, appear, shed over us thy light….”[2]

Like the mystical god of Huxley’s Brave New World, the universal
god described in the Olympic Hymn was designed to unify all people
— and offend none. But to the Greek hosts of the 2004 games, this illusion
of truth and goodness must have sounded a
bit hollow on opening day. Although they had built their magnificent structures dedicated to
the dream of Olympic glory, worldwide peace and human perfection, their facade would soon be shattered. As USA Today wrote,

“Star sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were suspended Saturday from the Greek Olympic team for missing drug tests, a stunning blow to the host nation of the Summer Games.
…The case has shamed Greece and overshadowed the opening of what was supposed to be a triumphant showcase of national pride and achievement.

“Kenteris, the reigning 200-meter champion, is the country’s most celebrated athlete and was its top hope for a gold medal in track. Thanou, the 100-meter silver medalist in Sydney four years ago, is his training partner.

… Kenteris and Thanou have a history of being hard to find for drug tests and rarely run in international competitions outside the games.”[3]

[4]

This visual experience began
with two drummers invoking a fireball that lit five
Olympic rings rising from
the water inside the arena — an expansive indoor sea that
represented the “mother of
humanity.” This mythical “mother”
communicated her message to the world through a popular singer from Iceland.
“You have done good for
yourselves,” sang Ms Bjork,
“since you left my wet embrace and crawled ashore.”[5]

The evolutionary extravaganza included a
moving display of Greek gods and heroes such as Zeus, Athena, Hercules and
Pegasus. Eros, the mischievous
god of lustful love, smiled down on a sensual pair of frolicking lovers.
They were followed by a pregnant fertility goddess with a protruding abdomen
that lit up like a dome of light. This led to a celebration of DNA and its
marvelous blueprint of individual life. Apparently,
Eros, evolution and the
goddess — certainly not the sovereign Creator — were credited with life as
we know it today. (This emphasis on sensual, earth-centered spirituality
would become even more overt during the closing ceremony two weeks later
with its pagan harvest celebration and fire dancers — supposedly a
trance-forming ritual to “ward of evil spirits.”) 

Finally, the Olympic torch
was carried into the arena and up the final stairs to the huge, contemporary Olympic cauldron.
A towering post bent down as if to receive the life-giving flame from
the last torch bearer, Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. Meanwhile, the news media speculated
that Kaklamanakis, a gold medal winner in the 1996
Olympic sailing race, was a last minute substitute for the discredited
runner Kenteris. 

No one mentioned that the worldwide torch relay has
its origins in Germany’s spectacular
1936 Olympics
— orchestrated under the arrogant hand of Hitler — not in the ancient
Greek games.
[See

The
Olympic Flame]

[6]

[7]

In other words, human nature
hasn’t changed through the centuries. Today’s athletes face the same
temptations as the heroes of antiquity. Whether in America, Asia,
Europe, Africa or the Middle East, the same tendencies to lie and cheat in
order to win continue to erode man’s most noble intentions.

“Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man…. Therefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to
dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator…
      “For this reason God gave them up to vile
passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is
against nature. Likewise also the men… men with men committing what is
shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which
was due. 
      “And even as they did not like to retain God in
their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [depraved] mind, to do
those things which are not fitting; being filled with all
unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness.
      “They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God,
violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such
things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of
those who practice them.” Romans 1:22-32

What,
then, is the solution? If man’s best intentions, loftiest visions and most
far-reaching organizations can’t bring global peace and unity, what’s our
hope? 

 

Actually, if we set our hearts on a perfect world, we will always be
disappointed — as were many friends and followers of Jesus. They hoped He
would free them from Rome and make them a powerful nation. Instead He
offered heavenly strength for living triumphantly in a broken, hurting
world. “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace,”
He told His disciples. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of
good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

His
mission was focused on a heavenly — not an earthly — kingdom. When
questioned by Pontius Pilate whose faith in capricious gods and human
prowess matched that of ancient Greece, Jesus answered, “My kingdom is
not of this world.” John 18:36

While
we can appreciate the commitment and achievements of many of the world’s
greatest athletes, it’s good to remember that the pomp and presumptions of the global Olympic
institution are contrary to
God’s way for His people. “Do not love the world
or the things in the world,” He tells us through John. “If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the
Father but is of the world.” 1 John
2:15-17

Instead, “our citizenship is in heaven, from
which we also eagerly wait for the Savior….” (Philippians 3:20) He is our
hope — and the immeasurable glory ahead far surpasses the grandest visions
of the world’s utopian dreamers! So “beware lest anyone cheat
you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of
men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according
to Christ.” Colossians 2:6-9